Retired Lieutenant General In-Bum Chun entered the Korea Military Academy in 1977. Chun was commissioned an infantry officer in 1981 as class 37. Chun became the youngest officer in the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army history to be an aide to a three-star general with the rank of lieutenant. In 1983, Chun was credited with saving General Lee Ki-Baek’s life in the Rangoon bombing as chairman of the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was awarded the National Security Medal (Kwang-Bok).

Chun was selected as Excellent Company Commander (the Jae-Gu award) in 1986. He served in the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) in 1988 as the contingency plans officer, assistant chief-of-staff C-5 and as the ROK aide to the deputy commander-in-chief of the CFC.

Returning from the United States Armed Forces Staff College course, Chun was assigned to the Korean Special Warfare Command as the combined operations officer. After 18 months, Chun was selected by the Special Assistants Group of the ROK Army Chief of Staff Office as the officer in charge of military diplomacy and also served as policy officer of the same organization.

He provided Korean-English language support to the commander in chief on numerous occasions and was awarded the U.S. Army Commendation Medal by General RisCassi in 1992.

Chun commanded a battalion in the 22nd ROK Infantry Division. During Battalion Command, he was selected Best Battalion Commander for the 22nd Infantry Division in 1996. Chun also has 13 months of DMZ duty.

After successfully completing division level duties for the 22nd Infantry Division, Chun served in the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command assigned to the C-3 Exercise Division. As the Ulchi-Focus Lens (UFL) Exercise senior Korean officer, Chun planned, coordinated, controlled, and managed the largest combined computer simulated military exercise in the world. He received the ROK Minister of Defense Citation and the U.S. Meritorious Service Medal for his contribution as UFL Exercise officer.

Chun’s regimental command assignment was commander of the 29th Infantry Regiment “Golden Bats” of the 9th Infantry Division “White Horse.” He served 17 months as its commander.

Upon completion of regimental command, Chun was assigned as the chief of the Election Support Branch, Civil Military Affairs/Strategic Operations Directorate of the multinational forces in Iraq. He was recognized by both the Republic of Korea and the United States for his contribution to the first “fair and free” elections in Iraq in 2005, with the Hwa-Rang Combat Medal and the U.S. Bronze Star medal.

From 2005, Chun served as the director of U.S. affairs at the Korean Ministry of National Defense and was involved in negotiations and cooperation with the United States on relocations of U.S. forces, camp returns, ROK-U.S. Joint Vision Study, Special Measures Agreement, and transition of wartime operational control. He was selected for brigadier general in 2006. From 2006 to 2007, Chun was assigned to the 1st ROK Infantry Division as assistant division commander and concurrently assigned as a research fellow at the Center for International Studies at Seoul National University.

In 2007, Chun was assigned as the director of operational plans development for the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was awarded the Korean Presidential Citation for successfully resolving a hostage crisis when the Taliban kidnapped 23 Korean missionary workers.

Upon completion of his duties as the deputy director for strategic planning at ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chun took over the OPCON Transition Group, which was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the transformation of wartime operational control from the United States to the ROK. He was promoted to two stars in 2009 and took over command of the 27th Infantry Division.

In 2011, Chun became the deputy assistant chief of staff of operations for the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command and assistant chief of staff of operations for Ground Component Command. In 2013, he became the deputy chief of staff for CFC and senior member of the United Nations Military Armistice Commission. In 2013, he was promoted to lieutenant general and was assigned as the commander of the ROK Special Warfare Command. From April 2015, he was the deputy commander for the First ROK Army. Chun retired from active duty as of July of 2016.