NIS Director: "Presidential Office Notified 'Jo Sang-jun Dismissed'... Specific Reason Unknown"

Director Kim Kyuhyun "Judges political appointees differently from career civil servants"
National Intelligence Service on West Sea officials case "The word 'defection to North Korea' included in SI"
Audit Office on NIS confirming drifting fact 51 minutes before Joint Chiefs announcement "Audit Office made a mistake"
Regarding IRA "Understood contents before law passage, reported trends to related ministries"

Kim Kyu-hyun, Director of the National Intelligence Service, attended the National Assembly inspection of the National Intelligence Service held on the 26th at the National Intelligence Service in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, waiting for the inspection to begin. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] It has been revealed that Kim Kyu-hyun, the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was notified after the fact regarding the resignation of Cho Sang-jun, the NIS Planning and Coordination Office Chief, who is the second-in-command overseeing personnel and budget matters at the NIS and a close aide to President Yoon Seok-yeol. Cho directly expressed his resignation to the Presidential Office, and Director Kim was informed of Cho’s dismissal by phone from the Presidential Office.

On the 26th, during the NIS audit at the National Assembly, Yoo Sang-beom, the People Power Party’s floor leader on the Intelligence Committee, told reporters, “The NIS Director received a phone call directly from a Presidential Office official between 8 and 9 p.m. yesterday regarding Cho’s resignation, and thus (Cho) was dismissed by the Presidential Office. It has been confirmed that Cho did not call the Director directly to express his resignation.”

Yoon Geon-young, the Democratic Party floor leader on the Intelligence Committee, also mentioned, “(Director Kim) received the resignation notice by phone from the Presidential Office, specifically from the secretary in charge.”

Regarding the background of Cho’s resignation, Representative Yoo said, “It is understood to be due to personal reasons, but the NIS has not been able to ascertain the specific reasons for the dismissal,” while Representative Yoon stated, “The NIS’s position is that they cannot disclose the details.”

When the Intelligence Committee members asked about whether there was a process to verify if there were any issues during Cho’s tenure, Director Kim did not provide a specific answer, according to Representative Yoon.

In response, Representative Yoo added, “Director Kim judged that political appointees are handled differently from career civil servants, and that it is generally not customary to verify specific disciplinary reasons by agency as is done for career civil servants.”

During the audit, questions were also raised about the shooting incident involving government officials in the West Sea. Director Kim stated, “The main information about the shooting incident was obtained through SI (Special Intelligence) reports,” and Representative Yoon relayed, “The word ‘defection to the North’ was included in the SI.” Representative Yoo supplemented, “The fact that the word ‘defection to the North’ appeared in the SI report has already been confirmed in the Board of Audit and Inspection’s press release and has been reported multiple times.”

Regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection’s announcement that Chinese fishing boats were present in the nearby waters at the time, Director Kim said, “I was not aware whether Chinese fishing boats were around at that time,” as explained by Representative Yoo.

Concerning the Board of Audit and Inspection’s press release stating that the NIS confirmed the drifting fact 51 minutes before the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announcement, Director Kim clarified, “The NIS also received and confirmed the information from the JCS. It is not true that we identified it earlier. I understand there was an error on the part of the Board of Audit and Inspection.”

Regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection’s announcement that the NIS prepared an analysis document stating that the defection was unclear, Director Kim reportedly responded, “I cannot answer as it is an ongoing investigation.”

On suspicions that the NIS’s HUMINT (human intelligence) was on the boat, Director Kim reportedly said, “That is completely untrue,” according to Representative Yoo.

Regarding the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Director Kim said, “We understood the contents before the law passed in the U.S. Congress. Although I cannot specify the exact date, we reported the trends to the relevant ministries at an appropriate time before the law’s passage.”

Regarding allegations of illegal dollar smuggling by the Ssangbangwool Group, Director Kim said, “I am not aware of that matter,” according to both representatives.

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