Kim Gang-lip (; born 9 November 1965) is a South Korean government official served as Minister of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) from 2020 to 2022 and Vice Minister of Health and Welfare (MOHW) from 2019 to 2020 under President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

. After passing the state exam in 1990, Kim has dedicated his career in public service - mostly at MOHW. At MOHW, Kim led departments responsible for various policy areas spanning from public health to pension system. He also served as a counsellor at Permanent Mission of Korea in Geneva where WHO resides. Upon beginning of President Moon's presidency in 2017, Kim was promoted to lead MOHW's Planning and Coordination Office, the most senior office in any ministries. He then led the MOHW as its vice minister before becoming Food and Drug Safety Minister in 2020 as part of vice minister reshuffle. Following the legislative amendment incurred by the pandemic which expanded the number of vice-minister of MOHW, Kim served as the last Vice Minister of MOHW and its first 1st Vice Minister. Since 2020 Kim sits as a member of the Executive Board of WHO. He is widely known to the public for daily 11am briefing on

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

virus containment he held while serving as the deputy head of MOHW. In a MFDS, MOHW and KDCA's joint briefing to the president in January 2021, Kim reaffirmed that vaccine approval, which his ministry is responsible for, will be completed in February 2021. On 10 February 2021, Kim, on behalf of the ministry, announced the approval of

Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine COVID-19 vaccine, for the prevention of COVID-19. It was developed in the United Kingdom by University of ...

for all adults which will be manufactured in South Korea by SK Bioscience's facility in

Andong Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...

on the condition that the ministry receives a report of the third and last stage of its clinical trial. In a YouTube-TV show, Giant Peng TV, Kim, then deputy head of Ministry of Health and Welfare, nicknamed himself "strong man." Kim holds three degrees - a bachelor in sociology and a doctorate in welfare science from

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

and a master's in social welfare policy from

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Gang-lip Living people Yonsei University alumni University of Chicago alumni 1965 births People from Cheorwon County Government ministers of South Korea