Personnel from Yoon Camp's Defense Advisory Group, Large-scale Advancement to Key Positions in Defense Sector

Ministers, Security Office, and Public Enterprises Occupy Key Positions
Personnel from Defense Policy Advisory Group and Defense Forum Policy and Pledge Advisory Meetings during the Presidential Election
Seol Hoon: "President Yoon Has Given Core Military Posts to Those Who Lined Up"

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] There have been criticisms that individuals affiliated with President Yoon Suk-yeol's campaign during the presidential election have occupied key positions in the defense sector as parachute appointments.

According to Seol Hoon, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol formed a "Defense Policy Advisory Group" and a "Defense Forum Policy and Pledge Advisory Council" within his campaign during the last presidential election. The Defense Policy Advisory Group consisted of 8 members, and the Defense Forum Policy and Pledge Advisory Council had 13 members.

Among those in the Defense Policy Advisory Group were the Chief of the Presidential Security Service (Kim Yong-hyun), the Minister of National Defense (Lee Jong-seop), former Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office (Shin In-ho), and even the Minister of National Defense’s Policy Advisor (Shin Da-wit). Additionally, key figures appointed to important positions included the Military Manpower Administration Commissioner (Lee Ki-sik), Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) CEO (Kang Gu-young), and the current Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office (Lim Jong-deuk), all of whom participated in the Defense Forum Policy and Pledge Advisory Council. Notably, both the predecessor and successor of the National Security Office’s Second Deputy Director worked in Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign.

Kang Gu-young, CEO of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), served as the chairman of the military group "Defense Forum with the People" during Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidential candidacy and publicly supported President Yoon. When the presidential office was relocated to Yongsan, he, along with about 1,000 retired generals, issued a statement asserting that "there will be no security gap despite the relocation of the presidential office." Particularly, just three days after Kang assumed office, Park Sang-wook (KAI class 36) was appointed as a senior executive at Korea Aerospace Industries.

Assemblyman Seol Hoon criticized, "President Yoon has essentially handed key military positions to his cronies," adding, "This only disappoints the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who serve diligently, hoping for appointments based on merit."

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