Okyu Kwon

Okyu Kwon took office as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy on July 18, 2006, followed by his appointment as Chief Secretary to the President for National Policy and Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Policy in June and April, 2006, respectively.

Prior to taking up his current position at the Ministry, Mr. Kwon was appointed his country’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD in July 2004. Mr. Kwon was also Senior Secretary to the President for National Policy in February 2003 after he held a post of Administrator of the Public Procurement Service in July 2002. Amongst his prominent positions, he was Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy in April 2001, Secretary to the President for Finance and Economy, Office of the President in July 2000, and Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund in May 1997. In September 1999, he joined the Ministry of Finance and Economy as Director-General of the Bureau of Economic Policy.

Mr. Kwon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1975 from Seoul National University in Korea, and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1991. In 1998, he earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Chung-Ang University in Korea.

Mr. Kwon was born in Korea on June 27, 1952.