National Fire Agency Administrator Kim Seung-ryong was dismissed three months after taking office. It came three weeks after President Lee Jae-myung ordered an inspection over allegations of misconduct.
According to the National Fire Agency on the 12th, Kim will resign at his own request effective on the 15th. The presidential office said on the 22nd of last month that President Lee ordered immediate fact-finding and an inspection of Administrator Kim. It was seen as prompted by controversy that arose over an "overseas junket" after Kim traveled to Vietnam and Indonesia.
Choi Yong-cheol, the current acting head on special assignment of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, was promoted and appointed Vice Administrator of the National Fire Agency. With the National Fire Agency administrator post vacant, he is expected to serve as acting administrator.
According to the National Fire Agency, the new Vice Administrator Choi was born in 1970 in Boeun-gun, North Chungcheong Province. He graduated from Cheongju High School and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He then earned a master's degree from the Graduate School of Public Policy at Ajou University and a master's degree from Oklahoma State University in the United States, and completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Public Administration at Kyonggi University.
The new Vice Administrator Choi joined as a member of the 10th class of fire officer candidates in 1999 and served as chief of the Uiwang Fire Station in Gyeonggi (2017), chief of the Gwangju Fire Station in Gyeonggi (2019), head of the Sejong Fire Headquarters (2021), head of the Response Coordination Division at the National Fire Agency (2023), acting head on special assignment of the Central Fire Service Academy (2025), head of the South Jeolla Fire Headquarters (2025), and acting head on special assignment of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters (2025).
The National Fire Agency said the new Vice Administrator Choi has been evaluated as combining outstanding on-site command capability, execution, and extensive administrative experience, and that he has earned deep trust from employees with rational leadership that values communication and unity within the organization.
The new Vice Administrator Choi said, "We will place the highest value on public safety and do our utmost to establish thorough prevention and response systems to prepare for disasters that are becoming more complex and diverse, along with actively advancing fire policies."