A Person To Watch

New NIS Deputy Director Kim draws keen attention because of his unique background

The person who got the most public attention in the recent announcement of deputy-director level officials of the National Information Service was Kim Ju-seong, president of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
Kim worked for over 30 years for the Kolon Group and earned the nickname "hired soldier"for his knack for implementing structural reform. He was appointed as the deputy-director for the Planning and Coordination Office of the intelligence agency, which shows that many changes are forthcoming in the organization.
During an interview with the press on March 11, the day after the announcement, the new NIS official hinted at the rigorous procedure he went through for the job, confirming the difficult task he will undertake with the NIS, a huge reform of the intelligence agency.
He said he still is dumbfounded by his appointment to such an important position in the intelligence community when asked how he got the post.
He said he knew nothing about the appointment until the announcement was made and he knows no one highly placed in the new government either when asked who the person was responsible for his selection.
He said he came to the Sejong center without any knowledge of managing an arts center as he has worked for a business conglomerate for over three decades. He is joining the NIS without knowing anything about the intelligence service.
When he was with the arts center, he was subjected to investigations of alleged wrongdoings a number of times. The investigations followed one after another during the last two years of the Roh Moo-hyun presidency, an indescribable hardship on him and his family. He said if he was guilty, he would have been fired a long time ago and people with no guts wouldn't have been able to finish their term of office.
The NIS has been in disarray for a long time with its director resigning due to his clandestine trip to North Korea a day before the Presidential Election on Dec. 19 last year. His secret trip made headlines sometime after the election and amid the cry of foul play by the Grand National Party, which won the election, he resigned, taking full responsibility for trip to Pyeongyang. Since then, the NIS has been without a director until the new government announced the appointment of the new director early this month.
When asked if his tough leadership style that was nurtured while he was in the Army as an officer, and if his 'can-do spirit,'power for achievement, and cleanliness proven at the arts center played a role in his move to the NIS, he said he doesn't know.
He was picked to head the cultural center in December 2005 by then Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak with an order to rebuild the chronically deficit-laden Sejong center hamstrung by labor and personnel problems. Kim was a veteran CEO of an affiliate of the Kolon Group when he was picked to head the arts center.
Kim was known as a problem solver at the business group. When he was manager of the group's Kumi plant, he was able to avoid walk-outs by the union of the plant for two years in a row by persuading them to hold votes, which went against holding strikes.
During the foreign exchange crisis in 1998, Kim, as the vice president for planning and coordination of the group, managed to successfully complete the restructuring of the group's operations.
While managing the arts center, he remodeled unprofitable facilities like the convention hall and realistically readjusted the admission charges and rental fees for its facilities in order to make the center profitable again.
Sources said his closeness to Vice Speaker of the National Assembly Lee Sang-deuk, an elder brother of the president got him the attention of the president and landed him the key position at the NIS. nw