Park appoints S.Korea national security head

South Korea's President-elect Park Geun-hye has named a former defense minister as head of the newly created national security office, which is expected to take the initiative in dealing with North Korea.

Park on Tuesday appointed former career diplomat Ju Chul-ki as senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security. Ju, a longtime ambassador to Europe, is a trade expert with little experience with North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.Park too named former defense minister Kim Jang-soo to head the national security office, which has been set up as part of the president's office. Kim is known for his hard-line stance against the North, which conducted its third nuclear test last week.

Park  appointed information technology expert Choi Soon-hong to the new post of secretary for future strategies.Choi has served as IT officer at the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.
Media agencies