President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday nominated Kang Sung-kook, a former judge currently serving as a senior justice ministry official, as his new vice justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Kang, head of the ministry's legal affairs bureau, will fill the vacancy left when former Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu resigned in early June after he was embroiled in a controversy over his unpunished assault of a taxi driver last year, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Kang's term will begin Wednesday.

Kang previously served as a judge and then later practiced private law after joining a law firm in 2015. He was hired as the head of the ministry's legal affairs bureau last year.

Park said that Kang is expected to actively tackle key ministry tasks backed by his deep understanding of the ministry's overall affairs and legal expertise.

The nomination is in line with the Moon administration's personnel philosophy of excluding former prosecutors at key posts within the justice ministry. Kang's predecessor was the first vice minister who had no previous experience in the prosecution to serve in 60 years. (Yonhap)