SEOUL, Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo has been named as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the defense ministry said Sunday, which would make him the top-ranking military officer from the Navy for the first time in a decade if confirmed.

Kim was promoted to four-star general in the latest military personnel reshuffle to replace the incumbent JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, according to the ministry.

It is the first time in 10 years that a Navy officer has been appointed to the top military post since Adm. Choi Yoon-hee served as the JCS chairman from 2013 to 2015.

His promotion from a three-star general and appointment to the JCS was seen as a surprise reshuffle as it marks the first time since 1994 when South Korea retook the peacetime operational control of its troops from the U.S.-led United Nations Command.

While the JCS chairman post has been predominantly from the Army, Kim is the fifth from a different branch of the military.

His appointment will be subject to a parliamentary confirmation hearing followed by an approval at a Cabinet meeting Monday.

In the major military personnel reshuffle, the second under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration which took office in May 2022, Kim and six other three-star generals were promoted to four-star generals.

Among them are Lt. Gen. Park An-su, Vice. Adm. Yang Yong-mo and Lt. Gen. Lee Young-su, who were named as the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, respectively.

Kang Shin-chul, the head of the JCS operation headquarters, has been appointed as the deputy commander of S. Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

Source: Yonhap News Agency