President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to name First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin as his new national security adviser, a presidential official said Thursday.

Chang, a career diplomat who served as Yoon's first ambassador to Russia, will succeed Cho Tae-yong as director of national security after Cho was nominated last week for chief of the National Intelligence Service.

Chang's appointment could be announced later Thursday, the official said.

Ambassador to Germany Kim Hong-kyun, who also served as deputy foreign minister and South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, is expected to succeed Chang as first vice foreign minister, the official said.

The position of second vice foreign minister has also been vacant since Oh Young-ju was nominated earlier this month to be minister of SMEs and startups.

Candidates for the position included Kang In-sun, a presidential spokesperson for foreign press, and Sohn Ji-ae, who previously served as CNN's Seoul bureau chief and is a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University. (Yonhap)