President Yoon Suk-yeol is considering appointing the second Minister of Education to the former Lee Joo-ho, who served as Minister of Science and Education in the Lee Myung-bak administration.

After the resignation of former Minister Park Soon-ae, the position of Minister of Education remained vacant for about 50 days. President Park has offered to resign 35 days after taking office, following controversy related to her proposal to lower her school age to five.

Lee served as Minister of Education, Science and Technology from 2010 to 2013 during the Lee Myung-bak administration. The Ministry of Education and Science was subsequently split into the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Information and Communication.

If he becomes a minister, Lee will be reinstated after 10 years.

During his tenure, Mr. Lee spearheaded several educational reforms aimed at diversifying secondary education, including the establishment of self-governing private high schools and Meister College.

A graduate of Seoul National University and Cornell University, Lee is a professor at the Korea Development Institute’s Graduate School of Public Policy and Management.

Earlier this year, Lee ran for the Seoul education superintendent election, but withdrew during the election, calling for political integration of conservative candidates.

Lee advocated the introduction of artificial intelligence-assisted education during the election campaign. He suggested using an AI teaching assistant that could provide a learning system targeted to the individual needs of students. He explained that high-tech tools can narrow the learning gap among students.

Mr. Lee’s entry into the cabinet is consistent with the position of the Yoon administration, which has included “reform of the high school system to provide diverse education” as a national policy issue.

The Confirmation Hearing Act requires the President to hold a hearing in the National Assembly within 20 days of the formal appointment of a ministerial nominee.

Lim Eunbiel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)