South Korea has its first female foreign minister.

Despite opposition in the National Assembly, the South Korean President appointed a woman as the country's Foreign Minister, explaining that it was "in accordance with the people's wishes".

New Foreign Minister of South Korea, Ms. Kang Kyung Wha. Photo: Reuters

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, the appointment ceremony took place at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon (12:00 p.m. June 18, Vietnam time) at the Blue House - the South Korean presidential palace, in Seoul.

The decision was made by President Moon Jae In after the National Assembly failed to pass a report after a hearing on the appointment of Ms. Kang Kyung Wha on June 7.

On June 15, the Blue House sent another request to the National Assembly to pass the report, but it was still rejected by the three opposition parties.

President Moon continued to extend the deadline to June 17 (the maximum by law), and this deadline was also missed, so he came to a unilateral decision.

The South Korean leader stressed that the country needs a foreign minister before the US-South Korea summit later this month in the US, as well as the summit of the Group of 20 largest developed and emerging economies (G20) in Hamburg, Germany on July 7-8.

In South Korea, the president does not necessarily need parliamentary approval to appoint ministers. However, Ms. Kang's appointment is seen as straining the already shaky relationship between the president and the opposition-controlled legislature.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) has threatened to boycott parliamentary sessions if the president appoints a foreign minister without parliamentary approval.

If the threat materializes, it would affect the appointments of at least 10 other ministers awaiting parliamentary review and confirmation, and could derail the government’s efforts to pass an 11.2 trillion won ($10 billion) supplementary budget to boost the economy and create 110,000 public sector jobs.

The LKP currently holds 107 seats out of 300 in the National Assembly. The ruling Democratic Party has 120 seats - the largest it has ever held but still short of a majority.

Ms. Kang Kyung Wha, 62 years old, is a political advisor to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. She was selected by President Moon to join the cabinet on May 21.

She graduated from Yonsei University in Korea and received her PhD in communication from the University of Massachusetts (USA) in 1984.

Since 1988, she has entered Korean politics as an assistant to the Speaker of the National Assembly and then to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea since 1999.

She has represented South Korea at the United Nations since 2001 and became the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2006.

According to Yonhap, she is a veteran diplomat and has a good understanding of world human rights issues. However, the opposition still considers her incompetent.

Not to mention that Ms. Kang is accused of many wrongdoings in the past, such as tax evasion and registering a fake address for her daughter - allegations that could make her a criminal and subject to up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won.

More importantly, the mother and daughter were found guilty of one of the five corruption crimes that President Moon once said he would not allow those who committed these crimes to participate in any high-ranking government agency.

Following controversies over past wrongdoings by Ms. Kang and other appointed ministers, President Moon has recently stressed that his appointments should be judged on merit and take into account the context in which past wrongdoings occurred and why.

In the case of Ms. Kang, according to Yonhap news agency, President Moon defended that the people agreed with this appointment.

Thus, Ms. Kang Kyung Wha will become the first female Foreign Minister of Korea.

In addition to Ms. Kang, the new cabinet also has Ms. Pi Woo Jin appointed as Minister of Veterans Affairs. This is also the first time in the Korean government that there are two women as Ministers./.

According to TTO