SEOUL-- Han Ki-jeong, the nominee for South Korea's new antitrust chief, is an expert well versed in insurance and commercial law who developed administrative expertise in various government posts.
Born in Seoul, Han, 58, earned a bachelor's degree of law at Seoul National University (SNU) in 1986 and received a doctorate degree at the University of Cambridge in Britain in 1996.
He has served as a law professor and in posts as committee members of various government agencies, including the finance ministry and the financial regulator.
In 2010, Han began teaching at SNU School of Law and served as the dean of the law school between 2020 and June 2022. He also worked as the head of the Korea Insurance Research Institute in 2016-2019.
President Yoon Suk-yeol is known to have wanted to name a legal expert the chair of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) as he believes a person with a legal background will be better suitable for enforcing the fair trade law.
The nomination came after Song Ok-rial, Yoon's first pick for the FTC chief, stepped down in early July amid allegations that he sexually harassed students as a university professor nearly a decade ago.
Source: Yonhap News Agency