[Profile] New Vice Minister of Planning and Budget Cho Yongbeom...Budget Expert Who Led the 'War Supplementary Budget'

On July 20, President Lee Jaemyung appointed Cho Yongbeom, the current Director of the Budget Office at the Ministry of Planning and Budget, as the new Vice Minister of Planning and Budget. Vice Minister Cho is a budget expert who has held all the key positions within the Budget Office since entering public service.

Cho Yongbeom, Director General of the Budget Office, appointed as the new Vice Minister of Planning and Budget. Blue House Yonhap News

Born on Jeju Island in 1971, Vice Minister Cho graduated from the College of Education High School at Jeju National University and earned a law degree from Seoul National University. He holds a master's degree in public policy from the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and a Master of Laws from the University of Wisconsin in the United States.

Having joined the public sector by passing the 39th Higher Civil Service Examination, Cho worked at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance—the predecessor to the current Ministry of Planning and Budget—serving as Director of Budget Coordination, Director of Budget Policy, Director of Agricultural, Forestry, and Maritime Budget, Director of Administrative Budget, Director of Budget Standards, and Director of Trade Adjustment, among other posts.

Later, he served as an administrator in the Economic Policy Office within the Presidential Secretariat and gained recognition for his communication skills with the public as spokesperson for the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Appointed as Director of the Budget Office in December of last year, Vice Minister Cho led the creation of an additional supplementary budget amounting to 26.2 trillion won in April of this year to address the Middle East war crisis.

Among accomplished budget bureaucrats, Vice Minister Cho is considered a top-tier talent. Within the Ministry, he is well known for having held all four major leadership positions in the Budget Office: Director of Budget Coordination (principal director), Director of Budget Coordination, Director of Budget Review, and Director of the Budget Office. He is the first person in 20 years, since former Vice Minister Jung Haebang, to have served in all four key budget leadership roles.

Vice Minister Cho is also highly respected within the organization for his gentle character. During his time as director at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance from 2013 to 2015, he was selected for three consecutive years as a "role model supervisor" and was inducted into the "Hall of Fame."

◇Profile

▲Born in 1971 ▲39th Higher Civil Service Examination ▲Law, Seoul National University ▲Master of Laws, University of Wisconsin ▲Director of Budget Coordination, Director of Budget Policy, Director of Agricultural, Forestry, and Maritime Budget, Director of Administrative Budget, Director of Budget Standards, Director of Trade Adjustment, Planning Team Leader of Digital Budget and Accounting Planning Division at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance ▲Senior Fellow, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in Japan ▲Senior Administrator, Economic Policy Office, Presidential Secretariat ▲Spokesperson, Ministry of Strategy and Finance ▲Director of Budget Office, Ministry of Planning and Budget

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