Presidential Office "Will Establish 3rd Deputy Director Office of National Security Office... Command Post Needed for Supply Chain, etc."

Senior Official: "Diplomatic and Economic Relations Collapse, Global Order Undergoing Major Shift"

The Presidential Office will soon establish a 3rd Deputy Director position in the National Security Office dedicated to economic security. This decision comes from the judgment that timely response has become necessary as global issues such as the U.S.-China hegemonic competition, worldwide bloc formation, and regional and international conflicts continue to directly link the economy with security and security with economic issues.

A senior official from the Presidential Office responded on the afternoon of the 19th at the Yongsan Presidential Office when a reporter asked if there was a plan to create a 3rd Deputy Director in the National Security Office, saying, "The 3rd Deputy Director will be established."

The official explained the reason for the new position, saying, "The 1st Deputy Director will be in charge of diplomacy, the 2nd Deputy Director of defense, and the 3rd Deputy Director of economic security. Since diplomatic and economic relations are breaking down, and especially as the international economic order, which was once stable under past free trade principles, is now undergoing tectonic shifts, supply chains have become important, so someone needs to play the role of commander."

Once the 3rd Deputy Director is established, it is highly likely that the Economic Security Secretariat, currently under the 1st Deputy Director, will be moved under the 3rd Deputy Director. The Yoon Seok-yeol administration established the Economic Security Secretariat at its launch in May last year, describing it as "an era of economic security where the dividing line between economy and security is becoming blurred."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Economic Security Secretariat handles key external policy tasks such as Korea-Japan economic security dialogue, Korea-U.S.-Japan supply chain early warning system, Korea-U.S. next-generation core emerging technology dialogue, and Korea-Netherlands economic security dialogue.

In addition, it is expected that additional secretariats related to economic security will be established.

Currently, under the 1st Deputy Director, there are four secretariats: Economic Security, Security Strategy, Diplomacy, and Unification. Under the 2nd Deputy Director, there are the Defense and Cybersecurity Secretariats and the National Crisis Management Center Director.

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