President Lee Jae-myung has nominated veteran Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as South Korea’s first civilian defense minister in more than six decades, underscoring his administration’s efforts to reassert democratic control over the armed forces following former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed martial law declaration last year.

The nomination breaks with a longstanding convention of appointing retired generals to the top defense post and signals a broader institutional reset in civil-military relations.

While Ahn lacks operational command experience, he brings nearly two decades of policy expertise and legislative oversight on the National Assembly’s Defense Committee. His nomination reflects a calculated