Brigadier General Pyun Moosam Appointed as Acting Commander of Defense Counterintelligence Command

Brigadier General Pyun Moosam of the Army has been appointed as acting Chief of Staff and Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. As a graduate of the Officer Candidate School rather than the Korea Military Academy, his appointment is expected to downgrade the status of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, which has traditionally been led by a three-star general.

According to military authorities on August 17, Brigadier General Pyun will assume the position of Chief of Staff and acting Commander-roles previously held by Major General Lee Kyungmin-effective August 18.

Traditionally, the Chief of Staff of the Defense Counterintelligence Command has held the rank of major general, while the Commander has held the rank of lieutenant general. Both within and outside the military, there is speculation that Brigadier General Pyun may be promoted to major general in the personnel reshuffle in the second half of the year and formally take over as Commander, leading the reform of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. If this occurs, the command will be downgraded to a unit led by a major general.

Previously, on August 13, the Presidential National Policy Planning Committee announced at a public briefing that, as part of its defense sector initiatives, it would abolish the Defense Counterintelligence Command-which played a key role in the 12·3 Martial Law-and redistribute its essential functions.

Brigadier General Pyun graduated from Gongju High School and the Department of Law at Chonnam National University. He was commissioned as part of the 26th class of Officer Candidate School in 1995 and has served as Commander of the 7th Airborne Special Forces Brigade, Director of Operational Planning and Director of Operations at the 2nd Operational Command, among other roles. He was recently participating in policy training at Seoul National University.