"More 'Civilian' Defense Ministry Shifts General Officer Personnel, Long Run by Korea Military Academy, to Civilians"

Restructuring of Key Post Held by Korea Military Academy Graduates... Establishment of Personnel Operations Team
Reflecting Civilianization Policy... "Enhancing Independence and Fairness"

It is expected that general government officials, rather than Army Academy graduates who have mainly handled the task until now, will take charge of personnel affairs for general-grade officers.

Quoting military authorities on the 17th, Yonhap News reported that the Ministry of National Defense has recently pre-announced legislation on a revision to the "Enforcement Rule of the Organization of the Ministry of National Defense and Its Affiliated Agencies" containing this measure. The core of the revision is to change the appointment rule so that the head of the Personnel Planning and Management Division, a key position that oversees overall military personnel policy, will be a general public official rather than an active-duty officer.

The Personnel Planning and Management Division is a core department that oversees overall military personnel policies and plans and has been involved in personnel matters for general officers. Until now, field-grade officers, especially colonels who graduated from the Korea Military Academy, have mainly held this position, and it has been perceived as a path to promotion to general.

Ahn Kyubaek, Minister of National Defense, visited the Army Capital Defense Command on the 2nd and is receiving a briefing on the status of mission operations. Yonhap News

The revision also includes separating the function of managing personnel for general-grade officers from the existing Personnel Planning and Management Division. The Ministry of National Defense plans to newly establish a "Military Personnel Operations Team" under the Personnel and Welfare Office to oversee major internal personnel work, including personnel management for general officers and for civilian employees at Grade 2 or higher. The head of this new team will also be a general public official at the director level.

This measure is seen as reflecting the policy of civilianizing national defense that has been emphasized since the inauguration of Minister Ahn Gyubaek, the first civilian Minister of National Defense in 64 years. In July last year, the Ministry of National Defense also appointed, for the first time, a general government official to the position of Director of Personnel Planning, a post that had previously been held by active-duty or retired general officers.

Previously, President Lee Jaemyung had stressed the need to civilianize the military and national defense, noting that former Minister of National Defense Kim Yonghyun, a Korea Military Academy graduate and retired lieutenant general, mobilized units commanded by his juniors from the Academy to carry out the "12·3 Emergency Martial Law."

An official from the Ministry of National Defense stated, "We plan to change the position of head of the Personnel Planning and Management Division to that of a general public official in order to strengthen the foundation for establishing balanced personnel policies for each branch of the armed forces," adding, "The Military Personnel Operations Team is also intended to enhance the independence and fairness of military personnel administration."

Meanwhile, the revision also includes changing the name of the "International Cooperation Division" under the Defense Policy Office to the "International Peace Cooperation Division."

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