Each Branch Chief of Staff's Inauguration Ceremony Today

Commander of 2nd Operations Command and Commander of Ground Operations Command Also Appointed at Headquarters
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Subject to Confirmation Hearing

The inauguration ceremony for the new Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Army Ground Operations Command and the 2nd Operations Command commanders, will be held on the 31st. The ceremony will be held simultaneously as seven generals from the Army, Navy, and Air Force are appointed on the same day in the second half military general personnel reshuffle.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force headquarters located at Gyeryongdae in Daejeon.

On the 31st, a military official stated, “The inauguration ceremonies for each branch’s Chiefs of Staff will be held at the Gyeryong Headquarters Grand Parade Ground. The schedule is as follows: the Army Chief of Staff at 1:40 PM, the Navy Chief of Staff at 3:00 PM, and the Air Force Chief of Staff at 4:20 PM.” He added, “The Ground Operations Command and the 2nd Operations Command commanders’ ceremonies will be held at their respective command parade grounds at 3:40 PM and 5:10 PM, respectively.”

In this second half military general personnel reshuffle, all seven generals from the Army, Navy, and Air Force were replaced. The new Army Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Park An-su (Korea Military Academy Class of 46), who served as the director of the 75th Armed Forces Day event planning team and combined arms commander this year. The Navy Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Yang Yong-mo (Korea Naval Academy Class of 44), director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Military Support Headquarters, and the Air Force Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Lee Young-soo (Korea Air Force Academy Class of 38), director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Strategic Planning Headquarters. The Deputy Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command is Lieutenant General Kang Shin-chul (Korea Military Academy Class of 46), director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Headquarters. The Ground Operations Command commander is Lieutenant General Son Sik (Korea Military Academy Class of 47), commander of the Special Warfare Command, and the Army 2nd Operations Command commander is Lieutenant General Ko Chang-jun (Korea Army 3rd Infantry School Class of 26), commander of the Capital Corps.

Since the Yoon administration took office, in the first general officer personnel reshuffle in May last year, General Kim Seung-gyeom, who was then the Deputy Commander of the Combined Forces Command, was promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and six lieutenant generals were promoted to generals. However, it is unusual for all seven generals, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be completely replaced.

For the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Lieutenant General Kim Myung-soo, currently the Navy Operations Command commander, was selected. It is also the first time in about 50 years that a lieutenant general who is not currently a general has been promoted to general and appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff still has to undergo the National Assembly confirmation hearing process. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the only active-duty military officer subject to a confirmation hearing.

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