Denial of 'Accountability'... Nuclear Power and Defense Industry Issues Pile Up
Kim Yong-hyun, the newly nominated Minister of National Defense and Chief of the Presidential Security Service, is attending a personnel briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 12th, listening to the announcement by Jeong Jin-seok, Chief of Staff to the President. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 12th, President Yoon Seok-yeol appointed Kim Yong-hyun, the head of the Presidential Security Service, as the new Minister of National Defense candidate, and Shin Won-sik, the Minister of National Defense, as the Director of the National Security Office. The Presidential Office stated that the background of these appointments was "to respond to the rapidly changing diplomatic and security environment."
According to the Presidential Office, the sudden replacement of the Director of the National Security Office and others was largely influenced by President Yoon’s firsthand experience of the rapidly changing situation during his attendance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which made him realize the need for swift responses. In a situation where global security is undergoing significant changes, including inter-Korean relations, the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, there was deep consideration on how to respond to various challenges, and these appointments were conceived following last week’s summer vacation.
On the same day, Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office, announcing the appointments including the replacement of the Minister of National Defense and the Director of the National Security Office, as well as the nomination of Jang Ho-jin as the newly established Special Advisor for Diplomatic and Security Affairs.
Chief Secretary Jeong explained, "Kim Yong-hyun, the candidate for Minister of National Defense, is an expert in defense and security who has held key military positions and has earned strong trust both inside and outside the military. Especially, as the first head of the Presidential Security Service under our government, he understands the intentions of the military commander-in-chief better than anyone else, making him the right person for the Minister of National Defense position."
Kim Yong-hyun, newly nominated candidate for Minister of National Defense and Chief of the Presidential Security Service, is attending a personnel briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 12th, together with Chung Jin-suk, Chief of Staff to the President. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The sudden replacement of the Director of the National Security Office is also understood to have been influenced by the fact that the most important focus when appointing a past Director of the National Security Office was to restore trust in the South Korea-United States alliance, and through this trust restoration, to share important information and restore exchanges between the two countries. Therefore, a person with a network in the United States and capable of negotiation was deemed suitable. Given the chaotic international situation, there is a view that a security expert is necessary.
The Presidential Office expects that Shin Won-sik, the new Director of the National Security Office, who started as a military officer but has been broadly active through various external activities such as serving as a member of the National Assembly, possesses excellent communication skills and a deep understanding of diplomatic and security issues, enabling him to play an important role. Kim Yong-hyun, the candidate for Minister of National Defense, served as the head of the Presidential Security Service closest to the President, has a high understanding of the military, deep loyalty to the nation, and is quick to grasp all military fields including strategy and combat, which are considered his strengths.
The reason for nominating Jang Ho-jin as the newly established Special Advisor for Diplomatic and Security Affairs was also explained by Yongsan as a strategic necessity. From the perspective of economic security, issues such as nuclear power and defense industry are piling up, and it is overwhelming for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Director of the National Security Office, the Minister of Industry, and the Minister of National Defense to handle them all.
There are not only defense industry issues but also relations with China, Russia, South Korea-United States-Japan relations, as well as emerging issues and various changing environmental issues. According to the opinion that someone is needed to promptly resolve these through on-site visits and other means, the Special Advisor for Security was newly established. The Presidential Office added that this is far from a punitive personnel move as some have suggested, and that it is a strategically established key position to respond to the rapidly changing global order.
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