President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed two deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the presidential office said.

Moon appointed Park Sun-won, head of the NIS's planning and coordination office, as the first deputy director, while choosing Chun Se-young, senior official at the NIS's counter-espionage team, as the second deputy director.

The first deputy director is tasked with gleaning intelligence on North Korea and overseas affairs, while the second deputy director is in charge of espionage and terrorism.

Park is a veteran expert on North Korea and international politics, while Chun is a long-time intelligence official with expertise in counter-espionage, the office said in a statement.

Moon has said it will make sure the NIS serves as a purely intelligence agency by insulating it from politics. (Yonhap)