Who is the new Defense Minister Choi Byung-hyuk?

On the 5th, Choi Byung-hyuk, the newly appointed Minister of National Defense and former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is known as a joint operations expert with extensive experience in combined operations. A graduate of the 41st class of the Korea Military Academy, he is three classes junior to former Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned after recommending martial law and whose dismissal was approved on the same day.

Lieutenant General Choi Byung-hyuk, Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, is delivering his farewell speech at the 'ROK-US Combined Forces Command Deputy Commander Change of Command Ceremony' held on the 23rd at the ROK-US Combined Forces Command in Yongsan, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Born in 1963, Choi graduated from the Korea Military Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1985. He subsequently served as Chief of Operations at the 3rd Army Command, Commander of the 22nd Division, Chief Inspector at Army Headquarters, Commander of the 5th Corps, and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. In April 2019, during the Moon Jae-in administration, he was promoted to General and served as the Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. In September 2021, he joined President Yoon Suk-yeol’s election campaign and served as Chair of the ROK-US Alliance Special Committee, assisting President Yoon.

In July of the following year, he led the founding of the non-profit organization ‘Seoul Defense Forum’ (SDF) and assumed the position of Chairman. The SDF stated its purpose as proactively identifying and raising defense policy agendas to efficiently respond to changes in the internal and external security environment of the Korean Peninsula and new security threats, as well as contributing to strengthening national security capabilities through research on the development and advancement of future defense policies and proposing policy alternatives.

Since July last year, he has served as the Senior Observer of Combined and Joint Exercises at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, performing duties in the field of combined operations. From December of the same year until now, Choi has served as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Jung Jin-seok, Chief of Staff to the President, described the new Minister of National Defense candidate as "an operations expert with broad insight into overall security as well as extensive field experience," and introduced him as "a principled person who completes tasks with a dedicated attitude and adheres to regulations."