Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Criticism mounts over Yoon's 'revolving door' Cabinet
Director of National Security Cho Tae-yong, front, gestures as he enters Seongnam Air Base in Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 15, upon returning from President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the Netherlands. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
National security advisor, foreign minister likely to be replaced soon
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s ongoing Cabinet reshuffle has been criticized as a series of "revolving door" appointments as familiar faces, mostly his close aides, are anticipated to take turns holding ministerial and other key government posts ahead of the upcoming general elections slated for April.
Yoon is expected to announce a number of replacements in the key posts of his diplomatic and security teams within this week, continuing a shakeup in the Cabinet and the presidential office which started earlier this month.
According to sources and media reports, Director of National Security Cho Tae-yong will likely be named as the new chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), a position which has been vacant since Kim Kyou-hyun resigned last month, apparently due to infighting over personnel affairs within the spy agency.
Selecting Cho for the position is viewed as a reflection of the president’s confidence in the official, who is known for his flexible leadership style and diplomatic capabilities, to stabilize an apparent internal feud within the spy agency and swiftly fill the void in the country’s intelligence capabilities.
If appointed, this will be the third position that Cho will have taken so far during Yoon's 20 months in office. Cho served as the ambassador to the United States from May 2022 and was appointed as national security advisor in March.
First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin speaks during a press briefing at the ministry's headquarters in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Sept. 15. Yonhap
Highly likely to succeed Cho will be First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chang Ho-jin. Chang served as the director-general of the foreign ministry’s North American affairs bureau, and as presidential foreign affairs secretary during previous administrations.
It will also be the third position that Chang will have taken in the Yoon administration. He was appointed as the ambassador to Russia in August 2022, and tapped as the first vice foreign minister in April.
Foreign Minister Park Jin is widely anticipated to be replaced by former second vice foreign minister Cho Tae-yul. He served in the post during the conservative Park Geun-hye administration, showing strengths in multilateral diplomacy. At that time, the former vice minister continued his diplomatic role as Seoul’s permanent representative to the United Nations and assisted the U.N. in adopting sanctions on North Korea.
Park, the current foreign minister and a four-term lawmaker, has already hinted at leaving his post as he is set to return to politics to run for a fifth term at the National Assembly. After former Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, a fellow four-term lawmaker, returned to the party in June to prepare for the general elections scheduled for April 10, 2024. Park is expected to be the next high-profile politician to quit the Cabinet to take part in the parliamentary race.
Then-South Korean Permanent Representative to the United Nations Cho Tae-yul speaks during a Security Council meeting in New York, Sept. 11, 2017. AP-Yonhap
The anticipated shakeup in the diplomatic and security teams will be the latest moves in Yoon’s sweeping reshuffle across the government.
On Sunday, Yoon nominated trade representative Ahn Duk-geun to replace Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Bang Moon-kyu, who took the helm of industrial policies just three months ago.
Bang is set to run for the general elections in his hometown of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Reportedly, Bang initially intended to continue serving as the industry minister, but decided to take part in the election due to the ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) repeated requests, in order to have a renowned candidate run in the region.
But the main opposition party claimed that the reshuffle will not lead to constructive changes.
“No one is pinning hopes on the reshuffle, because it is not about correcting the administration’s failures and salvaging the economy,” Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) spokesperson Rep. Choi Hye-young said.
“Foreign minister Park and industry minister Bang are replaced due to their election bids … Simply put, the ongoing reshuffle shows that the administration is putting everything on the general elections. It is deplorable that Yoon is sending his close aides to the PPP to directly govern the state.”
Against this backdrop, the confirmation hearings of Yoon’s previous nominees for ministers will continue throughout this week at the National Assembly.
Rival parties held a confirmation hearing on agriculture minister candidate Song Mi-ryung on Monday, and will hold hearings for economy and finance minister nominee Choi Sang-mok and oceans minister nominee Kang Do-hyung, separately on Tuesday.
After questioning land minister nominee Park Sang-woo on Wednesday, the parties will hear from veterans minister nominee Kang Jung-ai and SME minister nominee Oh Young-ju on Thursday.
The economy and finance minister nominee was the senior presidential secretary for economic affairs until last month, while the SME minister nominee is the second vice foreign minister.
“Unlike politicians, bureaucrats are destined to experience a carousel of personnel change,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University. “This is particularly true for diplomats and security officers, as the country's diplomatic and security policies must remain consistent even as ministers or chiefs change.”