[1] In March 2022 President Moon Jae-in tapped Rhee who had led the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund over 8 years for the country's top monetary policy chief upon recommendations from president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.

[7] During the nomination hearing, Rhee vowed to utilise the central bank's "unpopular" tool of base rate to address post-pandemic inflation reiterating the organisation's role in price stabilisation.

[6][8] Prior to moving to the IMF as the first South Korean to join its senior leadership,[9] Rhee was the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank where he worked as its spokesperson and head of its Economic and Research Department.

Following President Lee's restructuring of government entities, Rhee took the first deputy role of the Financial Services Commission from 2008 to 2009 before joining the Presidential Committee for the 2010 G-20 Seoul Summit as its Secretary-General and Sherpa.

[4] Rhee completed a doctorate in 1989 at the Harvard University, with Lawrence Summers as his advisor.