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| President Moon Jae-in and Kim Ki-jung / Korea Times file |
By Kang Seung-woo
President Moon Jae-in's pick for the head of a think tank operating under the state spy agency is raising some eyebrows, with critics claiming that the head of state's latest personnel appointment is still based on the appointee's close ties to the administration.
According to the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), Tuesday, it held a board meeting the previous day, and picked Kim Ki-jung, a former senior aide to President Moon for national security affairs, as its chief. The INSS is an affiliate of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Although the INSS chief post has remained vacant since former chief Jo Dong-ho resigned in July this year, Kim's personal connection to Moon is believed to have affected the appointment even though Kim was embroiled in misconduct allegations in the past.
Kim was President Moon's high school junior at Kyungnam High School in Busan and he began to help Moon in 2012 when Moon launched his first presidential bid against Park Geun-hye. In addition, he is a key figure among those linked to the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Yonsei University who have taken up key diplomatic and security posts in the incumbent administration. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is a graduate of the department, while Moon Chung-in, the President's special adviser for foreign affairs and national security, is a professor emeritus of the department.
This is not the first time that Kim has served for the Moon administration. Kim, then a political science professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, was named the deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's National Security Office in May 2017.
However, Kim resigned less than two weeks after his appointment, citing personal issues, although the presidential office said misconduct allegations while he was working as a professor was one of the reasons at the time ― while offering no further elaboration.
Even after his resignation, Kim has been referred to as a candidate for key diplomatic and security posts, but the past allegations have repeatedly disqualified him from appointment. In September, President Moon intended to appoint Kim as an ambassador to India, but he was ultimately excluded.
President Moon's recent personnel appointments have placed him in the hot seat.
Earlier this month, he appointed new ambassadors to 11 nations, including Germany and Switzerland, but his selection also raised questions about their suitability given that they lacked expertise in diplomacy and also were apparently chosen only because of their close ties to the administration.
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