Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Song Young-gil and Kim Byung-joo have been appointed as President Lee Jae-myung's special advisor for peace and diplomacy and special advisor for defense policy, respectively.

At a briefing on Thursday afternoon (October 1), Sung Ki-hong, senior presidential secretary for public communication, introduced Song as "a six-term lawmaker who has built extensive experience and expertise in diplomacy and unification affairs, including serving as chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee."

He added, "Based on his accumulated legislative experience and diverse domestic and international networks, we expect him to expand the scope of diplomacy serving the national interest from a balanced perspective."

Regarding Special Advisor for Defense Policy Kim, Sung evaluated him as "a defense policy expert and former four-star Army general," adding that he is "the right person to incorporate the public's voice into national security and defense reform initiatives under the banner that strong defense capability is a key pillar in safeguarding the national interest."

Former Buyeo County Governor Park Jeong-hyeon was appointed chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Decentralization and Balanced Development, a ministerial-level position.

Senior Secretary Sung described Chairperson Park as "an administrator who has directly tackled regional depopulation and imbalance in the field."

(Photo: Yonhap News)