South Korea Appoints Retired General Choi Byung-hyuk as New Defence Minister
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Seoul, Dec 5 (NationPress) Choi Byung-hyuk has been nominated to lead the Defence Ministry. He is a retired four-star Army general who is presently serving as the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Choi, a distinguished graduate of the Korea Military Academy, held the position of commander of a security brigade and acted as the director of operations at the Capital Defence Command from 2008 to 2009, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
In 2014, he was appointed as the commander of the 22nd Division of the Army, after which he took on several key roles including the director of the Army's inspection office, commander of the 5th Army Corps, and the Army's vice chief of staff.
Choi achieved the rank of general in April 2019 and held the position of deputy commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command until September 2020.
In December 2023, Choi was appointed by President Yoon Suk Yeol as the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
This nomination follows the resignation of Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, which was accepted by Yoon amidst controversies related to Yoon's failed attempt to declare martial law.
