Choi Sang-mok

Choi Sang-mok
Choi Sang-mok
최상목
Deputy Prime Minister and; Minister of Economy and Finance
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 29 December 2023
Prime Minister	Han Duck-soo
Preceded by	Choo Kyung-ho
First Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs
	In office; 10 May 2022 – 3 December 2023
President	Yoon Suk Yeol
Preceded by	Park Won-ju
Succeeded by	Park Choon-seop
First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance
	In office; 18 January 2016 – 31 May 2017
President	Park Geun-hye
Preceded by	Joo Hyung-hwan
Succeeded by	Ko Hyeong-kwon
Personal details
Born	7 June 1963 (age 60); Seoul, South Korea
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	Seoul National University (LLB); Cornell University (PhD)

Choi Sang-mok (Korean: 최상목, born 7 June 1963) is a South Korea's deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy and Finance.

Life[edit]

He was born on June 7, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. After graduating from Osan High School in Seoul (72nd), he entered the Department of Law at Seoul National University College of Law (Class of 82) in 1982, chose the Department of Law in his second year, and passed the 29th Public Administration Examination in 1985. After graduating summa laude from Seoul National University College of Law in 1986, he completed a master's degree in public administration at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration.

He enlisted in the Army on October 13, 1986 after being adjudicated as a six-month National Guard for independent reasons, served as an administrative soldier (general administrative specialty) in the Army Headquarters Command Office, and was demobilized as a private on April 12, 1987.

Since then, he has served as an official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, serving as the Director of the Securities System Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (Level 3), the Director of the Financial Policy Division / the Director of the Public Funds Management Committee of the Financial Services Commission (Level 2), the Director of the Policy Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Director of the Economic Policy Bureau, and the Director of the Policy Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (Level 1). In June 1996, he received his PhD in economics from Cornell University, specializing in macroeconomics.

From October 2013 to July 2014, he served as Vice Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Policy Advisor to the Minister of Strategy and Finance, and in July 2014, he served as Secretary for Economy and Finance in the Office of the Chief Economic Officer of the Presidential Secretariat (14.09~16.01). He returned to the Ministry of Finance and was promoted to vice minister and served as the first vice minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance until May 2017, when the Moon Jae-in government took office.

On March 22, 2019, he was appointed as an outside director of Ildong Holdings, and as of March 12, 2020, he was appointed as an outside director of Shinhan Investment Corp.

As of March 24, 2020, he was appointed as the 26th president of Nonghyup University.

In March 2022, after Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president, he participated in the 20th Presidential Transition Committee as a secretary of the Economy 1 Division. As he has served as the secretary of the transition committee, he is attracting attention as a candidate for the first vice prime minister and minister of economy and finance of the Yoon Suk-yeol government and chairman of the Financial Services Commission along with Rep. Choo Kyung-ho and former head of the Office of State Affairs Coordination. However, he was appointed to the post of Chief Economic Secretary in the Office of the President.

Minister of Economy and Finance[edit]

After being appointed deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance by President Yoon Suk Yeol, he told a news conference that strengthening efforts to stabilize people's livelihoods would be the most important priority under his leadership.^[1]