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Jung Dae-jin appointed as unification policy secretary

Published: 25 Aug. 2025, 16:21 Updated: 25 Aug. 2025, 17:56

Jung Dae-jin, professor of global business at Halla University, who was appointed unification policy secretary at the presidential National Security Office [JOONGANG ILBO]

Jung Dae-jin, a professor of global business at Halla University in Wonju, has been appointed unification policy secretary at the presidential National Security Office, sources said Monday.

Jung, a prominent progressive scholar and activist in the fields of unification, diplomacy and security, is seen as in sync with an administration aiming to accelerate efforts to rebuild trust and dialogue with North Korea.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter said that procedures for Jung’s appointment began last month. He started work at the presidential office on Monday. With this appointment, five of the six secretary positions at the National Security Office are now filled, with the exception of the economic security secretary.

Jung holds a doctorate in unification studies from Yonsei University and currently teaches in the Global Business Department at Halla University. He has also served as the director of international relations at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies and as a research professor at the Ajou Institute for Unification at Ajou University.

He has been active in several roles, including as director of the Peace Center at the Hanpyeong Policy Institute — an independent think tank led by early- and mid-career scholars — and as head of the Gangwon Center for Unification Education under the National Institute for Unification Education.

He also served as a standing committee member of the National Unification Advisory Council. Under the Lee Jae Myung administration, he was a policy adviser on the Foreign Affairs and Security Subcommittee of the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee.

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a senior aides' meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoulon Aug. 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Meanwhile, North Korea on Monday criticized the South Korea-Japan summit held in Tokyo on Saturday, calling it “a diplomatic show caused by the uneasiness of Seoul, which aims to remove the ‘misunderstanding’ of Washington.”

The criticism came in an individually authored article titled “Seoul Ruler's Despicable Behavior as Scout for Triangular Military Cooperation,” published by the regime’s state media.

The piece described Lee’s mention of strengthened South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation during the summit as a “begging message toward the master of the White House whom he would meet soon.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees a missile target exercise by the North Korean military on Aug. 24. [YONHAP]

It went on to claim that the backdrop to the Tokyo visit was “U.S. distrust in the present South Korean ruler and his worries as a servant of the U.S.,” adding that this “seems to ignore the tradition of pro-U. S. subservient diplomacy.” The piece went on to claim that Lee’s past “anti-Japanese tendency” as opposition leader earned him not only public favor but also frosty treatment from Tokyo and cold shoulders from Washington.

“The DPRK will never remain a passive onlooker to the worrying situation being created by the U.S. and its followers seeking hegemony,” the piece said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

However, Pyongyang’s decision to criticize Lee using a personal byline rather than an official government statement or spokesperson’s commentary suggests it may be calibrating the intensity of its rhetoric.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]