New National Security Office Chief Shin Won-sik to Serve Concurrently as Security Chief and Defense Minister Until Kim Yong-hyun's Appointment

On the morning of the 8th, at the National Assembly National Defense Committee plenary meeting, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense (center), is attentively listening to the lawmakers' questions. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office announced on the 13th that Shin Won-sik, the Minister of National Defense who has been nominated as the National Security Office Director, will concurrently serve as both the Security Office Director and the Minister of National Defense until a successor is appointed.

A Presidential Office official stated on the same day, "Nominee Shin is expected to hold both positions of Security Office Director and Minister of National Defense until Kim Yong-hyun, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, is appointed following the parliamentary confirmation hearing."

It was explained that considering the tense inter-Korean standoff, it is difficult for the position of Minister of National Defense to remain vacant even for a single day.

In June 2014, Kim Kwan-jin, then Minister of National Defense, who was nominated as the National Security Office Director, also concurrently held both positions until his successor as Minister of National Defense was appointed.