Kim Yong-hyun Security Chief, Former Minister Lee Jong-seop Mentioned
Kim Seung-yeon, National Intelligence Service Director's Special Advisor, Likely for Organizational Stability
President Yoon Suk-yeol's dismissal of Kim Gyu-hyun, the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), has drawn attention as several military figures are being mentioned as potential successors.
According to military authorities on the 27th, following Kim's dismissal the previous day, President Yoon also replaced Kwon Chun-taek, the 1st Deputy Director (overseas affairs), and Kim Soo-yeon, the 2nd Deputy Director (North Korea affairs), with Hong Jang-won and Hwang Won-jin, respectively, as special advisors to the NIS Director. The new 1st Deputy Director Hong is known to have transferred to the NIS during his time as a junior officer after graduating from the Korea Military Academy (KMA) class of 43. Until a new NIS Director is appointed, Hong Jang-won will serve as acting director.
President Yoon, returning from his visits to the UK and France, carried out a high-intensity personnel reshuffle by replacing the NIS leadership all at once. This move is interpreted as a warning card in response to ongoing external leaks of internal discord within the NIS.
The fact that Kim was dismissed without a successor being named is seen as evidence of difficulties in finding a suitable candidate to lead the national intelligence agency. It indicates that the administration is deliberating on finding the right person to respond to heightened security tensions, such as North Korea’s military reconnaissance satellite launches, and to resolve accumulated confusion within the NIS.
For this reason, the most likely candidate mentioned is Kim Yong-hyun (KMA class of 38), the Chief of the Presidential Security Service. Since the launch of the Yoon administration in May last year, Kim has served as the head of the security service, closely assisting President Yoon. A former three-star general in the army, he has held key military positions such as Chief of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commander of the Capital Defense Command. After Yoon’s election, he led the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. He is also one year senior to President Yoon at Chung-Ang High School. Other names mentioned include former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, who stepped down in October this year, and Kim Kwan-jin, a former Minister of National Defense and National Security Office Chief under the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations.
Besides military figures, other candidates include Cheon Young-woo, a diplomat and chairman of the Korea Future Forum who served as the Presidential Foreign and Security Advisor during the Lee Myung-bak administration; Cho Tae-yong, the current National Security Office Chief leading foreign and security policy under the Yoon administration; and Kwon Young-se, a People Power Party lawmaker who has served as Minister of Unification and chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee.
Some argue that an internal candidate would be more suitable for stabilizing the NIS organization. Among those mentioned are Kim Seung-yeon (KMA class of 38), a former director of the North Korea Operations Bureau and special advisor to the NIS Director who served as the inaugural chief secretary to former NIS Director Won Sei-hoon during the Lee Myung-bak administration; Byun Young-tae, a former director of the Overseas Operations Bureau and expert in overseas intelligence operations; Kim Ok-chae (KMA class of 38), who mainly worked at the Japanese embassy conducting espionage activities and currently serves as Consul General in Yokohama, Japan; and Yoo Sung-ok, chairman of the National Security Strategy Institute.
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