Kim Seung-ryong, 58, the former head of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Fire Headquarters, was appointed Vice Administrator of the National Fire Agency (fire lieutenant general).
Vice Administrator Kim will also serve as acting head of the National Fire Agency for the time being. Earlier, former Administrator Heo Seok-gon and former Vice Administrator Lee Young-pal were removed from their posts after becoming targets of an investigation by the special prosecutor's team related to the "12·3 illegal martial law."
Vice Administrator Kim, a native of Iksan, North Jeolla, graduated from Wonkwang High School in North Jeolla and the Department of German at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, earned a master's degree in disaster prevention engineering from the University of Seoul, and completed a doctoral program in public administration at Hanyang University Graduate School. Entering public service in 1997 through an open competitive recruitment for fire lieutenant, Kim served as Spokesperson and Director General of Equipment Technology at the National Fire Agency and as the 35th principal of the Central Fire Service Academy.
Kim is regarded as enjoying deep trust from staff for leadership that values communication, cooperation, and solidarity within the organization, while possessing both precise on-site command and planning and administrative capabilities.
Vice Administrator Kim said, "Amid an increasingly complex disaster environment due to climate change and advances in cutting-edge technology, we will put public safety first and further sophisticate our response system," and added, "Based on proactive prevention using big data and artificial intelligence (AI) and swift, precise on-site response, we will do our best to build a safer society."
Meanwhile, before this personnel move, former Administrator Heo and former Vice Administrator Lee, who were removed from their posts, were named targets of the special counsel's investigation on allegations that they relayed former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min's instructions to cut power and water to media outlets to frontline fire stations in connection with the 12·3 illegal martial law incident.