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President Roh Moo-hyun has nominated Han Myung-sook as the country's next prime minister. If confirmed, she would become Korea¡¯s first woman prime minister.
The decision comes nine days after prime minister Lee Hae-chan stepped down. It was made ¡°considering not only her great personal capability but also her strong background in the political arena and her cooperative relationships with the party and assembly,¡± Cheong Wa Dae Chief of Staff Lee Byung-wan said.
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Han Myung-sook, center, is congraturated by other lawmakers following her nomination as new prime minister at a press conference at National Assembly in Seoul on Friday./AP-Yonhap
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The Grand National Party is calling for Han to quit the ruling Uri Party citing the need for political neutrality. But the minor opposition parties welcomed the nomination of a woman to the post.
The two-time lawmaker has a background in the women's rights movement and became the country¡¯s first minister of gender equality under the Kim Dae-jung Administration. She served as environment minister under Roh Moo-hyun.
Born in Pyongyang, she moved to South Korea with her family. At the time of her enrolment at Ewha Woman's University majoring in French Literature in 1963 she has said she was ¡°a little girl who wanted to grow up to be a writer praising the beauty of life.¡±
After a torrid four-year romance with Park Sung-jun, a professor at SungKongHoe University (formerly St. Michael's Theological Seminary), the two married, and Han's life suddenly changed. Just six months into their marriage, her husband was arrested for his affiliation with the Unification Revolution Party, which was branded "anti-state" by the authoritarian government at the time.
¡°I owe my determination to devote my life to the democratic movement to my husband¡¯s passionate teaching,¡± she has said.
In 1970, Han quit as superintendent of an Ewha dormitory over her support for the student movement and went to work with Christian Academy, a civic group, in charge of the department educating underprivileged women. In 1979, she was arrested along with other members for distributing books critical of the establishment. She was released two years later. In 1987, Han set up Korea Women¡¯s Associations United (KWAU), which incorporated 20 women¡¯s organizations nationwide.
Colleagues praise her gentleness combined with a steely determination to overcome obstacles because she has been through so much. Han has been at the forefront of pushing legislation protecting women¡¯s rights including the family law, Equal Employment Act and laws on sexual violence.
As minister of gender equality in 2001, Han laid the legal and systematic foundation for greater women¡¯s rights by leading the revision of the Maternity Protection Law, which established paid maternity leave.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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