Defense Ministry Spokesperson Bu Seung-chan: "I Hope the Defense Ministry Is Not Shaken"

Boo Seung-chan, Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] On the 12th, Defense Ministry spokesperson Bu Seung-chan said at his farewell briefing, "The Defense Ministry is not related to political ideology, and I hope it does not get shaken," adding, "I hope security will not be shaken in the future either."

At the regular briefing that day, when asked by reporters to share his personal reflections as it was his last briefing, Bu said, "As long as defense exists, there has been no security vacuum," and added, "I would like to say that all 550,000 military personnel and Defense Ministry staff here are tirelessly working with blood and sweat to protect the territory of the Republic of Korea and the lives and safety of its people."

When asked about the current Defense Ministry's stance on Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-seop's remarks the previous day that "an army that does not train is meaningless," Bu responded, "I think it is a difference in method," and noted, "In the past, during the ROK-U.S. combined command post exercises, live field training was also conducted together, but currently, at the battalion level, the ROK-U.S. combined exercises are conducted evenly throughout the year," which was seen as a conscious reply.

With this briefing, Bu will step down, and the Defense Ministry's public relations work will be operated under an acting spokesperson system. However, the Defense Ministry plans to temporarily suspend regular briefings for the time being due to the presidential office relocation.

Spokesperson Bu is a retired Air Force major, who served as a policy aide to the National Assembly and to former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo. He also worked as a senior researcher at Yonsei University's Institute for Unification Studies before being appointed as a special high-ranking public official spokesperson in December 2020.

Prior to his appointment as spokesperson, he was defeated in the Democratic Party's primary for the Jeju Jeju-eul constituency in the April 13 general election of the same year.

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