Defense Minister’s Stunning Comeback After Military Shake-Up of Four-Star Generals... Ahn Gyu-back Falls Amid Draft-Evasion Controversy

[Financial News] Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Kang Shin-cheol was nominated on the 30th as the next Minister of National Defense in a surprise personnel move. The four-star general, an elite Army Academy graduate, left the military last September amid an unprecedented shake-up that removed all seven active-duty generals. He was among those who retired at the same time as the Air Force chief and the Navy chief.
However, President Lee Jae Myung brought him back in January this year as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia. The administration valued his strong expertise in security strategy, built during his time as the security and defense strategy secretary at the Office of National Security. Now, little more than a year after leaving the military, he has been tapped again as a nominee for defense minister.
Kang has held key posts in both field command and policy, including operations chief at the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff (ROK JCS), deputy commander of the Ground Operations Command, and deputy commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC). There is also hope that he can ease internal discontent in the military that surfaced during the Lee Jae-myung administration’s push to reorganize the armed forces.
By contrast, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back stepped down with the cabinet reshuffle after failing to overcome allegations that he deserted during his time in the reserve forces, along with a series of security setbacks. Ahn was left with the stigma of an early exit, exposing limits in his ability to control the organization and his lack of expertise.
Ahn was the first civilian to serve as defense minister in 64 years. The administration’s first experiment with a non-military defense chief ended in what many called a "half success."
The opposition People Power Party had strongly pushed for Ahn’s impeachment, and the number of supporters for a National Assembly impeachment petition reached 330,000.
The most damaging factor for Ahn was the allegation, raised during his confirmation hearing, that he had left without authorization during his reserve-duty service. Concerns over a security vacuum then intensified after a recent near-miss in which a U.S. military aircraft was almost mistakenly shot down.
As criticism grew that the incident had weakened the ROK-US joint defense posture, concerns over lax military discipline spread and calls for his dismissal became overwhelming. The turmoil is also expected to disrupt the current administration’s defense policy, which has been built around military reform.

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