Kwon Deok-chul

Kwon Deok-cheol (, born 22 March 1961 After being graduated from Jeolla High School in 1979, he attended Sungkyunkwan University to take Bachelor in Public Administration. he started his career as the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Society in 1989, then the Ministry of Health and Welfare. As the Vice Minister, he was in charge of fulfilling Moon's healthcare policies, known as "Moon Jae-in Care". This made him as the longest-serving person to hold the position.

On 4 December 2020, Kwon was nominated the new Minister of Health and Welfare, replacing the incumbent Park Neung-hoo. He was officially appointed to the position on 24 December.

Controversy 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. 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. 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. 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. Jo, who had received the report, criticised his action, but he replied that he was exempted from the quarantine due to diplomatic reasons. He also gave a feedback that he was already tested negative for the COVID-19 before the exemption.