South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun and nominated the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia Choi Byung Hyuk as the new defense minister.
The South Korean presidential office confirmed the appointment of Mr. Choi, a former army general, as defense minister on December 5, Yonhap reported.
Yonhap reported that Kim Yong Hyun proposed to President Yoon Suk Yeol to declare martial law on the evening of December 3. Martial law was quickly lifted when the South Korean National Assembly voted to ask the president to reverse the decision.
The appointment of the defense minister is President Yoon Suk Yeol's first official action since lifting martial law in the early morning of December 4.
The lifting of martial law has allowed hundreds of South Korean soldiers deployed at the National Assembly in Seoul to briefly return to their barracks.
Martial law declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol has faced a wave of protests from the South Korean public and opposition parties.
