7 Out of 9 Four-Star Generals Replaced

The military yesterday conducted a major shakeup of top brass, replacing seven out of nine four-star-generals.

Gen. Kim Tae-young, chief of the 1st Army Command, was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kim is expected to be the first military officer to be officially appointed after undergoing confirmation hearings at the National Assembly, in accordance with a military reform act enacted at the end of 2006.

Lt. Gen. Lim Choung-bin, superintendent of the Korea Military Academy, was appointed Army chief of staff. Vice Adm. Jung Ok-keun, chief of the Naval Education and Training Command, was tapped as chief of Naval Operations. Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-chool, chief director of strategic planning for the Joint Chiefs, was appointed deputy commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

Lt. Gen. Kim Geun-tai, chief director of operations for the Joint Chiefs, will lead the 1st Army Command. Cho Jae-to, chief director of personnel management and logistics for the Joint Chiefs, will head the 2nd Army Command. Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-eui, chief of an ad hoc panel on the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Korean military’s founding, was chosen commander of the 3rd Army Command.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Eun-ki, who was appointed in April last year, will retain his post because his term will not expire soon. Gen. Park In-yong, deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is expected to be replaced at the end of this month in an expected reshuffle of three-star generals. Army education commander Gen. Kim Jong-tae was nominated as chief of the Defense Security Command.

In the first reshuffle of top military brass since the new administration took office, many of the top figures were replaced as expected, though some speculated that only the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Army chief of staff would be changed to maintain stability in the military.

The reshuffle indicates the new administration’s goal of a complete overhaul of the military.

A military source said, "The shakeup is a message from high-ups that the military is not exempt from the new administration’s doctrine, which can be described as ‘Don’t put new wine into an old bottle.’”

Critics, however, say the two-year tenures of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and commanders and chief of staff for the Army, Navy and Air Force, were ignored though guaranteed by law. The terms of the retiring generals would have been up in six months.

Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said, “We contemplated guaranteeing their terms. But we have concluded that it is pertinent to expedite (a personnel change) six months for the solidarity of the people and more aggressive reform.

ysh1005@donga.com