Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo, who leads the 2nd Infantry Division, places a patch on South Korean army Brig. Gen. Moon Han-ok as she is elevated to the role of a deputy division commander at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 4, 2026. (U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPRHEYS, South Korea — A South Korean brigadier general has become the first South Korean woman to serve as a deputy commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, the only U.S. Army division that integrates troops from another country into its ranks.
Brig. Gen. Moon Han-ok assumed the post — one of three deputy commanders and the only South Korean — during a Feb. 4 ceremony at Camp Humphreys as the allies prepare for the eventual transfer of wartime operational control to Seoul.
“I believe this case will have positive influence on service women in the combat branch and bring hopeful messages to them,” Moon said in a statement provided to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday by a South Korean spokesman for the division.
Before Moon, the last woman to serve as a 2nd ID deputy commander was Brig. Gen. Lori Robinson, who held that role until February 2023, when she was named commandant of cadets for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Moon most recently served as the head of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff International Military Cooperation Division, managing tasks related to the U.S.-South Korean alliance, according to a Feb. 9 report in The Chosun Daily.
South Korean army Brig. Gen. Moon Han-ok becomes a deputy commander of the 2nd Infantry Division during a ceremony at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 4, 2026. (U.S. Army)
Earlier in her career, she was a strategic analysis officer at Combined Forces Command, the joint U.S.-South Korean warfighting headquarters. As a major, she oversaw joint training and analyzed strategic environments, the spokesman said. Some South Korean government officials must speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
Moon was among the first South Korean officers assigned to the combined 2nd ID — formally known as the 2nd Infantry Division/Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Division — when it was created in 2015, Moon said in her statement. She became the division’s South Korean chief of staff in 2021.
The combined division includes about 100 South Korean personnel embedded within the U.S. unit, Moon said.
“It is meaningful to be the first female deputy commander in a combat branch,” she told Stars and Stripes.
Her appointment comes as the two countries continue discussions on the long-planned transfer of wartime operational control of allied forces to South Korea.
At this critical time, Moon said she aims to “advance interoperability and build an organization that helps officers think about their identities and establish them.”
In military terms, interoperability is the ability of one country to make use of another’s equipment and training.
Moon described the alliance as the linchpin of South Korea’s security and said the combined division operates “side by side” to prepare for future warfare.
