President Lee Jae Myung nominated Lee Hye-hoon, a veteran economist and former three-term lawmaker from the conservative camp, as the inaugural minister for planning and budget, the presidential office announced Sunday. Lee Hye-hoon, widely regarded as a pragmatic conservative economist, was tapped to lead the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, which will be placed under the prime minister’s office as part of a government reorganization bill scheduled to take effect in January. Announcing the nomination at a press briefing, Lee Kyu-yeon, presidential secretary for public relations and communication, described her as “a policy expert with deep practical experience." “Grounded in a philosophy of economic democratization, she introduced a bill as primary sponsor to revise the Minimum Wage Act and Interest Limitation Act, while advancing policies aimed at curbing unfair trade practices and revitalizing people’s livelihoods,” Lee Kyu-yeon said. “Based on her extensive legislative experience, she is well-suited to carefully design the government’s mid- to long-te