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One of the highlights of President-elect Park's minister-nominees was Korean-American Kim
Jeong-hoon who was tapped to lead the newly created Ministry of Creative Future Science,
which Park hopes will play a key role in jumpstarting the economy by combining science and technology
with industry.
Our Kim Han-ul tells us who he is.
Kim Jeong-hoon's nomination as the head of the Future Creation and Science Ministry is
just the latest in a series of achievements and promotions that has made his life look
like a picture of the American Dream.
Born in 1960 in Seoul, Kim immigrated to the United States at the age of 15.
Despite the language barrier, he went on to complete his undergraduate studies at Johns
Hopkins University and eventually earned his doctoral degree at the University of Maryland.
In 1992, Kim founded a tech equipment firm called Yurie Systems, and after just five
years, he managed to sell the company for around 1-billion U.S. dollars.
In 2005, he became the chief of the renowned Bell Labs, a subsidiary of the French-owned
Alcatel-Lucent, and currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for the parent company.
Now, all eyes are on Kim's nomination to the new Science ministry, which came as a surprise
to most political observers.
The brand-new ministry Kim has been tapped to lead is part of the incoming president's
ambitious plans to revive the economy by creating jobs through investing in new technologies.
And few expected that the president-elect would nominate a Korean-American businessman
with no political experience to the top government post.
While pundits believe Kim's successful IT track-record make him a good fit for the job,
the issue of his citizenship could be the biggest obstacle to his appointment and is
likely to be debated during his confirmation hearing.
Kim regained his South Korean citizenship last week and has vowed to give up his U.S.
citizenship.
Critics, however, worry whether he will truly be able to represent Korea in sensitive, high
level negotiations.
Kim Han-ul, Arirang News.