South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday replaced his defence chief and four other ministers in a cabinet reshuffle after falling approval ratings in recent weeks.

Moon has driven a rapid diplomatic rapprochement with nuclear-armed North Korea, but defence minister Song Young-moo came under fire for mishandling a controversy over a defence intelligence unit.

In March, documents emerged detailing military plans to impose martial law against protesters demanding the ouster of Moon's predecessor Park Geun-hye last year, but Song failed to report them to the presidential Blue House.

Moon named Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and air force general Jeong Kyeong-doo to replace him.

It is normal for South Korean defence ministers to be former top military officers -- Song was previously an admiral.

Moon's popularity rating soared to 83 percent after his Panmunjom summit with the North's leader Kim Jong Un in April.

It has since fallen to a record low of 56 percent in a Realmeter survey last week amid mounting concerns over the economy.

Moon also named new ministers for education, industry, labour and gender equality in Thursday's reshuffle.

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North Korea still 'serious and imminent threat': Japan
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 28, 2018
North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat", Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since tensions eased on the Korean peninsula. Japan's 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan". Last year's defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and with US President Do ... read more