Appointment of New Advisors to the President

President Roh Moo-hyun accepted the resignation of Ra Jong-il, Senior Advisor for National Security, and Kim Hui-sang, Advisor for National Defense on Friday. The president then appointed Kwon Jin-ho, former First Deputy Director at the National Intelligence Service, as the new national security advisor and Yoon Kwang-woong, Chairman of the Emergency Planning Committee, as the new national defense advisor.

The president also appointed Park Ki-young, a professor at Sunchon National University, as the successor to Kim Tae-yu, Advisor for Information, Science and Technology. Professor Park is the first female senior advisor to the president. A new advisor for Foreign Policy, now vacant, will be appointed later.

As the advisors Ra Jong-il and Kim Hui-sang resigned following Yoon Young-kwan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, all top-level officials in charge of foreign policy and national security have been replaced.

“The replacements show the government’s willingness to shift its focus from solving last year’s North Korean nuclear crisis to addressing pending issues of national defense, including the relocation of the U.S. troops in Korea,” said Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Yoon Tae-young during a briefing on Friday. “However, there are no fundamental changes in the government’s foreign policy.”

Jeong-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com