Culture Minister nominee Hwang Hee is a two-term lawmaker affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party, who began his political career in the late 1990s as a secretary to the late President Kim Dae-jung.

He has served as the Democratic Party’s head of public relations and as its deputy floor leader.

He was elected to his first term as a lawmaker in the general elections in 2016, and was reelected in 2020. Until recently, he was the administrator of the National Assembly’s defense committee.

Born in 1967, Hwang graduated from Soongsil University in Seoul with a degree in economics. Hwang went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees from Yonsei University in urban planning and engineering.

Hwang showed impressive communication skills while working as the Democratic Party’s public relations chief and as its deputy floor leader, a Cheong Wa Dae official said in announcing Hwang’s nomination.

“Culture, sport and tourism industries that the Culture Ministry has to work with are going through many difficulties so we had to take into consideration planning and communication abilities (in the nomination),” the Cheong Wa Dae official added.

The official also noted that as a lawmaker Hwang had worked on policies for urban development projects, which involved combining art with tourism.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)