Nominees for Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun's Contemporaries Occupying Key Positions in the Current Government

7 Graduates of Korea Military Academy Class 38 Hold Positions Including Military Mutual Aid Association Chairman and National Intelligence Service Special Advisor
Some Involved in No-Ku Defection Incident and Illegal Surveillance of Politicians

It has been confirmed that seven classmates of Kim Yong-hyun, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, from the Korea Military Academy (KMA) have advanced to positions as heads of government agencies, ambassadors, or military-related organizations while Kim was serving as the Chief of the Presidential Security Service. Among them are individuals who were held responsible for the failure of the border operation during the North Korean knock defectors incident and those who served prison sentences for ordering illegal surveillance of politicians.

Kim Yong-hyun, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, is responding to reporters' questions as he arrives at the personnel hearing preparation team office set up at the Army Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

This is the result of an analysis by Asia Economy based on data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Rep. Chu Mi-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea. Kim was appointed as the Chief of the Presidential Security Service in May 2022, when the Yoon Seok-yeol administration began, and was nominated as Minister of National Defense on the 12th of this month.

Jung Jae-gwan, chairman of the Military Mutual Aid Association and a KMA classmate of Kim from the 38th class, took office in January last year. He is the first retired brigadier general to serve as chairman of the Military Mutual Aid Association. Before Jung's appointment, the chairman was usually a retired major general or lieutenant general. Jung also participated in the Blue House relocation task force (TF) under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, where Kim served as the deputy team leader of the TF.

Retired Lieutenant General Jung Yeon-bong was appointed in May last year as a civilian member of the Defense Innovation Committee chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol. Jung retired in 2017 after serving as the Army Deputy Chief of Staff. Since April 2022, he has been serving as the deputy director of the Korea Institute for National Strategy. The Defense Innovation Committee is an organization established to reform and change the defense operation system. In 2012, former Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin, who was on trial for comment manipulation during the presidential election, was controversially appointed as the vice chairman of the Defense Innovation Committee.

Retired Lieutenant General Choi Byung-ro was appointed as the full-time vice chairman of the Korea Defense Industry Promotion Association in April 2023. Choi retired as an Army lieutenant general in November 2017 and served as an endowed professor in the Department of Defense Convergence Technology at Korea Cyber University from February 2019 to February 2021. The Korea Defense Industry Promotion Association is a private organization that conducts research and promotes exports related to the defense industry. Defense companies designated by the government become regular members of the association.

The KMA 38th class also advanced to overseas diplomatic posts under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consistent with the current administration’s trend of appointing military generals as key ambassadors abroad. Retired brigadier general Shin Man-taek was appointed ambassador to Timor-Leste in January last year, and retired captain Kim Ok-chae was appointed consul general in Yokohama in December 2022. Kim Ok-chae had previously worked on the National Intelligence Service task force that led the 2015 Korea-Japan agreement on comfort women, prompting civic groups to demand the withdrawal of his consul general appointment.

First Brigadier General as Chairman of Military Mutual Aid Association... Border Operation Failure Responsible Person is Head of Defense Transition Education Institute

There are also figures who have been involved in past controversies. Retired brigadier general Cho Sung-jik, head of the Defense Transition Education Institute, took office in July this year. However, Cho was dismissed from his post as commander of the Army’s 22nd Division in 2012 due to failure in the border operation during the North Korean knock defectors incident. When Cho was appointed commander of the Cyber Command in 2015, the predecessor of the People Power Party, Saenuri Party, criticized the appointment as inappropriate. Kim Jin-tae, then a Saenuri Party lawmaker and now governor of Gangwon Province, pointed out during the 2015 National Assembly audit, "Cho Sung-jik was dismissed and disciplined for failing in the border operation during the knock defector incident, committing a grave mistake in the infantry branch."

Kim Seung-yeon, special advisor to the director of the National Intelligence Service who was involved in the illegal surveillance of politicians, is also a KMA classmate of Kim Yong-hyun. In December 2021, the Supreme Court sentenced Kim to six months in prison and six months of disqualification for conspiring with former NIS director Won Sei-hoon to order surveillance and tailing of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s wife Kwon Yang-sook and former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. In March 2021, Kim was also sentenced by the Supreme Court to two years in prison for using NIS special activity funds to conduct background checks on former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

These KMA 38th class members have consistently been mentioned as candidates in the current administration. Kim Yong-hyun, Consul General Kim Ok-chae, and Special Advisor Kim Seung-yeon were also mentioned last November as possible successors to former NIS director Kim Kyu-hyun. A representative from Kim Yong-hyun’s side stated that the appointments of the KMA 38th class to key positions were "personnel decisions made through normal procedures" and that "(Kim Yong-hyun) himself was not involved and could not have been involved in the system."

The confirmation hearing for Kim Yong-hyun is scheduled for the 2nd of next month. Rep. Chu Mi-ae said, "It can be called the heyday of the KMA 38th class under Kim Yong-hyun," and added, "We plan to conduct a thorough verification during this confirmation hearing."