Yoon Geon-young: "The Appointments of the NIS Director and Deputy Director Are Zero Points... They Are Just Figureheads Anyway"

President Yoon Suk-yeol's sudden replacement of Kim Kyu-hyun, the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), along with the first and second deputy directors on the 26th, was harshly criticized by Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who called it a "very strange personnel move" and gave it a "zero score."

On the 27th, Yoon Gun-young posted on his social media, "They said they would replace the director, but appointed the deputy directors first. What kind of strategy is this?"

Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning at the Environment and Labor Committee's national audit held at the National Assembly on the 17th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

After returning from visits to the United Kingdom and France, President Yoon accepted the resignations of the NIS director and the first and second deputy directors the day before, appointing Hong Jang-won, former British ambassador, as the new first deputy director, and Hwang Won-jin, former North Korean intelligence chief, as the new second deputy director. Deputy Director Hong will serve as acting director for the time being.

Yoon Gun-young pointed out, "Normally, it is common sense to appoint the director first and then, after hearing his opinion, appoint the deputies. In short, this is a personnel move going backwards." He added, "It was the same when Kim Kyu-hyun was appointed director. Before the director even took office, a 'special advisor to the NIS director' was appointed first."

This, he argued, indicates an intention by the Yongsan Presidential Office to seize control of the NIS. He said, "Making such a strange personnel move by appointing deputy directors without reflecting the director's opinion at all means that the Yongsan Presidential Office intends to directly control the NIS, nothing more, nothing less," and questioned, "Do they think it doesn't matter since they plan to install a 'figurehead director' anyway?"

He continued, "Or have they already singled out a candidate for NIS director who is 'united solely by loyalty,' so common sense no longer matters?" concluding, "President Yoon Suk-yeol's personnel decisions still deserve a zero score."

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