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It has been confirmed that the replacement of the commander of the Ground Operations Command, which is not an exaggeration to say that all of our Army forces, will take place in the middle to late this week. Since the end of last year, there have been persistent rumors of health abnormalities of the current commander Jeon Dong-jin, but the government has finally made a decision. Since it commands three-quarters of the army, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th Corps and the Capital Corps, and determines victory or defeat in the event of an all-out war on the Korean peninsula, careful selection is required.

Three lieutenant generals, one year junior to Commander Jeon Dong-jin, were shortlisted. It was originally planned to nominate the next commander early last week. However, the nomination of a single candidate was abandoned due to problems, and the military reportedly hurriedly selected the three again and reported them to the president's office. Because of this process, the announcement was postponed for about ten days.


'Single recommendation' is dropped to '3 person recommendation'

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In the second half of the third week of March, when the ROK-U.S. joint command post exercise "Freedom Shield" entered the middle of the war, a senior personnel officer from Army Headquarters reportedly visited the Ground Operations Command. In response, the NCND position is that the Ground Operations Command "cannot confirm." Looks close to the truth. A visit to the Ground Operations Command by a senior personnel officer signaled a change of commander.

According to the SBS report, three days later, on the 3th, Lieutenant General A, from the 20th Army Division, was recommended to the President's Office as a single candidate for the next Ground Operations Commander. The next day, on the 46st, reports appeared about the health problems of Commander Jeon Dong-jin and the commander Hama Pyong. The time difference between singular recommendations and commander health anomalies is unusual. I thought there would be a replacement announcement on the 21st, but it just passed. There is testimony that it was because the President's Office rejected the recommendation of Lieutenant General A because "it makes no sense to make a single recommendation for the selection of a commander of a critical mission."

The second round of nominations is three people, Lieutenant General B and Lieutenant General C, who are also from the 21th Army Division. Of the three lieutenant generals who have been recommended in plurality, generals other than Lieutenant General B and Lieutenant General C are observed to be Lieutenant General A, who were previously single-recommended. Since they have risen to the rank of lieutenant general, everyone is likely to be highly meritorious but they are tagged with the following labels: failure to respond to North Korean drones, lack of field command experience, and certain connections. The date for announcing the next Ground Operations Commander is narrowing down to Thursday or Friday.


One-point personnel without replacement, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

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In conjunction with the change of ground operations commander, there was also much speculation that Kim Sung-yong, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would be replaced as a rebuke for the failure to respond to North Korea's drone. If we change the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we will inevitably have a chain of land, sea, and air commanders. The construction is large.

A senior government official drew the line, "This is one point for the commander of ground operations." But he added, "We cannot predict early appointments, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." This week, we're replacing only the Commander of Ground Operations, but we're also considering the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a chain of Army, Navy and Air Force commanders.

At the end of May last year, I made my first appointment as the Chief of Staff, so it's been less than a year. It is somewhat fast. In a way, it is evidence that the greeting in May last year was not successful. The four star captains are all heavy seats. Even if it is difficult for the Commander of Ground Operations, I hope that the principle of skill-first deployment will be observed.