President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday named his nominees for education and welfare ministers, picking women for both positions following criticism that his Cabinet is male-dominated.

Park Soon-ae, a professor of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University, was named education minister, while Kim Seung-hee, a former lawmaker, was named welfare minister.

Earlier in the day, a senior presidential official said Yoon had planned to pick women as his nominees for education and welfare ministers, as part of his efforts to encourage professional advancement of women.

The presidential office said Park, an expert of public administration, is qualified to improve educational administration and help the Yoon administration materialize key state affairs in the field of education.

Kim, an expert of food and drug, served as the head of the Ministry for Food and Drug Safety between 2015 and 2016, the office said.

Oh Yu-kyoung, head of the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University, was named chief for the Ministry for Food and Drug Safety.

In South Korea, all ministers are subject to a parliamentary confirmation process, but their appointments do not require parliamentary approval. (Yonhap)