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Yoon Young-kwan, the Minister of the Foreign Affairs and Trade, looking grim, makes a remark about the punishment for ministry officials at a meeting with reporters Wednesday afternoon.
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President Roh Moo-hyun accepted the resignation of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yoon Young-kwan Thursday morning.
Yoon's replacement will reportedly be chosen from a short list of three or four candidates and announced this weekend.
According to Chung Chan-yong, senior secretary for civil affairs at Cheong Wa Dae, Yoon expressed his intention to resign "because there have been entanglements and objections to the foreign policy of the Participatory Government," and for failing to take control of that situation as foreign minister.
"A certain few individuals at the foreign ministry have been unable to grow beyond the dependent foreign policy of the past. They have been unable to adequately carry out the independent foreign policies of the Participatory Government. These individuals repeatedly spoke in a manner that is outdated in public and private contexts, leaked sensitive information, and in doing so caused confusion in foreign policy," said Chung. "Then, in the course of an inquiry, information about the inquiry itself was leaked, a willing upset of official discipline."
By Sung-ho Youn and Peter Schroepfer
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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