President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday appointed Kwon Tae-o, a retired Army lieutenant general, to lead the secretariat of the presidential advisory panel on unification, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.

Kwon will replace Bae Jung-ho, who has led the secretariat of the National Unification Advisory Council since January. Bae has recently offered to resign for unspecified reasons, the presidential office said.

"Given that he has ample experience and knowledge on the issues of security and unification, we expect him to effectively manage his duty as the secretariat's chief," Kim Sung-woo, chief presidential secretary for public affairs, told reporters.

Kwon has worked as an advisory member of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea. He served in the Army for nearly four decades. (Yonhap)