Jeong Eun-kyeong | |
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정은경 | |
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Commissioner of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency | |
In office 12 September 2020 – 17 May 2022 | |
President | Moon Jae-in |
Prime Minister | Chung Sye-kyun Kim Boo-kyum |
Minister | Park Neung-hoo Kwon Deok-chul |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Peck Kyong-ran |
Director of KCDC | |
In office 26 July 2017 – 11 September 2020 | |
President | Moon Jae-in |
Prime Minister | Lee Nak-yeon Chung Sye-kyun |
Minister | Park Neung-hoo |
Preceded by | Jung Ki-seok |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Gwangju, South Korea | 9 July 1965
Alma mater | Seoul National University |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 정은경 |
Hanja | 鄭銀敬 |
Revised Romanization | Jeong Eun-gyeong |
McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Ŭn-gyŏng |
Jeong Eun-kyeong or Jung Eun-kyeong (Korean: 정은경; Hanja: 鄭銀敬; born 9 July 1965) is a South Korean infectious disease and public health expert served as the first Commissioner of KDCA, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, from 2020 to 2022. Jeong was previously the first woman to lead its preceding agency, KCDC, which history dates back to 1981.[1][2]
During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, Jeong led the Division of Disease Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.[3] In 2015, during the MERS outbreak, she was responsible for press briefings and crisis management[3] as the head of the Center for Disease Prevention of KCDC and field investigation team of central task force.[2] In 2016 Board of Audit and Inspection ordered suspension of nine public health officials including Jeong[4] for their failure to stop the worst MERS outbreak outside of the Middle East.[5] Her suspension was reduced to 1-month of reduced pay after the Board was harshly criticized by the medical and scientific community for only punishing scientists such as Jeong, rather than politicians and administrators in charge.[6][4] From the early stage of COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, Jeong has held daily briefings to report its status quo and answer questions from reporters by herself and from May 2020 every two days with the other given by the Director of KDCA's KNIH.[7]
Jeong is included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020,[8] BBC's 100 women of 2020[9] and Bloomberg 50.[10]