ID :
204451
Tue, 08/30/2011 - 23:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204451
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Lee names new unification minister in Cabinet reshuffle
(ATTN: UPDATES with details, background in para 6, last 6 paras; ADDS photo, byline)
By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak named a close confidant as South Korea's new unification minister handling relations with North Korea in a Cabinet reorganization Tuesday, a replacement that may signal a shift in Seoul's policy on Pyongyang.
New Unification Minister-designate Yu Woo-ik, who previously served as Lee's chief of staff and ambassador to China, will succeed Hyun In-taek, a scholar-turned-minister known for his hard-line stance on North Korea. Hyun was named a special presidential advisor for unification affairs in the announcement.
The replacing of Hyun had been expected as the leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) had strongly called for naming a new minister to help improve the South's long-strained relations with the communist nation.
Tuesday's shake-up also affected three other ministers.
Choe Kwang-sik, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, was named as the culture minister; Rim Che-min, minister of the Prime Minister's Office, as the health minister; and Rep. Kim Kum-lae of the GNP as the gender equality minister, senior presidential spokesman Kim Du-woo said.
Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong was named the minister of the Prime Minister's Office.
The new ministers will be formally appointed after parliamentary confirmation hearings.
Presidential aides had said that Lee would reshuffle the Cabinet in order to allow the ministers concurrently holding parliamentary seats to focus more on the party and prepare for next year's general elections. Those replaced were Health Minister Chin Soo-hee and Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug, both GNP lawmakers.
Special Affairs Minister Lee Jae-oh is expected to resign as early as Wednesday, but Lee does not plan to name his successor for the time being, officials said.
Hyun, who took office in 2009, was the longest-serving minister in the current Cabinet.
Some had expected him to be replaced in the last Cabinet reshuffle in May, but President Lee retained him apparently over concerns that his replacement could give Pyongyang the wrong message.
South Korea has demanded an apology from the North for last year's two deadly attacks as a precondition for restarting genuine engagement with Pyongyang. The North has denied responsibility for the March sinking of a warship, and claimed that its shelling of a border island was part of a self-defense measure.
Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since Lee took office with a pledge to link aid to the impoverished neighbor to progress in efforts to end its nuclear programs. Last year's attacks, which killed a combined 50 South Koreans, have sent the already frayed ties plunging to their lowest levels in decades.
jschang@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak named a close confidant as South Korea's new unification minister handling relations with North Korea in a Cabinet reorganization Tuesday, a replacement that may signal a shift in Seoul's policy on Pyongyang.
New Unification Minister-designate Yu Woo-ik, who previously served as Lee's chief of staff and ambassador to China, will succeed Hyun In-taek, a scholar-turned-minister known for his hard-line stance on North Korea. Hyun was named a special presidential advisor for unification affairs in the announcement.
The replacing of Hyun had been expected as the leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) had strongly called for naming a new minister to help improve the South's long-strained relations with the communist nation.
Tuesday's shake-up also affected three other ministers.
Choe Kwang-sik, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, was named as the culture minister; Rim Che-min, minister of the Prime Minister's Office, as the health minister; and Rep. Kim Kum-lae of the GNP as the gender equality minister, senior presidential spokesman Kim Du-woo said.
Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong was named the minister of the Prime Minister's Office.
The new ministers will be formally appointed after parliamentary confirmation hearings.
Presidential aides had said that Lee would reshuffle the Cabinet in order to allow the ministers concurrently holding parliamentary seats to focus more on the party and prepare for next year's general elections. Those replaced were Health Minister Chin Soo-hee and Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug, both GNP lawmakers.
Special Affairs Minister Lee Jae-oh is expected to resign as early as Wednesday, but Lee does not plan to name his successor for the time being, officials said.
Hyun, who took office in 2009, was the longest-serving minister in the current Cabinet.
Some had expected him to be replaced in the last Cabinet reshuffle in May, but President Lee retained him apparently over concerns that his replacement could give Pyongyang the wrong message.
South Korea has demanded an apology from the North for last year's two deadly attacks as a precondition for restarting genuine engagement with Pyongyang. The North has denied responsibility for the March sinking of a warship, and claimed that its shelling of a border island was part of a self-defense measure.
Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since Lee took office with a pledge to link aid to the impoverished neighbor to progress in efforts to end its nuclear programs. Last year's attacks, which killed a combined 50 South Koreans, have sent the already frayed ties plunging to their lowest levels in decades.
jschang@yna.co.kr
(END)
