SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak plans to replace three Cabinet ministers holding parliamentary seats prior to the September plenary parliamentary session, local reports said Friday.

Minister without portfolio Lee Jae-oh, health minister Chin Soo- hee and culture minister Choung Byoung-guk will be replaced in a small Cabinet shakeup, reports cited presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee as saying.

The 2012 budget deliberations will begin in the regular session next month, and it is better to let the incoming presidents draw up their own budget, Yim added.

Lee is also expected to soon nominate a new civil affairs secretary, as the former secretary recently took office as the justice minister.