Former presidential chief of staff Chung Jung-kil has been nominated as president of the Academy of Korean Studies.

The academy board said Friday that it selected Chung as the successor to Kim Jung-bae, who will retire on April 20. The new president should be approved by the minister of education, science and technology before taking office.

The 69-year-old Chung earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the law department and the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University. He received a political science Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1979. He served as chief of staff to President Lee Myung-bak from 2008-10 after holding the presidential post at the University of Ulsan starting in 2003.

Established in June 1978 by the ministry, the academy seeks to define the academic identity of Korean studies and educate scholars.

(swchun@heraldcorp.com)