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[Global Times Comprehensive Report] According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean Presidential Secretary Zheng Zhenshuo held a press conference on the 12th and said that President Yoon Seok-yeol appointed and dismissed the Minister of Defense and National Security Staff on the same day. Zheng Zhenshuo said that Yoon Seok-yeol nominated Kim Yong-hyun, Director of the Presidential Guard Office, as the new Minister of Defense; decided to appoint Defense Minister Shin Won-seok as Director of the National Security Office; decided to create a new position of Special Assistant for Diplomatic Security, and appointed Director of the National Security Office Zhang Huzhen as the first special assistant. The Korea Herald said that this was an "unexpected major change" in South Korea's foreign and defense policy team.

According to The Korea Herald, Zheng Zhenshuo introduced that Kim Yong-hyun had served in several important positions in the South Korean military and was a "senior expert in the field of national defense and national security." He was the first director of the Presidential Guard Office in the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and "understood the mind of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces better than anyone else," making him the best candidate for the Minister of National Defense. Shin Won-seok "has extensive practical experience and expertise in national defense and security," so he is considered a suitable candidate to assume national security responsibilities. According to reports, Shin Won-seok is the first national security adviser with a military background appointed by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Jang Ho-jin is a senior diplomat who is considered an ideal candidate to continue to advise the president on international affairs and diplomatic security policies.

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South Korea's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, and another opposition party, the Fatherland Reform Party, criticized Yoon Seok-yeol's appointment of Kim Yong-hyun and Shin Won-seok on the 12th. According to the Korea Herald, the "Fatherland Reform Party" led by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk believes that Shin Won-seok is responsible for the leak of a secret agent list by South Korea's defense intelligence agency. The Democratic Party said in a statement that Kim Yong-hyun was accused of "improperly influencing" the military inspection department to downplay the investigation into the death of a marine. The Democratic Party believes that this cabinet reshuffle is a "revolving door appointment" and refused to approve the nomination of Kim Yong-hyun as defense minister. However, the Korea Herald stated that even if the National Assembly does not approve the candidate for defense minister, the president still has the power to appoint the nominee. (Xiao Tong)