President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday named the chief of a state diplomatic academy as the new ambassador to Japan and a former Navy chief as the ambassador to Australia, his office said.

Park Cheol-hee, an expert on Japan and the current head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, was nominated as the top envoy to Tokyo, while retired Navy Adm. Sim Seung-seob, a former chief of naval operations, was nominated as the top envoy to Canberra.

Yoon also named Kim Moon-soo, head of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, as the new labor minister, his office said.

"I will always listen closely to the voices of labor circles such as the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and user groups such as the Korea Enterprises Federation, as well as those of the National Assembly, academia and press," Kim said during a press briefing at the presidential office.

"The government must step forward and actively help workers even at small businesses realize their humble dreams of getting married and having children," he said.

Park, the new ambassador to Japan, is a well-known scholar on Japan who has long stressed the importance of building a future-oriented relationship between the neighboring countries despite unresolved grievances stemming from Tokyo's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Sim, the new ambassador to Australia, served as navy chief from 2018-2020 during the former administration of President Moon Jae-in. His appointment comes four months after then Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup resigned due to an ongoing investigation into his role in the military's response to a Marine's death last year.

Yoon appointed Ambassador to the Netherlands Choe Hyoung-chan as the new head of the KNDA. (Yonhap)