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Jin Young Seung
South Korean air force general From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jin Young Seung (Korean: 진영승; born 12 March 1969) is a South Korean Air Force general who currently serves as the incumbent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since his appointment to the post by President Lee Jae Myung on 30 September 2025. Prior to his appointment to the post, Jin formerly held command as the first commander of the Republic of Korea Strategic Command and also formerly served as Director of Strategic Planning, Joint Chiefs of Staff and as former Chief of Staff, Planning and Management at the Air Force Headquarters. Jin also served as commander of the Air Combat Command and as wing commander of the 19th Fighter Wing.[1][2]
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Jin was commissioned into the Republic of Korea Air Force in 1991 and later served into various roles within the Air Force, as he was primarily tasked in fighter squadron units and strategic planning positions, such as 19th Fighter Wing and the Office of Strategic Planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Aside from these posts, Jin was also placed under training and education units and was also a former pilot of the Black Eagles aerobatic team. In September 2025, President Lee Jae Myung appointed Jin as the nominee for the position of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was later approved within the same month.[3]
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Early life and education
Jin was born on 12 March 1969 at Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. He later completed his elementary school at the Seopo Elementary School and later completed middle school at the Seopo Middle School. Jin later moved to Busan with his elder sisters and later completed high school at Hyegwang High School. Jin entered the Korea Air Force Academy in 1987 and later graduated in 1991, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) and later held the rank of second lieutenant. On the same year, he completed his pilot training and later served as a fighter pilot. Jin later earned his master's degree in Computer Information at Yonsei University in 2000.
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Career
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After completing his pilot training in 1991, Jin was later promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and eventually became a fighter pilot under the 151st Fighter Squadron, 11th Fighter Wing from April 1993 to October 1994, where he flew the F-4 D fighter jets. He remained under the squadron until he was promoted to the rank of captain in 1994, where he was later transferred to the 53rd Air Demonstration Group, also known as the Black Eagles aerobatic team and later flew the Cessna A-37 B attack aircraft. Jin later served as an Evaluation/Safety Squadron Pilot under the same squadron from 1997 to 2000, which also included a stint as a pilot under the operations/intelligence iffice in 1998 and as the Chief of the Planning Division in 2000.
Jin was later moved to the 19th Fighter Wing, where he served into various positions under the fighter wing from March 2001 to July 2007. His time in the 19th Fighter Wing began in March 2001 to June 2001, where Jin served as a pilot under the 161st Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing and eventually flew the KF-16C. Jin was later promoted to the rank of Major in June 2001 to January 2002 as he served under the 3rd Squadron of the 159th Fighter Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing, and later moved to the 1st Squadron of the 159th Fighter Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing from January 2002 to May 2002. From May 2002 to December 2002, Jin later served as the commander of the 4th Squadron of the 159th Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing, and from December 2002 to December 2003, Jin was named Flight Safety Officer, Inspector General's Office. Jin later served as commander of the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Squadrons of the 162nd Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing. His term began as squadron commander of the 3rd Squadron began from December 2003 to August 2004, which was followed by his stint in the 2nd Squadron from August 2004 to August 2005, and later commanded the 1st Squadron from August 2005 to July 2006. Jin later became a flight commander of the 162nd Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing from July 2006 to July 2007, and also subsequently served as a Joint Operational Planning Assistant Director of the Operational Planning Division, Air Force Operations Command, a position he held until August 2007.
From August 2007 to December 2009, Jin served under the Air Force Operations Command Operations Planning Division. His stint in the division began in August 2007 to November 2007, where he served as Operations Planning Division Operations Planning Director at the Air Force Operations Command, and was later promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Jin later served as the Joint Operations Planning Manager, Air Force Operations Command, Preemptive Planning Division from November 2007 to October 2008, and from October 2008 to December 2008, Jin served at the Air Force Operations Command Operations Planning Division, Joint Operations Planning Division. From December 2008 to December 2009, Jin was named as the Force Operations Planning Head of the Air Force Operations Command Operations Planning Division.
Jin later commanded the 159th Fighter Squadron, 19th Fighter Wing in December 2009 to December 2010 where he also flew the KF-16C. After his stint as squadron commander, Jin later worked under the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Division from January 2011 to December 2011, and later served as a planning officer of the same unit from December 2011 to December 2012. Jin later served as Director of Standardization and Evaluation of the 19th Fighter Wing from January 2013 to December 2013, and was eventually promoted to the rank of colonel. From January 2014 to February 2014, Jin briefly served as commander of the Air Force Academy Cadet Training Squadron, and later served as commander of the 55th Training Group from February 2014 to December 2014, Korea Air Force Academy, where he also flew the T-103. From December 2014 to December 2015, Jin was named as commander of Air Operations Squadron Commander of the 19th Fighter Squadron, where he also supervised the squadron's deployment to Alaska for the 2015 Red Flag – Alaska exercises. After his term, Jin served as Power Requirements Division Chief of the Air Force Headquarters Planning and Management Division from December 2015 to December 2016 and later served as Director of the Air Power Division of the Power Planning Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff from December 2016 to January 2018. In January 2018 to December 2018, Jin was named as the deputy director of Force Requirements of the Planning and Management Staff Office at the Air Force Headquarters. Jin later served as the wing commander of the 19th Fighter Wing from December 2018 to December 2019, and was later promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
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From December 2019 to December 2020, Jin served as Director of the 2nd Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Force Planning Division. Jin was placed as the Chief of Staff of the Information Planning Division, Air Force Headquarters from December 2020 to December 2021 and was later promoted to the rank of major general. Jin was later named as the commander of the Air Combat Command December 2021 to December 2022. After his term as Air Combat Commander, Jin was named as Chief of Staff of Planning and Management at the Air Force Headquarters from December 2022 to November 2023. Jin was later placed under the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he served as Director of Strategic Planning from November 2023 to October 2024 and was later promoted to lieutenant general. On 1 October 2024, Jin was later named as the first inaugural commander of the Strategic Command, a newly-formed command based from the United States Strategic Command and is tasked for strategic deterrence and conventional strike operations.[4]
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
On 1 September 2025, Jin was named by as the nominee for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His appointment is the second time that a three-star ranking officer will be named as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff following his predecessor Admiral Kim Myung-soo, who was previously named as the commander of the Republic of Korea Fleet before being appointed by former President Yoon Suk Yeol for the post. Jin is also the first air force commander in five years to be named for the position following General Won In-choul's appointment to as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 23 September 2020.[5][6] His appointment also comes as part of President Lee's effort to strengthen public trust and confidence in the military after the 2024 martial law crisis and intensifying missile developments by North Korea that prompted the South Korean military to intensify its national deterrence posture.[1] [3] Jin's appointment for the post was approved by the National Assembly on 29 September 2025 and later took helm of the post as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the following day, 30 September 2025, and later replaced Admiral Kim Myung-soo. During his stint as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Jin emphasized the need to intensify the military's readiness posture and strengthening the border units along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.[5][7][8] Jin also apologized for the military's involvement during the martial law crisis and pushed for strengthening the military's deterrence posture by enhancing of “three-axis” system; namely the Kill Chain preemptive strike platform, the Korean Air and Missile Defense system, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation strategy.[9]
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Dates of promotion
Awards from Military Service
- Minister of National Defense Award (December 2010)
- Presidential Citation (October 2015)
Cheonsu Medal, Order of National Security Merit, Third Class (September 2023)
References
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