5 Ministers Axed in Major Reshuffle

President Moon Jae-in in his first major reshuffle Thursday nominated replacements for five of his Cabinet ministers -- defense, trade, labor, education and gender equality.

Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is to replace embattled Defense Minister Song Young-moo, who is mired in scandal over the mishandling of controversial military information.

If appointed, Jeong would become the first Air Force general to head the ministry in over two decades and the second in a row not to come from the Army.

Lee Jae-kap faces the unenviable task of fixing the government's lackluster job-creation policies as labor minister. As trade minister Moon has tapped Sung Yun-mo, the head of the Korea Intellectual Property Office.

He also named ruling-party lawmaker Yoo Eun-hae as education minister, replacing Kim Sang-gon, who has been slammed for making a hash of revising the country's college entrance procedures. Another ruling party lawmaker, Jin Sun-mee, is up for the post of gender equality minister.

All Cabinet picks will have to undergo confirmation hearings, although their appointments do not require parliamentary approval.

Cheong Wa Dae also hinted that three other ministerial posts will be up for a reshuffle in a week or two.