Yoon Seong-kyu took office as the new Minister of Environment.

Yoon Seong-kyu took office as the new Minister of Environment.

 

On March 11, the Inaugural Ceremony of the 15th Minister of Environment was held after he received a certificate of appointment from President Park Geun-hye.

In his inaugural speech, Minister Yoon underscored that not until the environmental challenges are effectively addressed, we cannot expect environment welfare as well as sustainable development.

As the first Minister of Environment under the Park administration, he expressed his aspiration to build a leading country for economic growth and environmental conservation, where all Koreans enjoy environment welfare while achieving sustainable development.

He pledged to enhance environment welfare, an essential prerequisite for people’s happiness, to the level of advanced countries, and promote sustainable management of territory by fitting economy, environment and society together into sustainable development.

Minister also promised to switch the Korean society into a resource-cycling society and stick to polluter pays principle to prevent further environmental pollution and accidents.

Moreover, he announced to prepare for a unified Korea by building a South-North Korea Environment Community and actively join in tackling global environmental challenges such as climate change.

To live up to public’s expectations to achieve great happiness, economic development and cultural advancement for all, Minister pledged to establish and implement effective environmental policies to provide preventive environment welfare, productive environment welfare and forward-looking environment welfare.

An official from the Ministry of Environment said that the staffs of MOE have great expectations for Minister Yoon as he has accumulated expertise in environmental field throughout his career.

After beginning civil service career in 1975, he had served for the Ministry of Environment since 1987, working at departments of water quality, waste and environmental policy.

He also worked at Korea Meteorological Service before he took the lead of the state-run ‘Center for Eco-energy and Greenhouse Gases,’ boasting his excellence in the field of environmental technology and environmental industry.

It is greatly anticipated that Minister Yoon will smoothly resolve a series of environmental issues ranging from countermeasures for chemical leak to examination on the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project.