At U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration, a bodyguard with an Asian face caught the attention of the crowd.
He was dressed in a suit and stood behind Biden, next to first lady Jill, while he stared at Biden motionlessly and solemnly.
Since Biden introduced a pluralistic government, asian faces have often appeared around him, which has received widespread media attention.
David Zhao
Some people even rumored on social platforms that Biden used "Chinese bodyguards", and Biden was "manipulated by China" and other content, which triggered heated discussions among netizens.
Who is the man next to Biden, and is he a Chinese circulating on the Internet?
What ability does he have to serve as Biden's personal bodyguard?
1. Korean agent David Cho
Just as everyone was speculating and the rumors were intensifying, the newspaper published information about him.
It turned out that he was David Zhao, an agent from the US Secret Service, and he was not a Chinese rumored by netizens, but a Korean-American.
His English name is David Cho, and Biden's name has Joe, and Korean netizens who can't distinguish between Cho and Joe also jokingly call Biden and David Zhao "family".
However, the reason why David Zhao can serve as Biden's personal bodyguard is not because of this nonsensical reason, but because of his extraordinary strength.
David Zhao and Biden
The U.S. Secret Service is the department responsible for the security of the President of the United States, the director is designated by the President, and when the President is replaced, the personnel of the Secret Service will change as the new President requests.
Just in early January 2021, Biden was elected president of the United States, and pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Congress, causing unprecedented chaos.
In order to prevent Biden from being attacked by protesters, on January 13, the Secret Service began to protect Biden.
Commissioner James Murray issued an official letter demanding that all agents stay away from partisanship and single-mindedly protect President Joe Biden in his inauguration.
Biden announced the appointment of a new security team
The original Secret Service personnel were selected by former President Trump, and Biden made a job adjustment to the Secret Service personnel before he took office in order to ensure his own safety.
Almost all of Trump's bodyguard team was replaced, but David Zhao was left behind.
He was once Trump's personal bodyguard and the "second in command" in the bodyguard team, and often the media can see him closely protecting Trump's figure.
David Zhao and Trump
In view of the special content of the secret service, the identity of its agents is generally not disclosed to the public, and David Zhao's personal information is not much on the Internet.
However, due to the special status of Koreans, reporters still found clues from some Korean media reports in previous years.
David Zhao immigrated to the United States with his family and joined the Secret Service in 1995, where he was a veteran and had been working for more than twenty-five years.
On weekdays, David Zhao is mainly responsible for the overall deployment of security personnel, and on some major occasions, he will personally carry out security tasks.
In 2019, the U.S.-North Korea Summit was held in Singapore and Vietnam, and David Zhao served as the security worker for the two summits.
As a South Korean, David Cho was involved in assisting in communications with the North Korean government and was responsible for all security matters during the visit.
David Zhao successfully completed the task, and the US-DPRK summit ended perfectly. For his outstanding work, he received the Special Service Gold Award from the U.S. Department of Public Security.
David Zhao won the Gold Award
Various media have a high evaluation of David Zhao, some calling him a "perfectionist" at work, and some calling him an "excellent agent".
On social media, a person claimed to be David Zhao's former boss, commenting that he was "focused, serious, and serious", and was very proud of David Zhao.
Over the years, david Zhao has become one of the few bodyguards who stayed with Biden, and Biden trusted him so much that he promoted him to the head of the secret service and was fully responsible for leading the agent to protect the safety of the president.
Whether it was the inauguration ceremony or the subsequent parade, David Zhao followed Biden closely.
2. Dedicate your life to the President
Agents are always mysterious and powerful in the image of ordinary people, who surround the target, dressed in black suits, and pass on information through the intercom from time to time.
In fact, in the beginning, the Secret Service was not established to protect the president of the United States, but to assist the Treasury Department in investigating the counterfeit money circulating in the market.
It was not until 1901, when U.S. President William was attacked and killed, that the president's safety began to be taken seriously.
Congress assigned the Secret Service to the president's security work because the Secret Service agents were agile and capable, and the Secret Service was located not far from the White House, making it easy for agents to move at any time.
agent
After the 9/11 incident in the United States, the U.S. government paid more attention to security, established a special national security department, and in 2003 classified the Secret Service into the national security department.
During this period, agents must not only protect the president, but also protect the personal safety of the president or senior officials and their relatives.
If foreign heads of state or government officials visit the United States, Secret Service agents are also responsible for protecting them.
In addition to the security work in daily activities, the agents are also responsible for investigating incidents that threaten the personal safety of the president, checking for suspicious people, and so on.
Agents seem to be confidential jobs, but it is not so difficult to become agents.
First, those who are willing to work as agents can look up recruitment information online or call the secret service recruitment telephone for consultation.
Agents are recruited as U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 37, with a bachelor's degree or above, plus criminal investigation experience or relevant law enforcement work.
After successful registration, candidates are required to undergo a medical examination, psychological test, and drug test.
After passing all the tests, candidates are required to undergo 20 weeks of intensive training at the Secret Service School, including grappling, medical first aid, shooting and many other subjects.
Agent Recruitment
After passing the selection layer by layer and obtaining the secret agent certificate, you can hold the certificate to work.
An ordinary agent is said to earn about $160,000-170,000 a year and enjoys paid leave.
With such favorable salary conditions, even in the face of bullets and bullets, many people still choose to engage in the secret service industry.
When trained, the instructor would constantly repeat the agent's duty to protect the president.
Therefore, when agents are in a dangerous situation, they must put the safety of the president first.
If the president is shot, agents even have to block the bullets for the president.
Perform a task in an agent
However, not all agents can personally defend the president, and there are four types of agents:
First, agents who remotely monitor and control peripheral security;
Second, agents on alert outside the President's residence and office;
The third is the agent responsible for the internal security of the presidential palace;
The fourth is the president's personal agent, who follows the president in and out. It can be seen that David Zhao is already at the level of the most senior agent to be qualified to protect Biden closely.
Third, the special work style is controversial
However, even with the enviable skills and salaries of ordinary people, the agents are not as perfect as the characters portrayed in film and television works.
The Secret Service was originally under the supervision of Congress, but because the security of the president is a top state secret, Congress did not dare to interfere more with the Secret Service.
As a result, the Secret Service has relatively independent powers, and once agents cannot self-discipline their own behavior, it is difficult for the law to sanction agents.
Improper power breeds all kinds of evils, and scandals related to agents occur one after another, which seriously affect the image of agents.
During George W. Bush's presidency, the vice president visited San Diego, and the security agent arrived early for security deployment.
As a result, the agents who arrived early were negligent, drinking in bars and fighting with local gangsters.
Even while shopping at a store, drunken agents accidentally left out a dozen pages of confidential documents.
The document spells out the Vice President's course of action and security measures. If the document falls into the hands of criminals, it can easily bypass the bodyguards and pose a personal threat to the vice president.
After the matter was exposed, public opinion was in an uproar, and the image of the Secret Service was questioned by the public.
George W. Bush and the Secret Agent
Not only alcoholism, but also erotic negative incidents have frequently broken out.
The peach-colored news that happened between the agents and the women in the White House office, the most famous of which was clinton's bodyguard Smith and Clinton's cousin, and the image of the White House was greatly affected after the media broke.
In addition, Obrain, an agent who worked as President Reagan's bodyguard, was suspected of seducing a friend's underage daughter.
During the Americas Summit, 11 agents who protected Mr. Obama were drunk and prostitutes, and clashes with prostitutes over refusing to pay honorariums also broke out.
A prostitute revealed to the media that the agent slept all night without any alertness, and the prostitute had every opportunity to view all the confidential documents in the room.
The frequent scandals have also made senior officials in the state security department very angry, and they have fired more than a dozen prostitute agents.
Obama and Agents
The frequent negative news reported by the agents reflects that the full restraint on the agents is not in place.
On the badge of the presidential agent, the four corners are printed with the words "courage, loyalty, justice, and honesty", which represents the expectation of the agent, because of the special nature of the work, it is more necessary to have good character and carry out strict self-management and self-restraint.
David Zhao is like a clear stream among these unscrupulous agents, and his character makes him deeply trusted by Biden and well received by the media and colleagues.
David Zhao's appearance on Biden's side has also attracted a lot of turmoil, and people with hearts have taken the opportunity to hype conspiracy theories about China such as "David Zhao is a bodyguard in China" and "Biden is manipulated by Chinese" on social media.
Some media believe that Biden always arranges Asian faces around him in order to win the votes of Asian Americans, in order to show the "diversity" of his government.
In any case, David Zhao's strength has been tested by two US presidents, and with his identity made public, the remarks of "Biden colluding with China" will not be self-defeating.