Seoul's defense chief nominee reputed as hard-liner on N. Korea By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- Gen. Kim Tae-young, nominated Thursday as South Korea's new defense minister, became well known as a hard-liner towards North Korea when he told parliament last year that he would order an attack on North Korea should it deploy tactical nuclear weapons to any of its bases.

At that time, the communist North immediately bristled, accusing the South Korean
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of using "violent language" to threaten a
pre-emptive strike. Kim, freshly promoted to the top general post, rebutted by
saying his comment at the parliamentary hearing alluded to a routine military
measure. Nonetheless, the incident carved out his image as a hawk.
On Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak, who vowed to take a tough stance on
Pyongyang upon his inauguration in February last year, nominated Kim to head the
Ministry of National Defense, which controls South Korea's 655,000 troops.
Nominated as part of a sweeping government reshuffle, Kim, 60, is slated to
replace Lee Sang-hee, one of the longest-serving Cabinet members under the
president, after undergoing parliamentary confirmation hearing.
Kim and the outgoing defense minister have long worked together to refine an
operational plan in the event that the North Korean regime collapses. The U.S.,
which has 28,500 troops stationed here, has also taken part in perfecting
Operational Plan 5029, which came into focus last year when North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il reportedly suffered a stroke without a clear successor having been
named.
In March this year, Kim Tae-young told a parliamentary hearing he himself was
"the most senior incumbent official" on the plan and pledged to finish his
research so he could report it to the commander-in-chief.
Kim hails from Seoul. He graduated from the Korea Military Academy in 1973 and
has headed the First Field Army Corps and the Capital Defense Command.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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