South Korea appointed Yoo Il-ho as its new finance minister, the presidential Blue House putting him in charge of Asia’s fourth-largest economy amid slow growth and low inflation. Yoo, a scholar-turned-politician and former land minister, replaces Choi Kyung-hwan, who will be running in parliamentary elections in April. In speeches and a parliamentary hearing, Yoo said South Korea’s biggest problem was slowing potential growth brought on by delayed structural reforms, and vowed to continue Choi’s efforts for change.

 Did You Know??? 

• South Korea is East Asia’s most developed country in the Human Development Index. Koreans are among the richest in the world, enjoying Asia’s highest median income and average wage.
• It is a top global performer in education,quality of healthcare and ease of doing business.
• It leads OECD countries in student skills with the highest percentage of young adults holding a tertiary education degree and the highest percentage of graduates in natural sciences and engineering.
• Driven by high-tech companies such as Samsung, Hyundai-Kia and LG, South Korea was named the world’s most innovative country in the Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranking first in business R&D intensity and patents filed per GDP.