Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Yeong-seung. / Yonhap News. 

Guest Columnist, Korea Military Academy Class of '84The public wants the military to sense security crises and faithfully perform its inherent duties. They do not want political shows. They also do not wish for the military to become subservient to politics due to the political actions of its leadership. General Jin Yeong-seung's (Chairman Jin) announcement of replacing all 40-plus generals at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and over 300 field-grade officers is an unprecedented retaliatory personnel action, an abuse of authority, and a 'provocative' personnel measure. Political slogans like 'replace all generals' might please the current administration, but they sever operational continuity at the JCS and are treasonous acts that destroy the military's combat power. 

1. Is Chairman Jin's Military Purge, undertaken without personnel authority, a political misfire? 

   The JCS does not have personnel authority over generals. The proposed replacement of all JCS generals is a disruption of personnel policy and appears to be a political maneuver to replace personnel with those favorable to the administration. Does the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have the authority to replace experienced military human assets based on his own arbitrary judgment? Is it an abuse of authority due to political pressure? Such behavior appears to be a political proxy and a political misfire by someone in uniform. 

The Lee Jae-myung administration has made personnel reform of the military a top priority following the December 3rd martial law. Despite the Ministry of National Defense stating, "It has not been discussed," Chairman Jin made it a public issue through the media. This personnel action, linked to the December 3rd martial law, inevitably gives the impression of breaking the military's political neutrality and overtly engaging in political collaboration. The problem is that politics is interfering with military personnel appointments, weakening the military's professionalism and operational continuity. 

Replacing all generals is a detrimental move that destroys the military's intellectual heritage through human resource upheaval and reinforces the bad habit of political alignment among soldiers. While past left-leaning administrations often saw their military leadership weaken combat power by following the government's inconsistent and contradictory security policies in the name of peace, the military has never been manipulated by political interference in its personnel appointments to take the lead in internal power struggles. Former Army Chief of Staff Nam Jae-joon even resigned to oppose former President Roh Moo-hyun's interference in military personnel. Chairman Jin's actions, appearing to be a political lineup for a complete overhaul, whether due to political pressure or self-preservation, are themselves targets for a military purge. 

2. Disrupting Operational Continuity is a Tactic the Enemy Desires

   Especially in a tense security environment, the sudden replacement of the command structure and key personnel can lead to instability in security readiness. The approximately 40 JCS generals are responsible for the two pillars of current operations and readiness (future operations). A wholesale replacement would make the command and staff system heavy in atmosphere and sluggish in responsiveness. Operational knowledge is stored not in documents but in people and networks. Unwanted mass personnel changes can break job continuity. Chairman Jin should reflect on the lessons learned from the massive general personnel confusion just before the Korean War. 

In the October 2025 parliamentary audit, Chairman Jin lost his duty and legitimacy to maintain political neutrality due to his remarks about the martial law army's participation in sedition. He should have resigned voluntarily then. Chairman Jin was criticized for his lack of understanding and confusion regarding new operational concepts like 'gray zone provocations' and 'cognitive warfare,' which even a major would know, by deferring a question from Representative Kang Dae-sik about 'North Korea's gray zone provocations,' which the military cannot ignore or respond to, to an Army-affiliated JCS Operations Directorate chief instead of answering directly. 

Given that Chairman Jin's military knowledge itself is criticized, is his extreme display of political loyalty and desire for reform before the judiciary's ruling on sedition and the Ministry of National Defense's final personnel decision an act of self-preservation to avoid being labeled as part of the 'sedition collaborators' forces? Or is it an act of self-sacrifice to prevent the existing JCS personnel from being further implicated in the 'martial law sedition'? Chairman Jin has made a self-inflicted mistake in the personnel field, a 'gray zone personnel move.' 

3. The 'Target for Replacement' is Not the Generals, but Chairman Jin Yeong-seung

   Personnel reform in the military is periodically necessary. If a 'unprecedented, outrageous personnel action' that paralyzes current operational functions is carried out, it could lead to disastrous consequences reminiscent of the 'general replacements just before the Korean War.' The Minister of National Defense, who intends to provoke personnel changes using Chairman Jin, should issue military personnel directives based on principles and respect the military's own selection and deliberation processes for positions. Generals are not made overnight. 

To restore military professionalism, the chain of command, and the credibility of civilian control, Chairman Jin, who has broken political neutrality, must resign voluntarily. Transparent military personnel procedures free from political intervention and the establishment of institutional balance are required. Even if the spirit of soldiers under civilian control, which has lasted for over 40 years, has weakened, will they not resist if their fundamental right to fair personnel advancement is stripped away by political influence? Even a worm will writhe when stepped on. 

The politicization of the military is a suicide of national security. What is needed now is not a wholesale replacement of JCS generals, but a replacement of the conscience of the political general. The will of the people and the military is to stop political interference in military personnel matters and return the inherent rights of soldiers to soldiers, so the military can return to its original mission. 

Park Pil-gyu, Guest Columnist