Credit: Paul Hilton/Bloomberg News
Chin Dae Je
Minister, Information & Communication, South Korea
Chin Dae Je is a rarity in the Korean government. In a cabinet dominated by career bureaucrats, Chin's first political post came in February, 2003, when he was named Minister of Information & Communication after decades in business, including 18 years as a senior exec at Samsung Electronics Co. and two years as a researcher for IBM. After his appointment, Chin set out to make MIC run more like a business, outlining specific goals for employees and creating a new Web site to track the progress of new policies. Last year, the Prime Minister's office named his ministry the most innovative government agency, and these days folks in the ministry call him "MIC Inc. CEO."
Read More from A Korean Minister Who Acts Like a CEO