Kang Shin-chul, South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia and nominee for defense minister (Cheong Wa Dae) Kang Shin-chul, South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia who was nominated Sunday as defense minister, is a retired four-star Army general with extensive experience in military operations and South Korea-US alliance affairs.Born in Seoul in 1968, Kang graduated from the Korea Military Academy as a member of its 46th class and was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in 1990.During his 35-year military career, Kang held a series of key posts, including chief of the policy division at the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, military aide to the defense minister, commander of the 11th Mechanized Infantry Division and head of the Operations Directorate at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.He also served as secretary for national defense policy at the presidential National Security Office from 2021 to 2022 under the Moon Jae-in administration.Kang capped his military career as deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command, serving in the post during the Dec. 3 martial law declaration in 2024. He retired in September 2025 and took office as ambassador to Saudi Arabia in February.His nomination sees the post return to a career military figure. He will replace Ahn Gyu-back, who was a civilian politician before taking over the ministry.