Suh Wook (; 12 May 1963), also known as Seo Wook, is a former

Minister of National Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

served under President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

from 2020 to 2022. He is President Moon's first defense minister with an Army background, as his predecessors came from other branches of the Armed Forces. Upon the beginning of Moon's presidency in 2017, he was reshuffled to

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

where he served as its chief director of operation before promoted as Chief of Army Staff in 2019. From 2011 to 2014 Suh served at

ROK-US Combined Forces Command ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) was established in 1978. South Korean forces remain independent unless during a time of war in which they will subordinate themselves to the command. It is commanded by a four-star U.S. general and its Deputy ...

. He then served as commanding general of the First Corps from 2016 to 2017. Suh is a

Korea Military Academy Korea Military Academy (KMA) is the leading South Korean institution for the education and training of officer cadets for the Republic of Korea Army. Along with the Korea Army Academy (Yeongcheon), it produces the largest number of senior office ...

graduate and holds two degrees - a master's in military strategy from the

Korea National Defense University Korea National Defense University is a national university located in Nonsan, South Korea. It was founded in 1955. It got its current configuration in 2000. The university was situated in Seoul from its founding until its relocation to Nonsan i ...

and a doctorate in political science from

Kyungnam University Kyungnam University (경남대학교; 慶南大學校) is a private university in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The university has six colleges (Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, Education, Economics and Commerce, Law and Politi ...

. Suh was arrested on October 22, 2022, due to covering up facts in the killing of Lee Dae-jun, a South Korean fisheries official who was killed by North Korean soldiers. The

Democratic Party of Korea The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a liberal political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Assembly as of 2022, the DPK is regarded as one of two m ...

claims the arrest of Suh and Kim Hong-hee who was the Coast Guard chief, are believed to be politically motivated charges. However the government says that there was evidence that the incident was mishandled by officials at the time. Some sources say that the two may have also abused power during the incident. Suh is Catholic.

Effective dates of promotion

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Suh, Wook People from Gwangju Korea Military Academy alumni Chiefs of Staff of the Army (South Korea) Living people 1963 births Kyungnam University alumni National Defense ministers of South Korea South Korean Roman Catholics