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On August 12, local time, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol made a comprehensive adjustment and reform to the national security leadership, replacing the head of the National Security Office and the Minister of Defense, and establishing a new "Special Assistant for Diplomatic Security". Although some South Korean media have hyped up the "unexpected big changes", in the eyes of some long-term observers of peninsula affairs, the Yoon Seok-yeol government's adjustments are lackluster and are still stuck in the president's "circle of old friends".

Yoon Seok-yeol (left) and Shin Won-seok. Photo/Visual China

The new Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was Yoon Seok-yeol's senior at Chungam High School in Seoul. He was Yoon Seok-yeol's security policy adviser during the 2022 South Korean presidential election and was considered a popular candidate for Defense Minister. In the end, he was appointed by Yoon Seok-yeol as the director of the Presidential Guard and presided over the specific matters of the relocation of the presidential palace from the Blue House to the Yongsan Residence. In the following two years, the director of the National Security Office, the Minister of Defense and the presidential office team of Yoon Seok-yeol's government changed many times, but Kim Yong-hyun always served as the director of the Guard. Yoon Seok-yeol's trust in him is evident. Yoon Seok-yeol's secretary Zheng Zhenshuo said that Kim Yong-hyun understood Yoon Seok-yeol's mind "better than anyone else."

However, this adjustment is not entirely without surprises, especially the transfer of National Security Office Director Jang Ho-jin to the newly created "Special Assistant to the President for Diplomatic Security". According to the explanation of the presidential office officials, the new position was created to "break the old rules and let go" to handle major diplomatic affairs in a more flexible way. Yonhap News Agency said that Jang Ho-jin, who was a professional diplomat, has a unique network of contacts, especially with the US President's National Security Advisor Sullivan, so he will be directly responsible for dealing with major issues such as the US presidential election.

Although the Presidential Office made it clear that Zhang Huzhen's "special assistant" is not an ordinary consultant, but a ministerial position with an office in the Yongsan official residence and staff, the Presidential Office did not clearly define the relationship between this position and the Director of the National Security Office.

In South Korea, the Director of the National Security Office is regarded as the de facto top person in charge of diplomacy, security, intelligence, unification and other affairs. In terms of system, the Director of the National Security Office also serves as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Security Council, the First Director of the National Security Office also serves as the Secretary-General, and the Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and Minister of Unification are all members of the Security Council. After Zhang Huzhen was transferred, he did not retain his position in the National Security Council. This also means that the new Director of the National Security Office, Shin Won-seok, is the highest official in this field. The Presidential Office also made it clear that before Kim Yong-hyun officially took office as Defense Minister, Shin Won-seok served as Defense Minister in his capacity as Director of the National Security Office. This also highlights his status.

Since Yoon Seok-yeol took office, he has changed the director of the National Security Office four times. Among the three previous directors, Jang Ho-jin served the shortest time. The three were professional diplomats, but the new director Shin Won-seok came from the military and had almost no diplomatic experience. What shocked the opposition party even more was that Shin Won-seok's resume was basically the same as Kim Yong-hyun's.

Shin Won-seok graduated from the 37th class of the Army Academy, and Kim Yong-hyeon graduated from the 38th class. The two were juniors and old subordinates of Kim Jang-soo, Park Geun-hye's first security chief. They served in the Capital Army Corps for a long time and were promoted to division commanders at the same time. Shin Won-seok served as the commander of the Capital Defense Command from 2012 to 2013, and served as the chief of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2013 to 2015. Kim Yong-hyeon took over as the commander of the Capital Defense Command in 2013, and succeeded Shin Won-seok as the chief of operations in 2015. Later, the two became foreign policy advisers to Park Geun-hye and Yoon Seok-yeol.

Analysts believe that as the most important diplomatic and security position in South Korea, the director of the National Security Office was rarely replaced during the administrations of Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in. The Park and Moon governments each appointed two directors of the National Security Office, and the shortest tenure was more than one year. However, Yoon Seok-yeol changed the director of the National Security Office four times in three years, and none of them served for a full year, which shows that the current South Korean government's diplomatic and security strategies are unstable.

In addition, the three previous directors, Kim Seong-han, Cho Tae-yong and Chang Ho-jin, all served as vice ministers of foreign affairs. Cho and Chang served as South Korean ambassadors to the United States and Russia respectively, and were also responsible for the North Korean nuclear negotiations. But they were all transferred by Yoon Seok-yeol, and Kim Seong-han was "forced to resign." Against the backdrop of the tense situation on the peninsula, Yoon Seok-yeol does not seem to trust diplomatic experts. Now that he has replaced him with a "military director," he has shown his determination to "go all the way" on the hard diplomatic line.

Published in the 1153th issue of China Newsweek magazine on August 19, 2024

Magazine title: Yoon Seok-yeol strengthens the "military team"

Reporter: Cao Ran

Editor: Xu Fangqing