(LEAD) (profile) Journalist-turned-politician nominated SMEs minister

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SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- The Moon Jae-in government on Friday nominated Park Young-sun, a well known journalist-turned-politician, to lead the SMEs and startups ministry as part of its latest cabinet reshuffle.

Park Young-sun, 59, worked as reporter and anchorwoman at Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., or MBC, for 20 years before she entered politics in 2004. In 2014, she was elected the first female floor leader of the then major opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy party.

Park said in a statement later that she would do her best to help young jobseekers in their 20s find work and to help startups, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed businesses increase their profit.

The Moon government has striven to provide a level playing field to SMEs and resolve discrimination against them in the markets since it took power in May 2017.

In a press release also issued after the nomination, the Korea Federation of SMEs called on Park to further improve the unfair trade environment between conglomerates and SMEs and relieve the financial burden of SMEs amid rising wages and shortened working hours.

The four-term lawmaker served as chairman of the Legislation & Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly, and she now heads the task force team set up to reform the country's legal system.

She was born in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1960 and studied journalism at the graduate school of Sogang University.

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