President Lee works on his new cabinet while parliament holds review hearings on his nominees
\n Seoul
\nSouth Korea\u2019s President Lee Jae Myung named veteran lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as the country\u2019s first civilian defence minister in 64 years on Monday, making good on a campaign promise made after December\u2019s martial law shook faith in the military.
\nLee, 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 UN ambassador Cho Hyun as foreign minister and a North Korea diplomacy advocate, Chung Dong-young, as unification minister, his office said.
\nYoon\u2019s defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, played a leading role in recommending and planning martial law, and is in jail amid an ongoing trial on insurrection charges.
\nThe 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.
\nHe 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\u2019s martial law declaration, which he reversed after parliament defied him.
\nLee has worked with an acting prime minister and a cabinet carried over from Yoon\u2019s administration as he tackles the job of uniting a bitterly divided country and formulating a response to US President Donald Trump\u2019s new tariffs.
\nHe has pledged to pursue diplomacy pillared on pragmatism with a focus on support for the export-heavy economy\u2019s global companies in the fields of automobiles, semiconductors and steelmaking.
\nEarlier 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.
\nLee on Monday also nominated new ministers for agriculture, environment, labour and maritime affairs, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Lee works on his new cabinet while parliament holds review hearings on his nominees Seoul South Korea\u2019s President Lee Jae Myung named veteran lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as the country\u2019s first civilian defence minister in 64 years on Monday, making good on a campaign promise made after December\u2019s martial law shook faith in the military. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-486117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n