The Defense Ministry on Tuesday appointed Army Lt. Gen. Shin Won-sik as deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and promoted Maj. Gen. Lee Sang-hoon to lieutenant general to lead the Marine Corps in a regular reshuffle that promoted 23 senior officers.

The ministry also promoted Major Generals Chang Gyeong-seok and Kang Goo-young to lieutenant general and Rear Adm. Lee Beom-rim to vice admiral.

Chang, Kang and Lee were appointed as commanders of the Special Warfare Command, deputy Air Force chief of staff and deputy chief of naval operations, respectively.


The ministry also appointed Lt. Gen. Kim Jeong-sig as commander of Air Force Operations Command and promoted Rear Adm. Kim Pan-kyu to vice admiral to Naval Academy superintendent.

Maj. Generals Kim Yong-u and Lee Wang-keun were also promoted to lieutenant general to lead the Army’s 1st Corps and the Air Force’s Education and Training Command, respectively.

New Deputy JSC chief Shin served as chief of the JCS operations division for one-and-a-half years. He has also served in a variety of commanding and policymaking positions, including commander of the Capital Defense Command.

The new marine commandant formerly served as chief of the Defense Ministry’s battle posture inspection agency. He led the 2nd Marine Division and worked as chief secretary for the JCS chairman in the past.

The Defense Ministry said the recent reshuffle was aimed at strengthening the military’s combat readiness, reforming outmoded military culture ― cited as a cause of physical abuse and other misconduct at barracks ― and boosting troop morale.

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