President Lee Myung-bak on Monday tapped South Korea’s Ambassador to Canada Nam Joo-hong as the first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service in a reshuffle that affected six vice-ministerial posts.

Cheong Wa Dae said that Nam, a well-known security expert, was suitable for the post considering his professionalism and expertise in security and unification affairs and his sense of responsibility and integrity. 

As for the second NIS deputy director post, Lee named Cha Moon-hee, senior official at the National Intelligence Academy. The first and second deputy chiefs are in charge of overseas and domestic operations, respectively.

Lee also named Kim Ung-gweon, deputy minister for university and college policy at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as the first deputy minister at the ministry.

Also in the reshuffle, Kim Il-saeng, chief of the personnel and welfare division at the Ministry of National Defense, was tapped as new commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration.

Kang Ho-in, who formerly served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, was named as chief of the Public Procurement Service. The new commissioner general of Korea Coast Guard, will be Lee Kang-deok, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The president also carried out a small-scale reorganization of the presidential office.

Km Sang-il, director of the cultural affairs bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was tapped as his protocol secretary.

Baek Seung-yeop, senior SMPA official, was named as presidential secretary for public security. Lee Sung-hee, vice education chief in Daegu, was tapped as Lee’s educational secretary.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)