Ahn Gyu-back (; born 29 April 1961) is a South Korean politician who has served as the minister of national defense from 2025 to 2026. A member of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), 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. Ahn is the first civilian defense minister in 64 years and the fifth civilian defense minister since 1948.
Early life and education Born in Gochang County in North Jeolla, He graduated from elementary and middle school in Gochang, and 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.
Career Ahn was appointed deputy floor leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the Minjoo Party's predecessor, on 12 October 2014, and remained in that position for seven months. 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". He subsequently became head of strategy and public relations for the NPAD on 23 June 2015.
A ranking member of the Assembly's National Defense Committee, 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, 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. 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.
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. Ahn's scrutiny hearing in the South Korean National Assembly was held on 15 July 2025.
Electoral history ElectionYearDistrictParty affiliationVotesPercentage of votesResults18th National Assembly General Election2008Proportional Representation (14th)United Democratic Party4,313,645 25.17%Elected19th National Assembly General Election2012Seoul Dongdaemun A Democratic United Party41,933 48.41%Won20th National Assembly General Election2016Seoul Dongdaemun A Democratic Party39,728 42.76%Won21st National Assembly General Election2020Seoul Dongdaemun A Democratic Party51,55152.72%Won22nd National Assembly General Election2024Seoul Dongdaemun A Democratic Party53,97852.89%Won
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