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Chae Hwi-young's nomination as culture minister signals big tourism push

Published: 11 Jul. 2025, 18:27

Culture Minister nominee Chae Hwi-young [TRIPLE]

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday nominated Chae Hwi-young, co-CEO of one of the largest online travel platforms in Korea, as the minister of culture, sports and tourism in an apparent bid to accelerate the country's drive toward a larger tourism market with the help of entertainment and content.

Chae, aged 61, is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the digital platform industry and is the first nominee from the tourism industry to head the ministry. The only prior appointee with a similar background was Kim Jong-min, who served from 2007 to 2008 after leading the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and serving as vice minister of culture.

Born in Busan in 1964, Chae graduated from Gyeongseong High School and earned a degree in English literature from Sogang University in 1990. He began his career as a journalist at Yonhap News Agency and YTN before moving into tech, joining Yahoo Korea in 2000 and later NHN in 2002, where he served as head of planning at the Naver division and eventually as CEO.

In 2016, he founded Triple, a hyper-personalized travel platform that recommends itineraries based on users’ travel histories. The app was acquired by Yanolja in 2022 and merged with Interpark to form Interpark Triple, where Chae became CEO.

Chae currently coleads Nol Universe, one of Korea’s largest travel platforms launched late last year. The company integrates Yanolja Platform, Korea’s top accommodation booking service; Interpark, a leader in flight and concert ticket sales; and Triple, known for its customized travel recommendations.

Chae is the latest Naver alumnus to be tapped for a key government post under Lee’s administration, following Han Seong-sook, the nominee for SMEs and Startups Minister, and Ha Jung-woo, senior secretary for future AI planning. He is also the second Sogang University graduate to be nominated to a Cabinet post, following the late former Defense Minister Kim Tae-young.

“He brings a wealth of experience across sectors, from journalism and leading an online portal to founding a travel platform," Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said of Chae during a press briefing on Friday.

Kang described Chae as “a new CEO for the Culture Ministry, poised to realize the president’s vision of building a 300 trillion-won [$218.2 billion] K-culture market, with private-sector expertise and fresh ideas.”

Cultural experts see the nomination as a signal of the administration’s focus on transforming the ministry into an engine for Korea’s content industries, especially tourism and entertainment. Triple surpassed 5.5 million cumulative users just two and a half years after its launch, and the sector hopes Chae can lead Korea into a new era of 20 million annual inbound tourists.

“Chae is known internally as a leader with both insight and execution,” said a Yanolja official. “He has long stressed that the success of K-content can drive added value across various sectors, including inbound tourism.”

Korea saw 16.96 million foreign visitors last year — just below the pre-pandemic level of 17.5 million — with nearly 80 percent concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to the KTO. The ministerial nomination is also expected to accelerate the appointment of a new KTO president, a post that has remained vacant for 18 months since Kim Jang-sil stepped down in January 2023 to run for office.

Chae’s nomination has also sparked calls to revise the outdated Tourism Promotion Act, which critics say fails to recognize travel tech firms like Yanolja, Airbnb and Klook.

“The act should be comprehensively revised to accommodate new industries like travel tech and unlock the full growth potential of Korea’s tourism sector,” said Lee Hoon, a professor at Hanyang University’s Graduate School of Tourism.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KWON KEUN-YOUNG, BAEK JONG-HYUN [[email protected]]