Former presidential security adviser named chief of state-run think tank

Published : Nov 16, 2020 - 21:28 Updated : Nov 17, 2020 - 09:25

Professor Kim Ki-jung of Seoul's Yonsei University speaks during a peace forum in Seoul on Dec. 4, 2019. (Yonhap)

Kim Ki-jung, a former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in for national security affairs, has been tapped as the new head of a think tank operating under the state spy agency, officials said Monday.

The Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), affiliated with the National Intelligence Service, held a board meeting on the day and picked Kim as its head, according to INSS officials. He plans to assume the post later this week, they added.

In 2017, Kim was appointed as the deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, but offered to resign less than two weeks later amid rumors of his misconduct while working as a professor at Seoul's Yonsei University.

The INSS chief post remains vacant after professor Jo Dong-ho resigned in July this year. (Yonhap)