[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Criticism is emerging that the current government’s network pool may be exhausted as it has yet to appoint the director of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). There have been accusations that the government has engaged in ‘revolving door personnel’ and ‘appointing their own people’ regarding appointments of heads of defense industry-related institutions, along with criticism that it has been irresponsible in appointing leaders of defense-related agencies.
The position of director of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), which is central to the development of our military weapons, has been vacant for six months. The first recruitment was announced last November, but it became controversial when Kang Eun-ho, the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), resigned from his deputy director position and applied. This was because he submitted his resignation without serving even one year as deputy director. In response, former DAPA head Wang Jeong-hong said at the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee plenary session on November 9 last year, “(The reason former deputy director Kang applied for resignation) is understood to be because he intended to apply for the ADD director position.”
Afterward, three candidates applied for the re-announced ADD director position, but there were no suitable candidates, and it is rumored that the higher-ups have not made a decision. The ADD director is appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Minister of National Defense after deliberation by the Ministry of National Defense Personnel Committee, with a term of three years.
As the ADD director has not been appointed, internal dissatisfaction is growing rather than reform. Internally, a reform task force (TF) of about ten members was formed to create reform plans, but there is no director to make decisions on them. The ADD labor union strongly criticized, saying, “It seems certain that there is a faction trying to gain something by appointing a specific person as the ADD director.”
The appointment of the ADD director has been controversial from before. In December 2017, when Nam Se-gyu, then deputy director of ADD, was appointed director, the qualification requirements for the director recruitment changed from ‘retired general officer’ to ‘retired field-grade officer or higher,’ which drew criticism as ‘appointing their own people.’
The same applies to the position of director of the Defense Technology Quality Institute, which inspects the quality of weapon systems. The government announced in December 2017 that it would appoint retired Colonel Lee Chang-hee as the director, but the appointment was withdrawn within a day. At that time, DAPA explained, “People who have retired or left service within three years must undergo screening, but this retired colonel had left DAPA only one year ago, so he was subject to employment screening,” and admitted, “We missed the verification process before the appointment.” This incident was said to have occurred because the government hastily made appointments without proper verification, according to sources inside and outside the military.
There is also criticism that heads of defense-related institutions are revolving door personnel. Former Military Manpower Administration (MMA) head Kim Young-hoo was appointed vice chairman of the Defense Industry Association after finishing his term as head. Also, former vice chairman of the Defense Industry Association, Mo Jong-hwa, was appointed MMA head after finishing his vice chairman position. Industry insiders have voiced criticism that these appointments are far from professional expertise.
A defense industry insider said, “Because the military is the user of weapon systems, retired generals inevitably have to be selected for important positions that represent the voice of the defense industry,” adding, “Defense industry experts who can implement policies should be appointed, but the reality is that they have no choice but to be cautious under political pressure.”
A government official said, “There is criticism even within the ruling party that they cannot utilize a diverse network,” and added, “It cannot be denied that the competition to catch the ‘last personnel train’ ahead of the presidential election is intensifying.”
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