노신영 盧信永
Diplomat and civil servant; eighteenth Foreign Minister, Director of the National Security Planning Agency and eighteenth Prime Minister (1985-1987); pen name Hakcheon
| Life | 1930 ~ 2019 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 광주 노씨 |
Life & career
No Sin-yeong (Lho Shin-yong, 1930-2019) was a South Korean diplomat and politician from Gwangju, with the pen name Hakcheon (鶴泉). He was born on 28 February 1930 at Hakcheon-ri, Gangseo-myeon, Gangseo County, South Pyeongan. Fifth by birth, he became the eldest son because his four older brothers died young. He was at Pyongyang No. 2 Public Middle School at liberation, went south to Seoul in 1949 and worked his way through school selling sweet potatoes. He wanted to study history but on others' advice entered the law college of Seoul National University; two weeks later the Korean War broke out and he volunteered as a student soldier.
While in service he passed the 4th Higher Civil Service Examination (administration) in Busan in February 1953, but as a serving soldier he could not be hired; discovering that discharge was possible for those admitted to a foreign university who passed the study-abroad test, he went to the University of Kentucky, earning a master's in political science in 1955. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that November and served as head of the Treaty Division, Director of Documents, Director of Asian Affairs, Consul General in Los Angeles and New Delhi, Vice Minister and Ambassador in Geneva, and was the eighteenth Foreign Minister from September 1980 to 1982.
In June 1982 he succeeded Yu Hak-seong as Director of the National Security Planning Agency, the first non-military career official to head the intelligence agency since the KCIA was created in 1961. Appointed Prime Minister in February 1985, he took office as the eighteenth premier on 16 May 1985 and led the Chun Doo-hwan cabinet. In January 1987, when the torture death of Park Jong-cheol came to light with a cover-up and falsified culprit count, public opinion worsened and No offered to resign, leaving on 25 May 1987. Afterwards he served as national policy adviser, Korean representative at the Korea-US Wise Men's Conference, endowed professor at Korea University, chairman of the Lotte welfare and scholarship foundation and of the An Jung-geun memorial society, and published his memoirs in 2000. He died on 21 October 2019 at Seoul National University Hospital at 89. Wikipedia states that in 1985 he picked Ban Ki-moon as his protocol secretary.
Going South and the Diplomat's Path
No Sin-yeong went south after liberation, entered university by working his way through, and passed the higher civil examination during the war but could not be appointed at once because of military-service rules, so he opened his path by studying in the United States. After entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1955 he worked about 27 years as a diplomat, rising through consul general and ambassador to Foreign Minister. This is presented as a typical case of a young man who went south amid war and division and grew into a career official.
Premiership and Resignation
No Sin-yeong is known as a representative figure of the Fifth Republic cabinet who enjoyed Chun Doo-hwan's trust. When the cover-up and falsification in the Park Jong-cheol torture death emerged in January 1987, he offered to resign and left office in May. Assessments split between those who value his diplomatic expertise and those who hold the military-regime cabinet responsible. With Roh Moo-hyun and No Jae-bong of the same Gwangju No clan, he is presented as part of a line producing prime ministers and a president.
Grave
His tomb was not confirmed in this research.
Descendants
Children recorded are No Gyeong-su, No Cheol-su, No Dong-su (d. 2017), No Eun-gyeong and No Hye-gyeong; his daughters-in-law are a daughter of Hong Jin-gi and a daughter of Chung Se-yung.