Song Mi-ryung, former deputy director of the Korea Rural Economic Institute, has been nominated as the new minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, the presidential office said Monday.

Born in 1967, Song studied political science at Ewha Womans University. She earned her master’s degree in urban design and planning and her doctorate in public administration at Seoul National University.

Having started her professional career at the KREI in 1997, she has devoted almost 30 years to the state-run institute’s extensive research work. She published a slew of academic publications specialized in the balanced development of urban and rural areas.

She led the institute’s rural policy research department from February 2020 to May this year. She also headed the KREI’s Agricultural Observation Center between 2016 and 2017.

Since 2022, Song has served diverse positions within the presidential office’s advisory bodies on land, agriculture and fisheries policies, among others areas.

If Song gets appointed, she would become the first female agriculture minister since the ministry’s inception in 1948.