South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has accepted the resignation of his defense minister amid the continuing fallout from his short-lived imposition of martial law, an apparent attempt to deflect blame that also pushes out a top official who spearheaded Seoul’s hardline security policy toward North Korea.

The president’s Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok announced during a press briefing on Thursday that Yoon had accepted Kim Yong-hyun’s resignation as defense chief and nominated Choi Byung-hyuk, Seoul’s current ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as his successor.

The change of defense chief follows local media reports, citing anonymous officials, that Kim convinced the