Yoon names new national security adviser, defense minister in surprise reshuffle

Presidential Security Service (PSS) chief Kim Yong-hyun was named new minister of national defense, the presidential office announced. Current Defense Minister Shin Won-sik was appointed as the new national security adviser, replacing Chang Ho-jin.

Presidential Security Service chief Kim Yong-hyun, the defense minister nominee, speaks to reporters at the Yongsan presidential office Monday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol tapped a new national security adviser and defense minister Monday in an unexpected shake-up of his foreign affairs and security line after returning from summer vacation.

Presidential Security Service (PSS) chief Kim Yong-hyun was named new minister of national defense, the presidential office announced.

Current Defense Minister Shin Won-sik was appointed as the new national security adviser, replacing Chang Ho-jin.

Chang was, in turn, named special adviser to the president for foreign affairs and national security, a newly created post.

Kim, the new defense minister nominee, is a former three-star Army general who has served as PSS chief since Yoon took office in May 2022.

A graduate of the Korea Military Academy, Kim notably oversaw the relocation of the presidential office to the Defense Ministry compound in Yongsan District, central Seoul, from the Blue House.

Presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk, in a briefing at the Yongsan presidential office, described Kim as an "expert in the field of defense and security who has held key positions in the military, receiving great trust from both within and outside the military."

He noted that Kim, as the first PSS chief of the Yoon government, "understands the intentions of the commander-in-chief better than anyone else."

His nomination will be subject to a parliamentary confirmation hearing. The president can still appoint ministerial nominees regardless of the results of such a hearing.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik speaks at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. He was appointed as the new national security adviser Monday.[NEWS1]

Chung, in turn, noted Shin has "abundant field experience and insight, and as the current defense minister has a high understanding of the security issues facing us" and was determined to be the "right person to assist the president and take responsibility for national security without leaving any security vacuum."

Shin is a retired Army lieutenant general and People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker who was tapped as Yoon's defense minister in September 2023. He previously served in the military for 35 years and held key senior posts at the Defense Ministry and South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). He is a known hardliner on North Korea issues.

The new presidential special adviser for foreign affairs and security post was created to oversee "strategic tasks related to core national interests," Chung added, noting that Chang is a "traditional diplomat who is well-versed in the diplomacy of the four major powers, including Russia."

The national security adviser post reshuffle comes just over eight months after Cho Tae-yong, a veteran diplomat, was replaced by Chang as Yoon's new director of the National Security Office in late December.

Chang previously served as Yoon's first ambassador to Russia and vice minister of foreign affairs. He also served as a presidential foreign affairs secretary in the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration and a foreign affairs aide to former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn in the Park Geun-hye administration.

So far under the Yoon administration, four people have been selected as national security advisers, including Kim Sung-han, who hails from academia, Cho, Chang and now Shin. If appointed, Kim will be Yoon's third defense minister, following Lee Jong-sup and Shin.

"If appointed as minister of national defense, I will follow the will of the president, the commander-in-chief of the military, and establish a steadfast security posture based on strong power," Kim told reporters after his nomination. "The current domestic and international security situation is more severe than ever. Security is the economy."

He also addressed North Korea's sending of trash-laden balloons to the South and said, "We are responding with the safety of the people as our top priority," adding he will look into effective additional measures after he takes the post.

Yoon also picked former Constitutional Court Justice Ahn Chang-ho to head the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

The president returned to work after a five-day summer vacation last week, focused on visiting traditional markets and military facilities across the country, stressing the importance of people's security and livelihoods.

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) on Monday criticized Yoon's nomination of PSS chief Kim as defense minister, accusing him of being linked to allegations that the Defense Ministry and the presidential office meddled in the military's inquest into the death of a Marine who drowned while conducting a search and rescue mission during heavy rain and flooding in July last year.

"This is the peak of a revolving door of personnel appointments and atrocities," DP spokesman Lee Hae-sik said in a briefing at the National Assembly, accusing the candidate of being "suspected of exerting influence by contacting former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup several times" during the investigation into the Marine's death.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]