Will S. Korea see 'civilian' defense minister?
One of President Lee Jae-myung's key campaign pledges made during his latest run was to appoint a 'civilian' defense minister, referring to a nominee with zero to brief military experience.
His pledge came as several high-ranking military officials, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, are currently on criminal trial on charges of conspiring in insurrection and of abuse of official authority tied to impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed Dec. 3 martial law bid. The position is currently filled by acting Defense Minister and Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho, who took on the role following Kim Yong-hyun's resignation after the martial law bid in early December.
Lee kicked off the appointment of members of the presidential office and the Cabinet last week, and all eyes are on who will become the next defense minister amid growing security concerns on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's advancing nuclear weapons program, coupled with reports of the Trump administration's potential troop cut of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea, has fueled the worries.
In South Korea, the position of defense minister has usually been held by a retired four-star Army general or Navy admiral. Of all 50 defense ministers so far, only five held the position without military experience.
On top of it, most defense ministers were nominated while in active duty or almost immediately after announcing retirement. Though the moves managed to uphold Article 87 of the Constitution of Republic of Korea, which states that 'No member of the military shall be appointed a member of the State Council unless he (or) she is retired from active duty,' it has been criticized for building a tradition that led to lack of reform within the military.
If Lee appoints a 'civilian' nominee, it would mark the first time such a person takes office since May 1961, after former Defense Minister Hyeon Suk-ho, who had no military experience at all, stepped down.
Sources close to the matter said that Lee is considering the five-term lawmaker and ruling Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Ahn Gyu-back as a strong candidate for defense minister.
Ahn is a former chair of the National Assembly's defense committee and a close aide of Lee. He also led the parliamentary committee probing into Yoon's martial law bid. Though Ahn has completed his two-year mandatory military service from 1983 to 1985, he has no professional military background.
Meanwhile, the US law mandates a cooling-off period of seven years between active-duty service and appointment to the Secretary of Defense, aiming to ensure civilian control over the military.
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