The ministry will also give the president today a list of officers to be promoted to brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general and announce it to the public. President Lee Myung-bak will formally appoint them in the afternoon. The ministry said the nominations were to be confirmed today at a cabinet meeting. Lee Hong-ki, the head of military operations headquarters at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was selected to succeed Kim to head the Third Army. Before his appointment as commander of the Third Army, he served as deputy minister in charge of policy making at the Ministry of National Defense in 2009.Īccording to the ministry, Lt. He graduated from the Korea Military Academy in 1976 and served key posts in the military. The 58-year-old general is a native of Pohang, North Gyeongsang. “He was also believed to be the best candidate to improve the morale and discipline of the Army and beef up the troops’ will to fight.” “General Kim was selected because of his expertise in the military and his ability to push forward reform,” the Defense Ministry said yesterday. Hwang’s retirement made him the shortest-serving top Army commander in the nation’s history. Hwang Eui-don applied to retire from his position as chief of staff Tuesday after the media reported that he had invested in real estate based on inside information from the Army. Kim Sang-ki, commander of the Third Army, was nominated yesterday to fill the post, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. Following the abrupt resignation of the Army chief of staff, Gen.