President Lee appoints Park Jung-sung as chief trade negotiator, Choi Yong-chul as fire agency head

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday appointed Park Jung-sung, currently deputy minister for trade, as the new chief trade negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and named Choi Yong-chul, deputy commissioner of the National Fire Agency, as the agency's new head.

Cheong Wa Dae chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung announced the appointments in a written briefing Friday.

Park, the incoming chief trade negotiator, is a career trade official who has spent nearly 30 years in key trade and commerce policy roles, including director general for trade and investment at the ministry and deputy minister for trade. He built hands-on expertise as co-chair of World Trade Organization investment facilitation negotiations and as the lead working-level representative on the task force for tariff negotiations with the United States.

Kang said Park "is expected to resolve complex trade issues through sophisticated negotiation strategies, drawing on his experience as WTO investment facilitation co-chair and lead working-level representative on the US tariff negotiation task force." She added that the presidential office judged him "the right person to maximize the national interest by maintaining continuity in negotiations amid pressing trade issues with the US, having served as the working-level head of tariff and investment talks with Washington."

Choi, the incoming National Fire Agency commissioner, is a specialist in fire administration and command who has served as acting head of the Gyeonggi Province fire and disaster headquarters and as deputy commissioner of the National Fire Agency. He brings 27 years of experience spanning frontline rescue operations and policy positions.

Kang said Choi "combines outstanding field command ability, drive, and extensive administrative experience, and is highly regarded within the National Fire Agency for his rational, communicative leadership." She added that he is expected to "build a thorough disaster prevention and response system in line with the administration's goal of putting the safety and lives of the people first across all areas of governance."