In an announcement on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Kim Yung-ho, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Sungshin Women’s University, as the new unification minister. Kim, also the chair of the unification ministry’s Unification Future Planning Committee, pledged to work toward resolving the DPRK nuclear issue and enhancing “a foundation for improving inter-Korean relations.”

This appointment comes amid speculations that current unification minister Kwon Young-se, a former four-term lawmaker, is planning to run in April’s parliamentary elections. Kwon will be the first minister to step down from Yoon’s Cabinet.