South Korea's chief An was suddenly replaced, and there was a major work mistake in coordinating Yoon Seok-yue's visit to the United States?

South Korea's chief An's sudden removal led to speculation, Korean media: coordination of Yoon Seok-yue's visit to the United States committed major work flaws

With less than a month left before South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue paid a state visit to the United States at the end of April, Kim Sung-han, director of the National Security Office in charge of the South Korean government's foreign and security policy, suddenly announced his resignation on March 4, and the South Korean presidential office approved his resignation by lightning an hour later, announcing that Cho Tae-yong, then South Korean ambassador to the United States, would assume the post. Although Kim Sung-han resigned on his own, some Korean media analyzed that this was due to Kim Sung-han's major work mistakes in coordinating the South Korean president's visit to the United States, and he did not timely report to Yoon Seok-yue's proposal to organize a cultural program to the US president and his wife, so it was actually removed.

Korean media speculated about the substitution

"The inside story of Kim Sung-han's accountability: He ignored the US suggestion that the Black Pink group perform seven times without consulting the president." South Korea's "Chosun Ilbo" reported on the 7th that following the resignation of protocol secretary Kim Il-beom and foreign secretary Lee Mun-hee not long ago, Kim Sung-han, who is in charge of the government's foreign and security policy, also submitted his resignation on the 30th. According to the report, although Kim Sung-han explained that "when President Yoon Seok-hyeol invited me to this position, I said that I would return to campus to continue teaching after repairing the ROK-US alliance, improving South Korea-Japan relations, and laying the foundation for strengthening security cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan", the change of the "commander-in-chief" in charge of South Korea's foreign and security policy will inevitably cause various speculations from the outside world.

According to reports, the key trigger is that in early January this year, the US State Department sent a letter to the South Korean government, saying that US President Biden and his wife proposed to organize a joint performance with the participation of South Korean girl group Black Pink and American singer Lady Gaga during Yoon Seok-yue's visit to the United States. However, South Korea's National Security Office, which oversees Yoon's visit to the United States, did not report the matter to Yoon in a timely manner, and did not give a definitive reply to the U.S. State Department in early March. During this process, the South Korean Embassy in the United States sent letters to the National Security Office seven times at the request of the US State Department, requesting a reply to the US side as soon as possible, but the National Security Office did not take any action. It was not until early March that President Yoon Seok-hyeol learned of the incident from other South Korean diplomats who had returned from a visit to the United States, and immediately ordered a strict investigation into the circumstances of the incident, and finally decided to hold Kim Sung-han and others accountable.

For fear of causing a crisis of trust between South Korea and the United States

A ruling party source told the Chosun Ilbo that our side not only did not report to the president of our country in a timely manner, but also did not reply to the other party in a timely manner regarding the proposal made by the US presidential couple of the host country, which may cause a serious crisis of trust between the two countries. In view of the seriousness of the situation, President Yoon Seok-yue finally made up his mind to replace him.

According to the report, Kim Sung-han and Yoon Seok-yue are not only elementary school classmates who have known each other for 50 years, but during Yoon's presidential campaign, Kim Sung-han, a professor at Korea University, was also responsible for formulating foreign policy guidelines and blueprints for him, and the two have a deep friendship. The fact that the relationship is so close that it can also be removed shows that Kim Sung-han's work mistakes are too serious.

South Korea's News1 news network said on the 30th that the internal contradictions of the presidential office have existed for a long time, the presidential office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments have not communicated well, the poor performance in coordinating the "Inflation Reduction Act" with the United States, and the failure to control public opinion after the South Korea-Japan summit summit, etc., these comprehensive factors are the reasons that eventually led to Kim Sung-han's resignation, and the "work flaws in the visit to the United States" should only be superficial reasons. According to reports, the National Security Office led by Kim Sung-han has been rumored to have poor communication with the president's secretariat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments, resulting in important information not being shared, and making it difficult to advance various work.

President Han's office responded: The trend is right

"The ROK-US summit is imminent, and the resignation of South Korea's diplomatic chief is shocking." "Korean National News" editorial on the 30th said that at the South Korea-US summit meeting, President Yoon Seok-yue needs to solve the problems that determine the future development of South Korea's semiconductor and battery industries, the North Korean nuclear crisis and many other countries related to the survival of the country. It is doubtful that the Government is seriously preparing these issues. Under these circumstances, there is a chaotic situation in the diplomatic and security services, and President Yoon Seok-yue should explain to the people as much as possible and seek their understanding.

According to Yonhap News Agency, for various speculations about Kim Sung-han's resignation, relevant people in the South Korean presidential office responded at a press conference on the 30th that this was not a personnel change triggered by a specific event, but a change in the general trend. The person said that Kim Sung-han is a professor by training, and at the time of the establishment of the Yoon Seok-hyeol government, he established a diplomatic direction that attaches importance to the ROK-U.S. alliance and attaches importance to ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation, and laid a certain foundation for this, and in terms of further strengthening the ROK-U.S. alliance, ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation and more diplomatic details, the new head of the National Security Office, Cho Tae-yong, who has rich diplomatic experience, may be better than a scholar.

South Korea's new director of the National Security Office, Cho Tae-yong, said on the 30th that he felt a heavy responsibility to become the head of the National Security Office at a critical time and strive to achieve the policy goals of the Yoon Seok-yue government. According to South Korean diplomatic sources, Yoon Seok-yue has nominated Cho Hyun-dong, the first official of the Foreign Ministry, as the new ambassador to the United States, and will go through the necessary procedures to seek the consent of the US side as soon as possible.

(Source: Global Network)