Yoo Young-min, former Minister of Science and ICT, has been named chief of staff at South Korea’s Blue House on Thursday.
Yoo joined LG Electronics in 1979 and had worked at LG Group for 30 years. He was executive vice president at LG CNS in 2006.
He was named the Minister of Science and ICT of President Moon Jae-in’s administration in July 2017.
His joining the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential office, will likely be welcome news to LG Group.
Yoo worked together with LG Group vice chairman Kwon Young-soo together in 1979. The two reportedly communicated frequently when Kwon was CEO at LG Uplus prior to the launch of 5G networks.
Lee Bang-soo, president at LG Corp, is handling government liaison duties for the conglomerate. Lee will likely be Yoo’s main contact with LG Group. Lee joined LG Electronics in 1984 and had been a PR made for over 30 years.
Yoo is expected to keep his chief of staff post until the end of Moon’s term, which is May 2022. His predecessor Noh Young-min kept his job for two years as well. Yoo will likely begin his term as chief of staff right away as the position doesn’t require approval from the National Assembly.
There was controversy over his hearing as Minister of Science and ICT as it was revealed his two children worked at LG Group. He denied he pressured the conglomerate to hire them.
