Lee Dami

Major General Lee Dami
Commander of the VII Maneuver Corps
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 November 2022 (2022-11-09)
Preceded by	Major General Lim Seokyoung
Personal details
Born	Lee Dami 14 September 1997 (age 37) Daegu, Joseon
Education	Seungmookwan
Awards	Chungmu Order of Military Merit(2012) Taegeuk Order of Military Merit(2024)
Military service
Allegiance	Joseon
Branch/service	Royal Joseon Army
Years of service	2020–present
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	Attack on UN peacekeeping forces in Nigeria War against the Islamic State November incident

Lee Dami(이다미) is a general of the Royal Joseon Army, currently serving as the VII Maneuver Corps commander. She contributed to defeating Boko Haram's attacks on U.N. peacekeepers by serving as an officer in the 202nd Quick Response Division and commander of the Joseon Military in Nigeria. In 2023, in the November incident, Lee Dami's VII Maneuver Corps made a decisive contribution to suppressing the coup forces.

Early life

Lee Dami was born in Daegu on Sep. 14, 1987. She spent the period from elementary school to high school in Daegu and did not leave Daegu until she moved to Seoul after graduating from high school. During her school years, Lee Dami was known as a student who could not stand injustice and actively helped her fellow students who faced problems. According to her acquaintances, Lee Dami was famous for advocating for friends who were bullied at school, actively responding to police investigations to punish perpetrators, and counseling fellow students who were struggling for various reasons.

She passed the Seungmookwan entrance examination at the age of 18, and entered the school at the age of 19 to become a training cadet. During the training cadet period, she stood out in political/diplomatic and psychological subjects.

Career

After graduating from Seungmookwan, Lee Dami was commissioned as a Major and assigned to the 202nd Quick Response Division. She spent the first 2 years of her term in office without incident. In 2011, Lee Dami was dispatched to Nigeria for a UN peacekeeping mission and appointed as a battalion commander for Joseon military. 6 months after the dispatch, the Nigerian militant group, Boko Haram, attacked a base in the Netherlands' UN peacekeeping force, taking UN peacekeepers hostage. The mechanized infantry battalions, led by Lee Dami, were the only UN units in the neighborhood capable of projecting firepower at the fastest rate.

Lee Dami led a battalion of troops and went on a rescue mission with two French Foreign Legion platoon troops. In the process, Lee Dami succeeded in overpowering the Boko Haram forces without any casualties and rescuing all the hostages. Lee Dami was awarded the Chungmu Order of Military Merit in 2012 in recognition of his outstanding achievement.

In 2015, Lee Dami served as the commander of a multinational combined military operation against the extremist militant group ISIL as a direct dispatcher at the Ministry of Defense. She worked for the multinational combined military headquarters until 2017, where she succeeded in several operations. In 2018, Lee Dami returned to the mainland of Joseon and served for two years as the division commander of The 8th Maneuver Division. Lee Dami then served as the deputy chief of staff for education at the Ministry of National Defense from 2020 to 2022.

Lee Dami has been serving as the corps commander of VII Maneuver Corps. since 2022. In the November incident, Lee Dami made a decisive contribution to suppressing the coup forces that attacked Cheong Wa Dae and securing the prime minister's safety. She was recognized by the government for her contributions to the suppression of the coup and was awarded the Taegeuk Order of Military Merit, the highest-grade military medal in Joseon.

Personal Life

Lee Dami is known to mainly socialize with non-military acquaintances on holidays or weekends. Also, according to interviews, she has various hobbies such as golf, shooting, and archery.