President Yoon Seok-yeol Nominates New Top Diplomats and Security Officials

From the left, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jang Ho-jin, National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong, and former Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol (68).

It was reported on the 18th that President Yoon Seok-yeol is expected to announce a nomination plan for top diplomats and security officials, including appointing First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jang Ho-jin (62) as the new head of the National Security Office as early as the 19th. Cho Tae-yong (67), current head of the National Security Office, was appointed to the vacant position of Director of the National Intelligence Service, and former Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol (68) was appointed to the vacant position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Director of the National Intelligence Service and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are appointed after a National Assembly personnel hearing.

Vice Minister Jang Ho-jin, who was appointed as the head of the National Security Office, graduated from Seongdong High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and after passing the 16th Foreign Service Examination, he served as Director of the North American Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to Cambodia, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the Blue House. In August last year, he was appointed as the first ambassador to Russia under the current government, and was appointed as First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in April this year. Director Cho Tae-yong, who moved to the position of Director of the National Intelligence Service, graduated from Gyeonggi High School and the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University, passed the 14th foreign entrance exam, and served as Director of the North American Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to Ireland, and Ambassador to Australia, as well as Director of the Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiation Headquarters, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and First Deputy Director of the National Security Office. . During the 21st National Assembly, he served as a proportional representative member of the People Power Party, and was appointed ambassador to the United States with the launch of the current government, and was selected as head of the National Security Office last March. Former Vice Minister Cho Tae-yeol, who was nominated as a candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs, graduated from Chung-Ang High School and Seoul National University Law School, passed the 13th foreign entrance exam, and served as a trade negotiation coordinator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ambassador to Spain, and ambassador to the United Nations.

President Yoon’s decision to replace the Chief of the National Security Office, the Director of the National Intelligence Service, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the same time is in line with his plan to reorganize the leadership of foreign affairs and security ahead of the new year. President Yoon also replaced the Minister of National Defense with Minister Shin Won-sik last October. This can be interpreted as the intention to establish ‘peace through strength’ and further strengthen ‘global economic security, including trade and supply chains’, by strengthening organizational stability and capabilities in the fields of diplomacy and security. President Yoon is also known to have made a statement to the effect that the National Security Office needs a third deputy director in charge of economic security, following foreign affairs (first deputy director) and national defense (second deputy director). Accordingly, the establishment of a third deputy director of the National Security Office is said to be being considered.

President Yoon has been reviewing top personnel in the diplomatic and security lines as former National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyu-hyun resigned at the end of last month and Foreign Minister Park Jin decided to run in the general election. It is known that President Yoon decided to send Director Cho Tae-yong to the position of Director of the National Intelligence Service in order to stabilize the organization of the National Intelligence Service and strengthen its intelligence capabilities on North Korea and overseas, despite continued noise surrounding internal personnel, and was known to have given repeated consideration to appointing a successor to the Director of the National Security Office and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Vice Minister Jang Ho-jin, who was appointed as the head of the National Security Office, has accumulated experience in the security strategy field. He worked in the diplomatic and security team of President Yoon’s camp during the last presidential election, and is said to work well with Director Cho Tae-yong, who will be nominated as Director of the National Intelligence Service.

Director Cho Tae-yong was nominated as the head of the National Intelligence Service early on in this selection process. Director Cho’s father-in-law is the late Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Beom-seok, who died in the Aung San terrorist attack in Myanmar (then Burma) in 1983. It is known that President Yoon also trusted Director Cho to the extent that he considered him as the top candidate for Foreign Minister when he was president-elect. An official from the Presidential Office said, “I understand that President Yoon trusted Director Cho’s capabilities and nominated him for the position of Director of the National Intelligence Service because the National Intelligence Service is experiencing internal troubles due to personnel issues and is in urgent need of normalization.”

Former Vice Minister Cho Tae-yeol, who was nominated as a candidate for Foreign Minister, accumulated much of his career as a diplomat in the field of trade and diplomacy, including as a trade policy planning director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a trade negotiation coordinator, and the chairman of the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel. However, after serving as ambassador to the United Nations for nearly three years starting in November 2016, he is said to be good at diplomacy. A diplomatic official said, “As supply chain cooperation and trade negotiations have become important in a situation where there is a complex economic and security crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, former Vice Minister Cho, an expert in multilateral and trade diplomacy, was evaluated as suitable to be the foreign minister.” did. Former Vice Minister Cho’s father is poet Jo Ji-hoon.

2023-12-19 00:00:00
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