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Cho Tae-young (left), the current head of Korea’s National Security Office who has been tapped to run the National Intelligence Service, stands with Cho Tae-yul (right), the country’s former ambassador to the United Nations who has been tapped to run the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the briefing room at the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 19. (pool photo)

On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol nominated current National Security Office chief Cho Tae-yong as the new director of the National Intelligence Service and South Korea’s former ambassador to the UN Cho Tae-yul to head up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The nomination of the current national security adviser to head the country’s intelligence agency comes at a time when the seat has remained vacant for over three weeks, while tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula with long- and short-range ballistic missile test launches by North Korea as 2023 draws to a close.

The decision to replace current Foreign Minister Park Jin came as he prepares to run in next year’s general election.

The announcements were made in a briefing Tuesday by Yoon’s chief of staff, Kim Dae-ki, at the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan District.

Kim described Cho Tae-yong, 67, as someone who is “well-versed and abundantly experienced in both relations with the US and North Korea and security issues” and Cho Tae-yul as having “expertise in the economy and trade and a diplomatic sense in an international environment where the economy and national security are intertwined in complex ways.”

A career diplomat, Cho Tae-yong became vice minister of foreign affairs in 2014 and principal deputy director of the National Security Office the following year. In 2020, he was elected to the National Assembly as a list lawmaker for the Future Korea Party, a previous incarnation of the current People Power Party.

He served as the Yoon administration’s first ambassador to the US before his surprise appointment as national security adviser last March, which came after the resignation of predecessor Kim Sung-han.

His appointment to fill the gap left by the Nov. 26 departure of former NIS Director Kim Kyou-hyun, who left due to internecine personnel disputes, means that he will have served as national security adviser for less than nine months. Critics are accusing the administration of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” by haphazardly moving around key figures in the administration’s foreign affairs and national security lineup.

Cho Tae-yul, 68, is another career diplomat who has worked mainly in the area of trade diplomacy. He was second vice minister of foreign affairs in 2013 under the Park Geun-hye administration, and in 2016 he began a three-year stint as ambassador to the UN.

He is also known as the third son of poet Cho Chi-hun, who wrote works such as “The Nun’s Dance” and “Falling Flowers.”

President Yoon Suk-yeol leaves the hall where he swore in Cho Tae-yong (center right) as director of the National Security Office on March 30. (Yonhap)

Many analysts are drawing connections between the minister of foreign affairs’ replacement and the blame directed at the current minister, Park Jin, over the failure last month of South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

Meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Cho Tae-yong pledged to “do my utmost to unite everyone so that the NIS becomes a first-class intelligence agency that does not suffer by comparison with any other intelligence agency in the world.”

Cho Tae-yul said he intended to “commit my fullest efforts to further cementing the foundation of national security and prosperity by broadening South Korea’s diplomatic position, strategic space, and realm of activity while judiciously navigating a serious external environment.”

The presidential office reportedly plans to appoint Cho Tae-yong’s successor as national security adviser by the end of the year.

In response to immediate concerns over the seat remaining vacant, a senior official with the presidential office stressed, “The position of national security adviser is very important and critical, and even though he has been nominated [as National Intelligence Service director], Cho Tae-yong will continue serving in the role until the [National Assembly] confirmation hearing.”

Sources said current First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chang Ho-jin has been effectively chosen as the next national security adviser and is now undergoing final vetting procedures.

At the moment, nearly half of the government’s 19 ministries are facing personnel changes as candidates are fielded for April’s general election.

Previous replacements of ministers to clear the way for election runs came on Dec. 4 with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Choo Kyung-ho), the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (Park Min-shik), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Won Hee-ryong), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Chung Hwang-keun), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Cho Seung-hwan), and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Lee Young) and on Sunday with the Ministry of Trade, Infrastructure and Energy (Bang Moon-kyu).

Now the additional replacements of Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin and Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon are being viewed as a foregone conclusion. On Dec. 7, the Ministry of Unification lost its new leader when Minister Kwon Young-se stepped down to run in the general elections.

In Han’s case, the People Power Party’s internal position is to be clarified as early as within the week, after which he is expected to go through the procedure of tendering his resignation to be accepted by Yoon. Rather than immediately naming a replacement for him, the presidential office is leaning more toward having a vice minister serve as acting minister while a successor is sought.

Meanwhile, the presidential office announced plans to expand the National Security Office from its current system of one director and two vice directors, respectively for foreign affairs and national defense. The plan is to add a third vice director for the area of economic security.

Explaining the decision, a senior official with the presidential office said, “There have been major shifts in the global economic order, which had previously been tranquil under a free trade focus, and supply chains have also emerged as a crucial issue.”

The organization of the National Security Office is determined by presidential decree, and its amendment and the announcement of a new third vice director are expected to come in the near future.

With this additional senior position coming on the heels of the announcement of the new position of senior presidential secretary for science and technology, the situation has turned into something quite different from the “slimmed-down” presidential office that Yoon promised.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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