[2] Prior to his appointment as Seoul National University president, Chung was dean of the college of social sciences in the first half of 2002.

Chung received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1978 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Toward a theory of the price setting banking firm.

[citation needed] Chung began his academic career as a business associate and assistant professor at Columbia University from 1976 to 1978.

[citation needed] On September 3, 2009, Chung was nominated as Prime Minister of South Korea by president Lee Myung-bak.

At the parliamentary confirmation hearing, he said that a government plan to relocate nine ministries and four major administration bodies to the newly created Sejong City in central South Korea would lead to nationwide inefficiency.

[citation needed] After assuming office, Sejong city plan had faced uphill political battle and opposition parties vowed Saturday to their struggle against him.