Kim Kwan-jin (; born August 27, 1949) was Chief of South Korea the National Security Office under President

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...

, a position to which he was appointed in 2014. He was previously the 33rd Chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

of the

South Korean armed forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

and the Minister of National Defense.

Education

* Graduated, Seoul High School *

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Korea Military Academy Korea Military Academy (KMA) is the leading South Korean institution for the education and training of officer cadets for the Republic of Korea Army. Along with the Korea Army Academy (Yeongcheon), it produces the largest number of senior offi ...

(28th Graduating Class)

Career

Kim previously served as Commanding General, 35th Infantry Division (1999–2000), Commanding General, II Corps (2002–2004), and Chief Director, Joint Operations Headquarters, Joint Chiefs of Staff (2004–2005). He was promoted to four-star general and assumed command of Third ROK Army in 2005. In 2006, he became the 33rd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing General Lee Sang-hee. On March 28, 2008, he was replaced by General Kim Tae-young. Following incidents of the bombardment of Yeonpyeong, he was selected to replace Kim Tae-young as a new National Defense Minister of the Republic of Korea on November 26, 2010. After the end of President

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...

's term in office in February 2013, incoming President

decided to retain Kim in his post of Defense Minister after Park's nominee Kim Byung-kwan was forced to resign under pressure over a series of alleged ethical lapses and North Korea's repeated war threats. In February 2019, Kim was given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for attempting to sway public opinion using Cyber Command to support the Park administration.

References

External links

* Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Kwan-jin South Korean generals Government ministers of South Korea Living people 1949 births Korea Military Academy alumni Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (South Korea) National defense ministers of South Korea Recipients of the Order of National Security Merit