NIS Reverses Multiple Grade 1 Personnel Appointments... Personnel Controversy Continues

Controversy Over Certain Executive's Inappropriate Personnel Involvement
National Intelligence Service "Cannot Confirm Personnel Details"
Presidential Office "Does Not Make Personnel Decisions Based on Anonymous Tips"

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) recently announced personnel appointments for first-grade executives but then reversed the decision and placed them on standby duty. It is unusual for high-level personnel appointments within the intelligence agency to be reversed en masse, and controversy has arisen amid suspicions that a specific executive was involved in the personnel process internally.

According to political circles on the 14th, the NIS initially announced new appointments for 5 to 7 first-grade executives at the director-general level earlier this month but later canceled the appointments. President Yoon Seok-yeol initially approved these appointments but reportedly reversed the decision after being informed of the possibility of personnel manipulation by an NIS executive, referred to as Mr. A.

Won Hoon-seok, National Intelligence Service [Photo by National Intelligence Service]

Some speculate that there was a tip-off claiming "Executive A, who was also among the first-grade personnel subject to this appointment, was inappropriately involved in the personnel process," and that the Presidential Office considered this tip-off credible. However, a senior official from the Presidential Office clearly denied this during a morning briefing, stating, "We have never received any tip-off," and added, "We do not make or cancel appointments based on tip-offs."

Since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, there have been repeated disturbances surrounding personnel matters within the NIS. Previously, after all first-grade executives appointed during the Moon Jae-in administration retired in September last year, about 20 new first-grade executives were appointed mainly from internal promotions. At the end of the year, during a purge that extended to second- and third-grade agents, over 100 personnel appointed during the previous administration were placed on standby without positions, sparking controversy over "retaliatory personnel actions," especially among opposition parties.

In particular, tensions among the top leadership surfaced when Cho Sang-jun, the NIS Planning and Coordination Director known as a close aide to President Yoon, abruptly resigned in October last year. Cho, the second-in-command overseeing the NIS organization, personnel, and budget, announced his resignation ahead of the National Assembly’s audit. Director Kim Kyu-hyun was reportedly informed of this late, raising suspicions of a conflict over personnel issues.

An intelligence source told Asia Economy in a phone interview on the same day, "The current director is strongly committed to strengthening the NIS’s core missions such as counterintelligence, so many figures who previously handled domestic intelligence have returned, gradually taking control of the NIS," adding, "It is true that some personnel who remained since the Moon Jae-in administration have been sidelined to minor posts, causing some noise regarding personnel matters."

An NIS official said, "There is no information we can confirm regarding this personnel controversy."

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