Yoo Young-min has been formally appointed as the head of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, taking on the difficult tasks of restoring the organization’s governance leadership, finding the country’s next growth engines and easing a conflict with telecom companies.

President Moon Jae-in approved the appointment of the new minister Tuesday.

Yoo served as an executive of LG Electronics, vice president of LG CNS and chief operating officer of Posco ICT. He replaced Choi Yang-hee, who had led the ICT Ministry since July 2014 under former President Park Geun-hye. 

The new minister faces challenges to boost the ICT Ministry, which was hit by the political scandal involving the former president.

Experts said Yoo, first of all, needs to show charisma to inspire his employees, whose morale declined since the ministry, a key organization of Park’s “creative economy,” was embroiled in the political scandal. The ministry has been suffering from diminished drive to push new policies over the past months amid growing speculations that it might be dismantled under the new government.

“Although ICT Ministry has not earned trust from the public and its existence has been unclear, we are now assigned with a key mission to lead science technology innovation and the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ under the new government,” Yoo said in his inaugural ceremony Tuesday.

“We should produce a concrete outcome and live up to the expectations of the public, who gave us another chance,” the new minister added.

Outside the ministry, he will also have to address a conflict with local telecom operators, which began with Moon Jae-in government’s plan to reduce the burden of mobile costs.

Early this month, the ICT Ministry proposed bills including shaving off the 11,000 won ($9) monthly base rate for senior citizens aged 65 or above and expanding the current optional 20 percent discount for monthly bills to 25 percent for purchasers of new phones.

However, the proposals led to massive protests from the carriers, KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus, as they claimed the cost they should bear would exceed their operating profits and that they would even consider filing an administrative litigation.

“Based on the ministry’s estimation, the cost the carriers should bear is over 4 trillion won annually, which is higher than combined operating profits. If the proposals are confirmed, we have no choice but to file a litigation against the government,” said an anonymous source from a local telecom operator.

Apart from dealing with the current issues, the ICT Ministry should also make a long-term plan to prepare for the nation’s future technologies, industry watchers said.

“The government needs to focus on the 5G network, which is becoming increasingly important in the era of the Internet of Things, big data and self-driving cars,” said Kim Deuk-won, a researcher specializing in the 5G network at Korea Information Society Development Institute.

“In order to encourage the telecom companies to make an investment -- from the social not profitable perspective -- in building the 5G network nationwide, the government should well navigate the thorny issues with them,” Kim added.

The new minister also said in his speech that the ministry will advance networks, including 5G and the Internet of Things, and build an eco-system to use big data in diverse areas.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)