President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to carry out an additional Cabinet reshuffle in the middle of next month, an official said Friday, amid speculation that the shakeup could affect the industry minister and the chief of the state broadcasting watchdog.

In his first Cabinet reshuffle since taking office, Yoon on Thursday named a new unification minister and an Olympic weightlifting gold medalist for vice culture minister in a shakeup that also affected one other ministerial post and 11 other vice ministers.

"The atmosphere suggests that there will be some time before the next reshuffle, including the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) chairman post," said the presidential official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The presidential office is reportedly pushing for the appointment of Lee Dong-kwan as the new KCC chief. Lee is currently a special adviser to the president and formerly served as a senior presidential secretary for press affairs under the Lee Myung-bak administration.

The main opposition Democratic Party has accused Lee of being unfit for the job for various reasons, including allegations that he unfairly interfered with personnel affairs with the state broadcaster KBS and his son bullied a fellow student in high school in 2011.

If appointed, Lee will replace Han Sang-hyuk, who was appointed under the previous Moon Jae-in administration. Han was dismissed by Yoon earlier this month after being indicted by prosecutors on charges of involvement in giving low scores to the right-wing cable channel TV Chosun during the process of renewing its broadcasting license in 2020.

Given the contentious issues involving the KCC, such as collecting license fees for KBS separately from electricity bills, it is likely that Yoon will take some time before the next reshuffle. The KCC is expected to amend a relevant enforcement ordinance soon.

It is also highly likely that the next industry minister, who will replace Lee Chang-yang, will be named in the next reshuffle as well.

Source: Yonhap News Agency