NIS Chief of Policy Office Abruptly Resigns... Park Ji-won: "Former Chief Jo Sang-jun and Presidential Office Also Bypassed NIS Director"

Park Ji-won "President Yoon's personnel appointments are a mesh, a disaster occurred at the National Intelligence Service"
NIS explains "Resigned due to health reasons"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Regarding the sudden resignation of Cho Sang-jun, former Chief of Staff at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and a close aide to President Yoon Seok-yeol, Park Ji-won, former NIS Director, raised the possibility of a 'conflict surrounding personnel appointments.'

On the 27th, Park Ji-won appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and commented on Cho's resignation, saying, "Cho Dong-hoon and Woo Sang-jun are close aides to President Yoon Seok-yeol, and Cho held the important position of Chief of Staff. Seeing such a situation at the NIS, Korea's top and world-renowned intelligence agency, I feel deeply ashamed as a former NIS Director. President Yoon's personnel appointments were ultimately a failure. A disaster occurred starting from the NIS."

He added, "Since I also obtained information from the NIS, I cannot disclose exact details, but I have heard it is related to personnel issues. Cho, who should handle level 2 and 3 appointments at the NIS, submitted his proposals, but Kim Gyu-hyun, the NIS Director who had returned from overseas, reviewed them and, since they did not align with his views, sent them back. Does that make any sense?"

Park said, "Since the Chief of Staff's proposal and the NIS Director's proposal were submitted separately, the Blue House deliberated and sided with the NIS Director. I understand that Cho submitted his resignation ahead of the National Assembly audit."

Park expressed regret over the fact that Cho submitted his resignation to the Presidential Office rather than to Director Kim, and that the Presidential Office accepted the resignation without consulting the NIS Director. He said, "Of course, the President holds the political appointment authority, but personnel matters concerning the Chief of Staff, who worked closely with the NIS Director, should be processed through the Director and then reported to the Presidential Office. It is problematic that the current NIS Director was bypassed like this, and if the Presidential Office accepted it, they should have asked the current NIS Director. Instead, without asking, the matter was passed down to the Prime Minister's Office and the resignation was processed," he pointed out.

Park added, "The Chief of Staff bypassed the NIS Director and submitted directly to the Presidential Office, and the Presidential Office also bypassed the NIS Director without inquiry. How can the NIS Director be treated like this? The President's secretary informed the NIS Director that Cho's resignation had been accepted." He continued, "During my two years as NIS Director, I have called secretaries, but secretaries have never called the NIS Director to give orders like this."

Meanwhile, the NIS explained regarding Cho's sudden resignation, "He expressed his intention to resign due to personal reasons including health issues," and clarified, "Reports by some media outlets about 'internal personnel conflicts' and various rumors are completely unfounded."

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