SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak nominated on Friday the country's new justice minister and the top prosecutor, his office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The president named senior presidential secretary Kwon Jae-jin, a former prosecutor, as the justice minister and tapped Han Sang- dae, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, as the prosecutor general.

Kwon, if approved by parliamentary, will succeed Lee Kwi-nam. Han is to replace Kim Joon-gyu, who recently offered to resign over a bill that supposedly undermines the prosecution's investigative power.

Opposition parties have voiced reservations about the nomination even before it was made public, questioning its possible influence on neutrality in law enforcement ahead of the key parliamentary and presidential polls next year.