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Ahn Gyu-back
South Korean politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ahn Gyu-back (Korean: 안규백; born 29 April 1961) is a South Korean politician in the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). In June 2025, Ahn nominated to be South Korea's defense minister, which would make him the country's first civilian defense minister in 64 years, and fifth civilian defense minister since 1948.[1] He has been a member of the National Assembly for Dongdaemun, Seoul, since 2012, and previously served as a party list member from 2008 to 2012.
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Early life and education
Born in Gochang County in North Jeolla, Ahn attended high school in Gwangju, and studied Eastern philosophy at Sungkyunkwan University as an undergraduate before earning a master's degree at the university's Department of Commerce and Trade.[2][3]
Career
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Ahn was appointed deputy floor leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the Minjoo Party's predecessor, on 12 October 2014,[4] and remained in that position for seven months.[5] He was praised by his Saenuri Party counterpart, Cho Hae-jin, who described him as having an "honest and upright" character and "always thinking of his country first".[a] He subsequently became head of strategy and public relations for the NPAD on 23 June 2015.[6]
A ranking member of the Assembly's National Defense Committee,[7] Ahn has been a critic of South Korea's defense policy. In 2011 he stated that draft-dodging had doubled under the Lee Myung-bak administration,[8] and at the end of 2015 he attacked Park Geun-hye's government for signing an intelligence cooperation agreement with Japan and the United States, stating that "it is against all reason to give [Korea's] advanced information" to Japan given its colonial history in the peninsula and continuing territorial claims over the Liancourt Rocks.[9] In June 2015, he introduced a bill to honor the veterans of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, an armed confrontation with North Korea that had taken place in 2002.[10]
On 23 June 2025, President Lee Jae-myung nominated Ahn as defense minister, making him the first person not to have previously served as a general to be chosen for the position since 1961, and the fifth person not to have previously served as a general to be chosen for the position since 1948.[11] Ahn's scrutiny hearing in the South Korean National Assembly was held on 15 July 2025.[12][13]
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Notes
- "안 의원을 추천한 조해진 새누리당 의원은 그에 대해 '성품이 정직하고 바르며 언제나 나라를 먼저 생각한다'고 이유를 설명했다."[5]
References
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