President Moon Appoints Seo Joo-seok as First Deputy Director of National Security Office... Five Blue House Secretaries Replaced (Update)

Seo Ju-seok, the new First Deputy Director of the National Security Office (Photo by Cheong Wa Dae)

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 24th, President Moon Jae-in appointed Seo Ju-seok, former Vice Minister of National Defense (62, currently Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Defense Research Institute, photo), as the First Deputy Director of the National Security Council (NSC). Additionally, personnel changes were made for four secretaries, including Yoon Sung-won, Secretary for Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The newly appointed First Deputy Director Seo graduated from Wooshin High School in Seoul and earned both his master's and doctoral degrees in diplomacy from Seoul National University. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Seo served as Director of the Strategic Planning Office at the National Security Council and Senior Secretary for Unification, Foreign Affairs, and Security at the Presidential Secretariat. Seo is scheduled to be officially appointed on the 25th.

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, stated in a written briefing, "The new First Deputy Director of the National Security Council, Seo, is an expert who combines both theoretical knowledge and practical experience in diplomacy and security," adding, "He was appointed as the first Vice Minister of National Defense under the Moon Jae-in administration and is recognized for vigorously promoting defense reform." He further noted, "We expect him to fulfill his duties as the First Deputy Director of the NSC by successfully establishing security strategies, coordinating current issues, and completing defense reforms."

President Moon also appointed four new secretaries. Yeo Han-gu, Director of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, was appointed Secretary for New Southern and New Northern Policies; Do Jae-hyung, professor at Ewha Womans University Law School, as Secretary for Employment and Labor; Ha Dong-soo, Housing Policy Director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as Secretary for Land, Infrastructure and Transport; and Ryu Geun-hyuk, Director of Population Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as Secretary for Social Policy.

Among the four newly appointed secretaries, three are career officials from government ministries, indicating a preference for experienced bureaucrats with expertise as the administration enters its latter half. These four secretaries are scheduled to be appointed on the 27th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.