President Yoon Appoints Kim Myung-soo as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Kim Myung-soo as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 25th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Presidential Office and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, since the National Assembly did not respond by the deadline for resubmitting the confirmation hearing report for candidate Kim, President Yoon appointed him without the hearing report.

Candidate Kim had previously undergone a confirmation hearing in the National Assembly on the 15th. The opposition parties raised issues such as allegations of golf-related misconduct and school violence involving his children, and collectively walked out near the end of the hearing.

According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, the National Assembly must submit the hearing report to the government within 20 days from the date the request for the hearing is sent, but it did not submit the report by the deadline on the 22nd. If the hearing report is not adopted within the deadline, the President may set a period of up to 10 days to request resubmission of the hearing report.

Accordingly, while visiting the United Kingdom on a state visit on the 23rd, President Yoon sent a request to the National Assembly to resubmit the hearing report for candidate Kim, but the National Assembly did not respond by the resubmission deadline on the 24th.

The President can appoint a candidate even without a confirmation hearing report.

Candidate Kim became the 20th ministerial-level official appointed without a confirmation hearing report under the current administration.

Candidate Kim is scheduled to be inaugurated at the ceremony held at the Yongsan Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters parade ground in the afternoon of the same day.