For the first time in 64 years since the May 16 military coup of 1961, a civilian has been nominated as South Korea’s Minister of National Defense.
Ahn Gyu-baek, nominated as the first defense minister of the new administration, is a five-term lawmaker who has served on the National Assembly’s Defense Committee for all but two years of his legislative career.
Notably, following the December 3 martial law incident, Ahn served as the chair of the National Assembly’s Special Investigation Committee, leading efforts to uncover the truth behind the insurrection charges.
The presidential office expressed confidence that Ahn, as the first civilian defense minister in over six decades, is the right person to lead reforms within the military that was mobilized during the unlawful imposition of martial law.
[ Kang Hoon-sik / Chief Presidential Secretary: “As a civilian Minister of National Defense, he will take responsibility for and lead the transformation of the military that was involved in the martial law mobilization.” ]
Ahn, upon his nomination, stated that he solemnly accepts the historic responsibility to rebuild the people’s military in the aftermath of the insurrection. He vowed to establish a strong national defense built upon trust, communication, and powerful deterrence.
If confirmed, Ahn is expected to accelerate military reforms by restructuring the roles and missions of the units involved in the coup attempt, and pushing forward with organizational changes and personnel adjustments.
[ What is May 16 coup of 1961? ]
May 15 coup of 1961 is a military coup led Park Chung-hee and his gang of reactionary right-wing generals. These generals were angry with liberal democratic reforms of Prime minister Chang Myon’s Democratic Party ( ancestor party to the current DPK) government after April 19 Revolution of 1960. They falsely accused the newly elected government of being incompetent and corrupt. Then, they staged a coup and killed South Korea’s first democratic experiment in its infancy. Amidst this chaos, a newly elected lawmaker named Kim Dae-jung lost his seat as National Assembly was dissolved. This begun 28 years dark age of military dictatorship which lasted until democracy was restored in 1987 June Uprising.
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