Lee Jae-young, the Democratic Party of Korea's regional committee chairman for Yangsan-gap in South Gyeongsang Province, has been appointed as the new head of the party's Democratic Research Institute.
Park Su-hyun, the party's senior spokesperson, announced after the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday that "Representative Chung Chung-rae has appointed Chairman Lee to the vacant position of Democratic Research Institute head." The position had been vacant since former head Lee Han-joo resigned in October.
Park described Lee as "an economics expert who entered politics from academia in international economics, majored in business administration at Hanyang University, obtained a doctoral degree from Moscow State University, and served as head of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy."
"Chairman Lee is a native of Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province who entered politics through the Democratic Party's talent recruitment during the 21st general election," Park added. "He has run twice as the party's National Assembly candidate for Yangsan-gap, challenging the regional political structure, and currently serves as the party's regional committee chairman."
When asked about Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik's request for the National Assembly to quickly recommend candidates for special inspector to monitor misconduct by the president's relatives, Park said, "We currently have no position on this. We will monitor the situation," adding that "since the recommendation request comes to the National Assembly, there will be discussions at the parliamentary level."
