NRC board appoints 15th president of KLI
Three-year term runs from July 1 through June 30, 2029
Lee Byung-hee, a senior research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, has been appointed the institute's new president.
The Economic, Humanities and Social Research Council (NRC), which operates under the prime minister, held its 392nd board meeting Tuesday and named Lee the 15th president of the Korea Labor Institute. His three-year term runs from July 1 through June 30, 2029.
Lee earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University before completing his master's and doctoral degrees in economics at the same institution. He joined the Korea Labor Institute in 1997 and has since served as a research fellow, deputy director of research and senior research fellow, establishing himself as a leading labor economist specializing in labor economics and employment safety nets.
He also brings extensive policy experience. Lee has served on the advisory panel for Social Dialogue 2.0 under the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, as chair of the National Assembly consultative body on social dialogue protection legislation, as chair of the employment subcommittee of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's expert panel on labor law and systems, and as a member of the Gender Equality Committee under the prime minister — contributing to discussions on social dialogue and labor market reform.
The NRC expects Lee to oversee the institute's management and research operations, leading policy research on major labor issues including labor market structural reform, employment safety nets, retirement age extension and the impact of AI on jobs.
Over his three-year tenure, Lee will be responsible for the institute's research output and institutional management, and will undergo performance evaluations by the NRC covering both management results and research achievements.
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