2024-07-27 06:02:11
First large-scale personnel change since President Cho Tae-yong took office
Considering the Sumie Terry scandal and other factors, personnel allocation
It has been reported that the National Intelligence Service will carry out a large-scale personnel change around August or September, replacing over 100 executives at Level 3 (the level of director general of a general ministry) or higher. This is being evaluated as the first personnel change that will reveal the true colors of NIS Director Cho Tae-yong. Director Cho took office in December of last year after former Director Kim Kyu-hyun, the first NIS director under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, was suddenly dismissed due to a personnel scandal. In particular, the NIS is currently considering returning to the front lines dozens of personnel who were effectively excluded from their work after receiving notice of standby orders and other measures during former Director Kim’s tenure. As the recent disclosure of the indictment by U.S. federal prosecutors of Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA member and Korean-American expert on North Korea at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), has raised questions about the lack of qualifications of “amateur” NIS agents, it has been reported that expertise in relevant intelligence work is the top priority for personnel changes. An information source said, “Hasn’t the NIS been criticized for ‘code personnel changes’ every time there’s a change in government?” and “This time, they will establish personnel practices that prioritize work capabilities over political affiliation.”
According to multiple sources on the 26th, Director Cho carried out a personnel change once in March after taking office. At the time, it was said to be a small-scale personnel change, filling only urgent positions, mainly first-class positions. The source said, “In March, Director Cho received advice from senior executives and made personnel changes with the purpose of putting out urgent fires, as he had little understanding of the internal situation and people of the NIS.”
Normally, the National Intelligence Service personnel changes are made twice a year, in June and December, but since the last one was in March, it is known that the changes will be made around August or September. There is also an interpretation that this is because of the recent ‘Sumit Terry controversy’.
National Intelligence Service, which caused the ‘Sumit Terry Incident’, announces large-scale personnel reshuffle
About 100 National Intelligence Service officials were appointed
“Professionalism-Regional Arrangement is the Personnel Criteria”
Dozens of people on standby are considering returning to the front lines
![[단독]National Intelligence Service, replacing more than 100 executives… personnel changes around August and September](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/07/17/125980715.2.jpg "[단독]National Intelligence Service, replacing more than 100 executives… personnel changes around August and September")
“Shouldn’t we never hear the words ‘amateur NIS’ like in the case of the Soomi Terry incident?”
An information source revealed this regarding the personnel direction of the National Intelligence Service that Director Cho is currently preparing.
Previously, during the ‘Kim Kyu-hyun administration’, the National Intelligence Service was evaluated to have split the organization in two due to internal personnel conflicts and factional fighting, such as the controversy over the personnel abuse by K, a close aide and former chief of staff to the former director. In the process of replacing second- and third-grade executives on a large scale, the chaos of unprofessional personnel being assigned to overseas intelligence work was revealed. Although the intention was to correct the ‘code personnel’ of the National Intelligence Service under the Moon Jae-in administration, the same problem was revealed in the process of the replacement. In June of last year, an unprecedented personnel scandal occurred when President Yoon Seok-yeol withdrew the personnel decisions of seven first-grade officials at the National Intelligence Service that he had approved, and this extreme internal strife was fully exposed to the outside world.
Director Cho observed the internal situation of the NIS while serving as the director of the National Security Office before taking office. Accordingly, it is reported that he has been considering the need to assign professional personnel to relevant intelligence work, regardless of political affiliation, during the personnel discussions with his staff and others ahead of this personnel change. Another source said, “The upcoming personnel changes will clearly reflect the direction of the NIS that Director Cho is pursuing,” but added, “(Director Cho) will be under a lot of pressure as many employees are watching to see if he can correct the chaos in the NIS personnel changes so far.”
Accordingly, there is also interest in how many of the personnel who were suspended and removed during the term of former Director Kim will return this time. Since former Director Kim took office, the scope of personnel changes has been quite large, with more than 150 executives at Grade 3 or higher being replaced in December 2022 alone. In particular, there has been constant internal commotion, such as those who were suspended for having been promoted under the former Moon Jae-in administration. Accordingly, there have been consistent demands within the NIS to reexamine the personnel matters during the term of former Director Kim. It is also reported that there are currently hundreds of positions within the NIS where personnel transfers or promotions have been tangled and stalled during the personnel shakeup. This is also interpreted as the reason why the NIS is currently reviewing a plan to reinstate dozens of personnel who were suspended and removed during the term of former Director Kim after verifying their expertise.
It is reported that Director Cho is communicating with former Director Kim ahead of this personnel change. The source said, “As a result, (former Director Kim) was dismissed due to personnel issues, but I think there is something to be said about the negative aspects.” In the past, there have been frequent criticisms that the personnel changes of the National Intelligence Service were biased toward certain regions such as Yeongnam and Honam. Accordingly, there is speculation that regional distribution will be one of the major criteria for this personnel change.
Reporter Shin Jin-woo [email protected]
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2024-07-27 06:02:11