Won In-choul

Won In-choul
Won In-choul
원인철
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 23 September 2020
President	Moon Jae-in
Preceded by	Gen. Park Han-ki
Chief of Staff of Air Force
	In office; 16 April 2019 – 23 September 2020
President	Moon Jae-in
Preceded by	Lee Wang-geun
Succeeded by	Lee Seong-yong
Personal details
Born	1 January 1961 (age 63); Wonju, South Korea
Alma mater	Korea Air Force Academy; Hannam University
Military service
Allegiance	South Korea
Branch/service	Republic of Korea Air Force
Years of service	1984-present
Rank	General
Unit	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ; Chief of Staff of the Air Force ; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ; Chief Director for Military Support ; Air Force Operations Command ; Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force ; Director for Exercise & Training, J37, JCS ; 19th Fighter Wing ; Director, Korea Air & Space Operations Center, AFOC

Won In-choul^[1] (Korean: 원인철; Hanja: 元仁哲; born 1 January 1961), is a South Korean Air Force General serving as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) from September 2020.^[2]^[3]

Before promoted to the head of the Air Force in April 2019, Won had served as the Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from November 2018.^[1]^[4]

Early life and Education

Won was born at Wonju and finished High School at the Seoul Jungkyung High School, and entered the Korea Air Force Academy in 1980 and graduated at the academy as part of the Class 32 in 1984. He also attended various courses locally and abroad. He entered the Squadron Officer School in 1990 at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. He returned to the Maxwell Air Force Base and attended the Combined Force Air Component Commander's Course in 2011. He also studied at the Hannam University, where he earned his Master of Arts Degree in National Security & Defense Policy in 2006. He also entered the Advanced Center for Administrative Development at the Seoul National University in 2015, and became a PhD Candidate for Security & Foreign Policy at the Kyonggi University in 2020.^[1]

Military career

Won commanded various units of the Republic of Korea Air Force and also served at the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served as a Director at the Korea Air & Space Operations Center, AFOC in December 2010, and served as the Commander of the 19th Fighter Wing on May 2012. He became the Director for Exercise & Training, J37, at the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on April 2014, and became the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force on October 2015. He became Commander of the Air Force Operations Command in October 2016, and was named as the Chief Director for Military Support, at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2017.

He became the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on November 2018, and was named as the 37th Chief of Staff of the Air Force on April 16, 2019, before being named as the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on August 31, 2020.^[5] He officially took helm as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 23, 2020, replacing General Park Han-ki. ^[1]

Won's nomination is deemed unorthodox as Won is nominated for lower ranking post than Suh Wook, who was named as defense minister who joined the military a year later than Won.^[3]^[4]