What’s next for Kim Hyun-chong?
Aside from President Moon Jae-in, one of the biggest newsmakers at Cheong Wa Dae is Kim Hyun-chong, the second deputy director of the National Security Office (NSO).
Due to the secretive nature of his work, he rarely appears in Cheong Wa Dae’s press center. So whenever he shows up at a briefing, reporters who cover Cheong Wa Dae know instinctively that something serious is about to happen.
His latest briefing on July 28 contained some exciting news. After nine months of negotiations following President Moon Jae-in’s order, Kim announced the revised missile guidelines agreement with Washington which will ease the decadeslong restrictions that have limited Korea’s military and space potential.
The Revised Missile Guidelines will enable Korea to develop solid-fuel space vehicles and launch military spy satellites, which are expected to significantly increase Korea’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, something the country has lacked in comparison to other neighboring powers such as Japan and China.
“We are strengthening our security capabilities further and at the same time establishing and faithfully implementing security strategies that can help our national economy,” Kim said at the briefing, July 28.
‘Missile sovereignty’
Kim hinted that Korea will continue to negotiate with the U.S. with the aim to recover Korea’s “missile sovereignty,” which is something President Moon highlighted in a statement after the revised guidelines were announced.
It was the first time for the two-time former trade minister to appear at an official briefing at Cheong Wa Dae since a series of briefings last year in July and August on Seoul’s response to a bilateral dispute with Japan.
This time, reporters were particularly curious about the possibility of future negotiations with Washington for extending the range limit of 800 kilometers imposed on Korean ballistic missiles, which remains in place despite the latest revision.
“If it is necessary for national security, I would like to say that we can discuss the 800-kilometer limit any time with the U.S.,” Kim said. “The issue of easing the 800-kilometer restriction will be resolved in due time.”
According to his tweet, he met with Robert B. Abrams, commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) on July 31. “After the revision of the Korea-U.S. missile guidelines, we shared our views on how to strengthen the alliance and the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula. There is still a lot to do in the future.”
GSOMIA
In addition to the missile issue, it is expected that the focus of the NSO second deputy director will be on the Korea-Japan row over a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), signed at the U.S. initiative in 2016.
In November 2019, Korea reversed its decision a few months earlier to scrap the bilateral pact, saying it would postpone its expiry while the two countries sort out their trade dispute, which erupted after Japan’s removal of Korea from its “whitelist” of trusted trading partners in August 2019.
The focus will be on what kind of decision Seoul will make regarding GSOMIA ahead of the deadline for the pact’s expiration on Aug. 23. “I will continue to review this issue and will try to come to a good decision,” Kim said.