정호섭 鄭鎬涉
Admiral of the Republic of Korea Navy who served as the 31st Chief of Naval Operations (Naval Academy class of 34)
| Life | 1958 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 초계 정씨 |
Life & career
Jeong Ho-seop (鄭鎬涉), born 21 January 1958 in Seoul, is an officer of the Republic of Korea Navy of the Chogye Jeong clan. A graduate of the Naval Academy class of 34, he was commissioned in 1980, graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1982, earned a degree in public administration at the National Defense University in 1985 and a master's there in 1988, and received a doctorate in politics from Lancaster University in the UK in 1993.
He was promoted to rear admiral in 2006, vice admiral in 2011 and admiral in 2015. He served as director of foreign intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency from July 2010 to November 2011, then as commander of the Naval Education and Training Command (2011), Fleet commander (2012) and Vice Chief of Naval Operations (2014), and was the 31st Chief of Naval Operations from 27 February 2015 to 22 September 2016, succeeding Hwang Gi-cheol and succeeded by Eom Hyeon-seong.
After retiring he held posts such as endowed professor of military science at Chungnam National University (2016) and president of the Korea Sea Scouts, and since 11 June 2025 serves as the 9th president of the Korea Navy Association. His honors include a presidential citation (2005) and the Order of National Security Merit Cheonsu (2010) and Tongil (2016) classes. As a living person, this entry covers only public career facts.
Career in Order
In order, he commanded the Naval Education and Training Command (2011) and the Fleet (2012), served as Vice Chief (2014) and then Chief of Naval Operations (2015-2016). With a doctorate in politics from the UK he is also introduced in and outside the service as a student of maritime security.