Joint Chiefs of Staff (South Korea)

Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea
Insignia of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Active	June 1963 – present
Country	South Korea
Commanders
JCS Chairman	General Lee Sun Jin
Army Chief of Staff	General Jang Jun-Kyu
Navy Chief of Staff	Admiral Um Hyun-Seong
Air Force Chief of Staff	General Choi Cha-Kyu

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국 합동참모본부, Hanja: 大韓民國 合同參謀本部) is a group of Chiefs from each major branch of the armed services in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Unlike the United States counterpart, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has Operational Control over all military personnel of the Armed Forces. The National Command Authority runs from the President and the Minister of National Defense to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then to Operational Commands of the service branches, bypassing the Headquarters of each service branch. Currently there are five Operational Commands in the Army, two in the Navy (including the Marine Corps) and one in the Air Force.

It was created in May 1954, though there had been Supreme Command of the Armed Forces dating from 1948.

All (regular) members of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs are 4-star generals and admirals, though the Deputy Chairman in the past has been 3-star Lieutenant-General or Vice-Admiral intermittently. Traditionally, the Chairman is chosen from the Army (with one previous and one current exceptions as October 2013) while the Deputy Chairman is selected from either the Navy or the Air Force. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, legally subordinate to the Republic of Korea Navy, can attend the Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings when examining the matter pertaining to the Marine Corps.

(Since October 2015)

1966 Korean Minister to the U.S. 1969 Commander of Baekma Operation Division Dispatched to Vietnam 1972 Division Commander 1977 Deputy Commander of Training and Doctrine Command 1979 Corps Commander 1981 1st Army Commander 1982 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1985 Researcher of Center for Strategic and International Studies