South Korea’s spy director quit on Sunday, according to Yonhap news agency, as tensions rise over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Yonhap reported that President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted the resignation of National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun without providing any details.
Two other senior NIS officials also resigned, it added.
According to local media sources, the wave of resignations appears to be related to personnel management concerns that have been percolating around the intelligence agency since June of this year.
The revisions come as North Korea accelerates the development of its weapons programs, having successfully launched its first military satellite into space earlier this week.
After Yoon’s election victory, Kim, a former deputy national security adviser and career diplomat, was appointed in May 2022.
Kim sought to “re-establish the NIS’s reputation as the country’s top security and intelligence agency” after Yoon’s administration took over, according to the president’s office, according to Yonhap.