Seoul, Aug 12 (IANS) Defence Minister nominee Kim Yong-Hyun, the head of the Presidential Security Service, is a retired three-star Army general, considered to be well-versed in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s security initiatives as a close aide.
After a parliamentary hearing, the 65-year-old is set to replace Shin Won-sik as Defence Minister, with Shin being named as the new presidential national security adviser, Yonhap news agency reported.
A graduate of the Korea Military Academy in 1982, Kim held various prominent posts in the military, such as leading the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Chief Directorate of Operations, before retiring in 2017.
Kim, who attended the same high school as Yoon, advised him on security and foreign policies during his presidential campaign before his election in March 2022. Yoon is one year junior to Kim.
After Yoon’s election, Kim led efforts to relocate the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to the defence ministry’s compound in central Seoul. With the launch of the Yoon government in May 2022, Kim was named as the chief of the Presidential Security Service.
Kim is considered to be well aware of Yoon’s security and foreign policies after being on the job close to Yoon for more than two years.
“Defence Minister nominee Kim was judged to be fit as defence minister as he best understands the commander in chief’s intentions as our government’s first chief of the Presidential Security Service,” Chung Jin-suk, presidential chief of staff, said in a briefing.
Kim is expected to be tasked with overseeing joint efforts between South Korea and the United States to bolster deterrence against evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
The allies have recently pushed to integrate the South’s conventional forces with US nuclear capabilities to better respond to the North’s nuclear threats, signing a guidelines document on their joint nuclear deterrence posture last month.
The parliamentary confirmation hearing is widely seen as a formality because his formal appointment does not require endorsement from the National Assembly.
In South Korea, the Prime Minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary approval.
