One of President Lee Jae-myung’s key campaign pledges over the last months 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 for charges of conspiring in insurrection and abuse of official authority tied to impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law bid on Dec. 3, 2024. 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.
Lee kicked off appointments of members of his presidential office and 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 alongside reports of the Trump administration’s potential downsizing of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea, have additionally fueled worries.
In South Korea, the position of defense minister has typically been held by a retired four-star Army general or Navy admiral. Of 50 defense ministers so far, only five held the position without a professional military career.
On top of that record, most defense ministers were nominated while in active duty or almost immediately after announcing retirement. While that has been in accordance with Article 87 of the Constitution, which states, “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 has led to a lack of reform within the military.
If Lee appoints a “civilian” nominee, it would mark the first time for such a person to take the office since May 1961, after former Defense Minister Hyeon Suk-ho, who had no military experience at all, stepped down. Though former Defense Minister Song Young-moo, who served from 2017 to 2018, had a cooling-off period of nine years between active duty service and appointment to the role, he was still a retired Navy admiral who had served in the military for over three decades.
Regarding Lee’s pledge, experts have expressed concerns over such a candidate’s lack of experience and decision-making skills in the time of a possible military conflict or even war.
“It would be a huge challenge for the country if the defense minister lacks the leadership and professional experience and skills in both policy- and decision-making processes during military conflict,” said Yang Uk, a research fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies via phone.
Sources close to the matter said that Lee is considering five-term lawmaker and ruling Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Ahn Gyu-back as a strong candidate for defense minister.
Ahn’s office declined to comment when asked about whether the lawmaker had heard about the potential nomination.
Ahn is a former chair of the National Assembly's defense committee and a close aide to Lee. He also led the parliamentary committee probing Yoon’s martial law bid. Though Ahn completed his two-year compulsory military service from 1983 to 1985, he has no professional military background.
Under South Korean law, all able-bodied male citizens are required to fulfill mandatory military service for a minimum of 18 months, typically between the ages of 18 and 28. This law has been in place since 1957 and differs from pursuing a professional military career.
Meanwhile, 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.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
