Chief Secretary Kim Dae-gi Resigns on the 31st... Lee Gwan-seop Appointed as Successor (Update)

Seong Tae-yoon, Yonsei University Professor, Appointed as New Policy Director
Jang Ho-jin, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Appointed as Security Director

Kim Dae-gi, Chief Secretary to the President, will resign effective the 31st of this month.

At a briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the afternoon of the same day, Kim Dae-gi announced that Lee Gwan-seop, Director of the Presidential Policy Office, will assume the position of Chief Secretary starting January 1st next year.

Kim Dae-gi, Chief of Staff to the President, is making an announcement regarding new appointments at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

With Lee appointed as Chief Secretary, the now-vacant position of Policy Director will be filled by Professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University's Department of Economics. Professor Sung was born in 1970 in Seoul, graduated from Guro High School in Seoul and Yonsei University's Department of Economics, and earned a master's degree from the same university's graduate school. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in the United States.

The diplomatic and security lineup has also been finalized. Jang Ho-jin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, known as an expert on North America, Russia, and North Korean nuclear issues, has been appointed as the new National Security Office Director, succeeding Cho Tae-yong, who was nominated as the Director of the National Intelligence Service.

Newly appointed National Security Office Director Jang was born in 1961 in Seoul, graduated from Seongdong High School and Seoul National University's Department of Political Science and International Relations, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982 after passing the 16th Foreign Service Examination. He has served as Director of the Eastern Europe Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Political Counselor at the Embassy in Russia, Director of the North American Affairs Division, Deputy Head of the North Korean Nuclear Diplomacy Planning Group, and Ambassador to Russia.

Kim Hong-gyun, Ambassador to Germany, has been appointed as the new First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Kim was born in 1961 in Busan, graduated from Yongsan High School and Seoul National University's Department of English Language and Literature. He has served as Director of the North American Affairs Division 2, Security Cooperation Officer for the Korea-US alliance, Minister-Counselor at the Embassy in Belgium, and Head of the Peace Diplomacy Planning Group.

Lee Gwansub, the newly appointed Chief of the Presidential Secretariat (from the left), Sung Tae-yoon, Director of the Presidential Policy Office, and Jang Hojin, Director of the National Security Office, are entering the personnel briefing held on the 28th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]