General (Retired) Jung, Seung Jo is currently the President of the Korea-United States Alliance Foundation and Chair-Professor at the Korea Military Academy. He honorably retired from the ROK military in October 2013, after serving as the 37th Chairman of the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking military position within the ROK military.
General(R) Jung is a 1976 graduate of the Korea Military Academy where he graduated as the valedictorian of his class. Upon commissioning, he has been privileged to command in the Special Forces and field army units numerous times. His notable command assignments include the company commander and the battalion commander in the Special Warfare Command, the Commander of the 3rd ROK Special Forces Brigade in 2002, Commander of ROK 1st Division in 2004~2005, Commander of the Zaytun Division in Iraq in 2005~2006, Commander of 2nd Corps, and the Superintendent of the Korea Military Academy. After he was promoted to four-star general, he commanded the First ROK Army in 2009~2010. He went on to serve as the Deputy Commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command and Commander of Ground Component Command until he became the 37th Chairman of the ROK JCS.
In particular, as the Commander of the Zaytun Division, General(R) Jung was instrumental in conducting peaceful reconstruction of areas in Iraq. He also developed concepts of operations that best fit the Eastern part of the Korean Peninsula as the Commanding General of First ROK Army. Moreover he contributed greatly to the enhancement of the ROK-US combined warfighting capability as the Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Command and the Commander of the Ground Component Command.
In addition to his command assignments, General(R) Jung served in many critical staff positions including the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans, at ROK-US CFC, Chief of Operations at Third ROK Army, and Director General for Policy at ROK Ministry of National Defense. As Director General for Policy, General(R) Jung was instrumental in preparing for high ranking talks between South and North Korea and dealing with policy issues pertaining to North Korea.
General(R) Jung holds a Bachelor’s from the Korea Military Academy; a Master of Business Administration from the Graduate School of Yonsei University. His decorations include ROK National Security Merit Tongil/Samil Medal, Chungmu Order of Military Merit, four US Legion of Merit, and the Turkish Legion of Merit.
GEN(R) Jung is married to Mrs. Park, Jung Gyung, and they have two sons, Jiwon and Jongwon.
