Chun In-bum

Chun In-bum (born September 6, 1958) is a retired South Korean Army Lieutenant general and authority on Korean politics and military relations.

Biography

Early life Chun was born September 6, 1958, in the South Korean capital city of Seoul. He moved to the United States of America at the age of seven with his mother, who was serving as a South Korean diplomat, and spent four and a half years in New York City before returning to Korea in 1969 to finish high school. He was accepted to the Korea Military Academy (KMA) in 1977. There, he studied military history and was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1981 upon completion of his degree.

Later life and military service Shortly after graduation, then-Lieutenant Chun was selected as an aide to Lieutenant General Lee Ki-baek, making him the youngest officer in the history of the army to be appointed aide to a three-star general. He was awarded the National Security Medal (Kwang-Bok) for his actions. For his service in Iraq he received the Hwa-Rang Combat medal and became the first Korean officer since the Vietnam War to be awarded the U.S. Bronze Star. Later in 2005, he served as the Director of U.S. Affairs at the Korean Ministry of National Defense.

In 2015, Chun was promoted to deputy commander for the First ROK Army (FROKA) before stepping down

Chun has been a board member of the Korean Animal Welfare Association since 2018.

Personal life Chun is married to Shim Hwa-jin, former president of Sung-Shin Women’s University. The couple have two sons.