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Four-term DP lawmaker with budgetary experience tapped to lead budget ministry

Published: 02 Mar. 2026, 18:12

Democratic Party Rep. Park Hong-keun answers reporters’ questions as he arrives for an interview for metropolitan mayoral candidates at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 23. [YONHAP]

Budget Minister nominee Rep. Park Hong-keun is a four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), known for his experience in handling budgetary issues in parliament.

Park, nominated as the inaugural minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, was first elected to parliament in 2012 and has served as a senior member and chairman of the parliamentary special committee on budgets and accounts.

He is also known for his close ties to President Lee Jae Myung, serving as the DP's floor leader in 2022 and 2023, when Lee was the party's leader. As floor leader, Park oversaw budget negotiations and the party's legislative strategies.

When Lee took office as president last year in a snap election, Park served as the head of a planning subcommittee of the State Affairs Planning Committee that acted as the new administration's de facto transition team.

Park, who entered politics in 2007 as a spokesperson for the liberal Grand Unified Democratic New Party, is a graduate of Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

Yonhap