South Korea gets its first non-military defence chief

Ahn Gyu-back has served on the National Assembly’s defence committee. Pic/Newsis

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung nominated five-term liberal lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as defence minister on Monday, breaking with a tradition of appointing retired military generals.

The announcement came as several prominent former defence officials, including ex-Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, face high-profile criminal trials over their roles in carrying out martial law last year under then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted on rebellion charges and removed from office.

Ahn Gyu-back, a lawmaker from Lee's Democratic Party, has served on the National Assembly's defence committee and chaired a legislative panel that investigated the circumstances surrounding Yoon's martial law decree.

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