NIS to replace over 100 managers from next month

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea is reportedly planning to replace over 100 managers above level 3 in August and September. It will be the first personnel decision that will reveal the characteristics of National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong. He was appointed in December last year after former NIS Director Kim Kyou-hyun, who was the first director of the NIS under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, was replaced due to personnel matter-related issues.

The NIS is considering bringing back dozens of managers who were practically removed from the front lines of work as they were instructed to wait to be assigned when former Director Kim was in office. It was reported that the priority criterion for personnel decisions is the professional capabilities of an agent for intelligence work since insufficient capabilities of ‘amateur’ NIS agents were under criticism as the details were revealed regarding the U.S. federal prosecutor’s prosecution of Sue Mi Terry, a Korean-American expert on issues related to North Korea and a former agent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. “The NIS has been under criticism for its personnel decisions based on the political environment every time a new administration was introduced,” said a source. “The practice of prioritizing capabilities, not political orientation, will be established.”

According to multiple sources on Friday, Director Cho made some personnel decisions in March after his appointment. However, it was much smaller in size, where mainly level 1 positions were filled. “As Cho had limited understanding of the internal situation at the NIS and its agents in March, the personnel decisions were limited to urgent positions based on senior members’ advice,” said a source.

Personnel appointments at the NIS are typically carried out in June and December. However, they will be carried out in August and September this year since the last decisions were made in March. Some believe that the timing was also decided in consideration of the Sue Mi Terry issue.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com