Cheong Wa Dae names new finance secretary

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Cheong Wa Dae's statement, other details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak has appointed Choo Kyung-ho,
a veteran finance official, as his new secretary for economic and financial
affairs, Lee's office, Cheong Wa Dae, announced Tuesday.
Choo, director general of the finance policy bureau at the Financial Services
Commission, replaces Yim Jong-ryong who has been tapped as vice finance minister.
He is known for expertise in economic policy and international finance.
"As he has experience in economic policy-making and financial sector, he has been
assessed as a suitable figure for the post to coordinate the policies of related
ministries," Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said.
Born in 1960 in Daegu, Choo studied business management at Korea University in
Seoul. He also received a master's degree in economics at the University of
Oregon in 1993.
He served as counselor at South Korea's mission to the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2006-2009 after more than two decades at
the finance ministry.
Choo was picked as a role model in a 2005 survey of finance ministry officials.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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