Successor of Minister Cho Likely to be Appointed Today

President Roh Moo-hyun is planning to accept the resignation of National Defense Minister Cho Young-gil and appoint a successor by as early as July 28.

For the successor, former Vice Defense Minister Kwon Young-hyo (23rd term military academy), Presidential Aide for National Defense Yoon Gwang-woong (20th term naval academy), National Defense Research Committee Chairman Chung Young-moo (22nd term military academy), and Kim In-jong (24th term military academy), former commanding general of the Second Army of the Republic of Korea, are being mentioned.

On July 27, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Jong-min stated, “The acceptance of Minister Cho’s resignation and the announcement of his successor will take place concurrently around July 28-29.”

Previously, Minister Cho held an informal press conference this day at the Ministry of National Defense and announced his resignation by stating, “Since the incident of the report omission between North-South Korea communications has been brought to a close, my role as minister is over,” and added, “The military appeared to be in chaos due to this incident; however, I do not want to impose a burden on the president, the commander-in-chief.”

Jung-Hun Kim Ho-Won Choi jnghn@donga.com bestiger@donga.com