Kwon Deok-cheol

Kwon was born in Namwon, North Jeolla in 1961.[2][3][4] After being graduated from Jeolla High School in 1979,[1] he attended Sungkyunkwan University to take Bachelor in Public Administration.[2][3][4][1] He then flew to Germany and studied at German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, where he obtained a master's degree and a doctorate in public administration.[2][3][4][1]

After being qualified for the Public Administration Examination in 1987,[5] he started his career as the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Society in 1989, then the Ministry of Health and Welfare.[1] He served several positions within the ministry, such as the Director-General for Planning and Budget, Director-General for Financial Planning, Director General for Childcare Policy, Director General for Welfare Policy, Director of Health and Medical Policy, Assistant Minister for Planning and Coordination, and Deputy Minister.[2][3][4][1]

In 2013, the Korea Medical Association led strikes against the then Park Geun-hye government's healthcare privatisation and telemedicine.[2] Kwon led a negotiation with the trade union to stop the strikes.[2] During the MERS outbreak in 2015, he was the Director of Health and Medical Policy and therefore was in charge of curbing the outbreak,[2][3][4][1] along with Jeong Eun-kyeong.[3]

On 6 June 2017, Kwon was appointed the Vice Minister of Health and Welfare by the President Moon Jae-in.[6][7] As the Vice Minister, he was in charge of fulfilling Moon's healthcare policies, known as "Moon Jae-in Care".[4] His term was ended on 23 May 2019, approximately 23 months after the appointment.[8] This made him as the longest-serving person to hold the position.[8] On 19 September, he was appointed the Director of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).[9]

On 4 December 2020, Kwon was nominated the new Minister of Health and Welfare, replacing the incumbent Park Neung-hoo.[2][3][4] Therefore, his tenure as the Director of the KHIDI was ended on 16 December.[10][11] He was officially appointed to the position on 24 December.[1][12]

On 20 December 2020, 4 days before his appointment, a KHIDI report submitted to a People Power MP Jo Myung-hee revealed that Kwon was in the United Arab Emirates on a business trip from 25 to 29 October.[13][14] As he had already returned to South Korea in the afternoon of 29 October, he was supposed to fulfill a 2-week self-quarantine until the noon of 12 November.[13][14] However, he had joined the Healthcare Innovation Forum 2020 that was held at The Westin Chosun Seoul from 9am on 12 November, just few hours before his quarantine ended.[13][14] The report has also revealed that he was wearing a face mask at the official meeting, but not while talking with others and taking photos.[13][14] Jo, who had received the report, criticised his action, but he replied that he was exempted from the quarantine due to diplomatic reasons.[13][14] He also gave a feedback that he was already tested negative for the COVID-19 before the exemption.[13][14]