Moon appoints vice ministers, presidential adviser

Reform-minded researcher appointed as vice defense minister

By Jun Ji-hye

President Moon Jae-in appointed five new vice ministers while letting an incumbent vice foreign minister remain in office, Cheong Wa Dae said, Tuesday. Moon also named a presidential economic adviser.

Most notably, the President named Suh Choo-suk, a reform-minded researcher, as vice defense minister, signaling a willingness to speed up defense reform. Outgoing Vice Defense Minister Hwang In-moo is a retired three-star Army general who graduated from the elite Korea Military Academy.

Suh Choo-suk

Lim Sung-nam

Suh, who majored in diplomacy at Seoul National University, served as presidential secretary for unification and security issues under the Roh Moo-hyun government that pushed defense reform only to fail.

Throughout his campaign, Moon, who was Roh’s chief of staff, also vowed to reform the defense sector by, for example, restructuring the military’s top command structure and increasing the number of civilian leaders.

“Suh has dealt with the theories and practices of security affairs,” the presidential office said. “He is the right man who will strongly push defense reform.”

Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun also noted that Moon told Lim Sung-nam, the incumbent first vice foreign minister, to continue at his post, while appointing Kim Yong-soo, a vice ministerial-level official at the Korea Communications Commission, as second vice minister for science, ICT and future planning.

Moon promoted Kwon Deok-cheol, an incumbent official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to the second highest post at the ministry.

Na Jong-min, a former official and spokesman from the culture, sports and tourism ministry, was appointed first vice minister there, while Ryu Hee-in, a retired Air Force pilot who worked at the National Security Commission, was named vice minister of public safety and security.

Moon also named Kim Hyun-chul, a Seoul National University professor and vice chairman of the Korea Association of Small Business Studies, as his adviser on economic affairs.