| Kwon Deok-cheol | |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Birth Date: | 22 March 1961 |
| Birth Place: | Namwon, North Jeolla, South Korea |
| Citizenship: | South Korean |
| Office1: | Minister of Health and Welfare |
| President1: | Moon Jae-in |
| Term Start1: | 24 December 2020 |
| Term End1: | 25 May 2022 |
| Predecessor1: | Park Neung-hoo |
| Successor1: | Cho Kyoo-hong |
| Office2: | Vice Minister of Health and Welfare |
| President2: | Moon Jae-in |
| Minister2: | Park Neung-hoo |
| Term Start2: | 7 June 2017 |
| Term End2: | 23 May 2019 |
| Predecessor2: | Bang Moon-kyu |
| Successor2: | Kim Ganglip |
| Office3: | Director of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute |
| Term Start3: | 19 September 2019 |
| Term End3: | 16 December 2020 |
| Predecessor3: | Lee Young-chan |
| Successor3: | Vacant |
| Party: | Independent |
| Alma Mater: | Sungkyunkwan University German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer |
| Occupation: | Government official |
Kwon Deok-cheol (born 22 March 1961) is a South Korean government official served as the Minister of Health and Welfare under President Moon Jae-in from 2020 to 2022. He previously served as the deputy head of the ministry from 2017 to 2019.
Kwon was born in Namwon, North Jeolla in 1961.[1] [2] [3] After being graduated from Jeolla High School in 1979,[4] he attended Sungkyunkwan University to take Bachelor in Public Administration.[1] [2] [3] [4] He then flew to Germany and studied at German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, where he obtained a master's degree and a doctorate in public administration.[1] [2] [3] [4]
After being qualified for the Public Administration Examination in 1987,[5] he started his career as the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Society in 1989, then the Ministry of Health and Welfare.[4] He served several positions within the ministry, such as the Director-General for Planning and Budget, Director-General for Financial Planning, Director General for Childcare Policy, Director General for Welfare Policy, Director of Health and Medical Policy, Assistant Minister for Planning and Coordination, and Deputy Minister.[1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2013, the Korea Medical Association led strikes against the then Park Geun-hye government's healthcare privatisation and telemedicine.[1] Kwon led a negotiation with the trade union to stop the strikes.[1] During the MERS outbreak in 2015, he was the Director of Health and Medical Policy and therefore was in charge of curbing the outbreak,[1] [2] [3] [4] along with Jeong Eun-kyeong.[2]
On 6 June 2017, Kwon was appointed the Vice Minister of Health and Welfare by the President Moon Jae-in.[6] [7] As the Vice Minister, he was in charge of fulfilling Moon's healthcare policies, known as "Moon Jae-in Care".[3] His term was ended on 23 May 2019, approximately 23 months after the appointment.[8] This made him as the longest-serving person to hold the position.[8] On 19 September, he was appointed the Director of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).[9]
On 4 December 2020, Kwon was nominated the new Minister of Health and Welfare, replacing the incumbent Park Neung-hoo.[1] [2] [3] Therefore, his tenure as the Director of the KHIDI was ended on 16 December.[10] [11] He was officially appointed to the position on 24 December.[4] [12]
On 20 December 2020, 4 days before his appointment, a KHIDI report submitted to a People Power MP Jo Myung-hee revealed that Kwon was in the United Arab Emirates on a business trip from 25 to 29 October.[13] [14] As he had already returned to South Korea in the afternoon of 29 October, he was supposed to fulfill a 2-week self-quarantine until the noon of 12 November.[13] [14] However, he had joined the Healthcare Innovation Forum 2020 that was held at The Westin Chosun Seoul from 9am on 12 November, just few hours before his quarantine ended.[13] [14] The report has also revealed that he was wearing a face mask at the official meeting, but not while talking with others and taking photos.[13] [14] Jo, who had received the report, criticised his action, but he replied that he was exempted from the quarantine due to diplomatic reasons.[13] [14] He also gave a feedback that he was already tested negative for the COVID-19 before the exemption.[13] [14]