South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has nominated Han Seong-sook, the current Minister of SMEs and Startups, as the country’s next prime minister. If confirmed by the National Assembly, she would be South Korea’s first female prime minister in two decades.
The nomination, announced on June 7 by chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, sends a clear signal about where Asia’s fourth-largest economy wants to place its bets. Han’s resume reads like a blueprint for a country trying to become an AI superpower: former CEO of Naver Corp., South Korea’s dominant search and tech platform, followed by a cabinet role focused on digital transformation for small and mid-sized businesses.
A tech executive with a government playbook
Naver is often described as South Korea’s answer to Google. Running that company gave Han direct experience scaling AI-driven products for a market of over 50 million people.
Her transition into government as Minister of SMEs and Startups wasn’t just a soft landing. In that role, she pushed digital transformation initiatives aimed at getting smaller Korean businesses onto AI-powered tools.
