hankyoreh

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, Staff Writer

The government announced that it has named General Kim Sang-ki, commander of the Republic of Korea Third Army, as the next chief of staff of the Army, replacing General Hwang Eui-don, who was virtually forced out after just six months on the job. Kim is a graduate of Dongji Commercial High School in Pohang, from which President Lee Myung-bak also graduated.

Air Force Chief of Staff Park Jong-heon is a native of Pohang, and if Kim is confirmed by the Cabinet, two of the three chiefs of staff, the major military players in the current administration, will be from the so-called Yeong-Po Line (Yeongil-Pohang). Moreover, Navy Chief of Staff Kim Seong-chan is a native of Jinhae, meaning all three chiefs of staff will be from the Yeongnam region. Because of this, there is criticism within the military that the government has ignored the long-standing practice within the military to effect a regional balance among the Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs of staff, instead granting all three positions to generals from the Yeongnam region.

The government announced that it has named Lieutenant General Lee Hong-gi, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Operations Headquarters, as Kim’s replacement as commander of Third Army. Lee was also promoted to the rank of full general. He, too, is a native of Kimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.

Since the sudden resignation of Army Chief of Staff Hwang, Army officers working in the Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff are privately grumbling as to why Gen. Hwang was suddenly forced out when it was the Navy that has had a rough year. These critics suggest it should be the Navy chief of staff who must take responsibility for the series of incidents that have shaken the military this year, including this sinking of the Cheonan on March 26 and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong-do on Nov. 23.

There are some conjectures amongst military leadership about the unpleasant process of Hwang’s swift resignation. Some are saying that the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) belatedly made an issue of suspicions that Hwang engaged in real estate speculation eight years ago. This issue led to Kim, a member of the Yeongpo Line and a junior of President Lee at Dongji Commercial High School in Pohang, being named the Army chief of staff.

A military official said Wednesday that the suspicions regarding Hwang and real estate speculation were eight years old, and that everyone in the military who should have known about them did. He said if the Cheong Wa Dae really thought that was an issue, they shouldn’t have appointed him in the first place, and that he was curious as to why Hwang was disgracefully forced out now.

Within the military leadership, there were many who expected Kim to take over as Army chief of staff next winter. A military official said if Kim were made Army chief of staff in the second half of next year, President Lee would have only one year left on his term, so he’d have no time to reappoint him. In order to stably push “military reform,” Kim was named now to guarantee him two years as Army chief of staff, he said.

Regarding the fact that all three chiefs of staff hail from the Yeongnam region, a Defense Ministry official said that in appointing officers, they consider ability and expertise, not region, but others have retorted that this is nonsense. In fact, when the appointment of Hwang, a native of Wonju, Gangwon Province, was announced in June, it was stressed that the move was done with regional balance in mind. It was explained that the three chiefs of staff were distributed according to region: General Lee Gye-hun, the Air Force chief of staff at the time, was from Naju, Jeollanam-do, and Navy Chief of Staff Kim was from Jinhae, Gyeongsangnam-do.

The promotion to full general of Third Army Commander-Designate Lee, who took criticism for the poor handling of the Yeonpyeong Island artillery attack as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s operational headquarters, was taken with surprise by army leadership. Lee is expected to take his position along with Kim following approval by the Cabinet on Thursday. The Defense Ministry said it plans to conduct follow-up naming of generals through Thursday.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]