Korea Customs Service appointed two female officials to head its local branches of Anyang and Daejeon. It is the first time the government agency has appointed women to the senior posts.

KCS announced on Monday that it appointed Shim Gap-young, 53, and Kim Hyun-jeong, 35, each as customs directors of offices in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, and Daejeon Metropolitan City, respectively.

Shim is a veteran who has worked in the field for 35 years, and Kim has shown impressive planning and analyzing skills.

“We aimed to give dreams and hope to female civil servants, who take up 30 percent of the workers at KCS, by appointing talented female directors,” said a KCS spokesperson through an official statement.

Shim joined KCS in 1977 as a 9th level civil servant after graduating from Sungkyunkwan University and worked in KCS’s Narcotics Investigation Division and Trade Cooperation Division. Using her excellent English skills, she also participated in Korea-Turkey and Korea-Australia FTA discussions.

Kim graduated from Ewha Womans University and joined KCS after passing the civil service examination.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)