South Korea’s Lee names first civilian defence minister in decades

SEOUL (Reuters) : South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung named veteran lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as the country’s first civilian defence minister in 64 years on Monday, making good on a campaign promise made after December’s martial law shook faith in the military.

Lee, who took office on June 4 after winning a snap election called when former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over the martial law attempt, also named 10 other cabinet ministers including former U.N. ambassador Cho Hyun as foreign minister and a North Korea diplomacy advocate, Chung Dong-young, as unification minister, his office said.

Yoon’s defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, played a leading role in recommending and planning the martial law, and is in jail amid an ongoing trial on insurrection charges.

The nominations, which do not require parliamentary approval but will be reviewed in at-times contentious hearings, come as Lee works to form a new cabinet and staff his office.

He took office the day after the election without a transition period, as Yoon was ousted in April for breaching the duties of his office with December’s martial law declaration, which he reversed after parliament defied him.

Lee has worked with an acting prime minister and a cabinet carried over from Yoon’s administration as he tackles the job of uniting a bitterly divided country and formulating a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs.

He has pledged to pursue diplomacy pillared on pragmatism with a focus on support for the export-heavy economy’s global companies in the fields of automobiles, semiconductors and steelmaking.

Earlier this month he named a long-term member of parliament and a key political ally, Kim Min-seok, to be his prime minister, a post that requires parliamentary approval.

Lee on Monday also nominated new ministers for agriculture, environment, labour and maritime affairs, among others.