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President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday picked a new diplomatic and security lineup, nominating as expected his chief security secretary Song Min-soon as the new foreign minister. The new unification minister is to be Lee Jae-joung, now vice chairman of the Advisory Council on Democratic Peaceful Unification, while Army Chief of Staff Kim Jang-soo will be the next defense minister. Kim Man-bok, first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, was nominated as the new director. The nominations now go to National Assembly confirmation hearings.
Senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs Park Nam-choon denied speculation that the nominations aim to censure the outgoing ministers. "They have been reviewed for a long time to consistently implement and complete foreign and security policy with President Roh's term of office expiring,¡± Park said. The tone of the government's engagement policy with North Korea ¡°will go unchanged,¡± he added. The spokesman dismissed as ¡°inappropriate¡± remarks by the outgoing NIS chief that selecting the new agency head from among current officials was ¡°premature.¡± Kim last week said some NIS officials tend ¡°to do what politicians tell them to do,¡± hinting at opposition to Kim Man-bok's appointment.
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(From left) Unification minister nominee Lee Jae-joung, foreign minister nominee Song Min-soon, defense minister nominee Kim Jang-soo and National Intelligence Service chief nominee Kim Man-bok.
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The nominations drew flak not only from the opposition Grand National Party but from within the ruling Uri Party for riding roughshod over their opinion, signaling a rough ride in the confirmation hearings. The GNP slammed the lineup, calling it ¡°the definitive edition of the administration's obstinacy and self-righteousness in managing personnel affairs,¡± which even disappointed minimum expectations for state affairs during the remainder of Roh's term in office.
"Cheong Wa Dae promoted the very person who should be held responsible and fired for the failure of North Korean policy as the new foreign minister and went against the principle of political neutrality highlighted by the outgoing NIS Director Kim Seung-kyu by naming Kim Man-bok as the new director," GNP spokesman Na Kyung-won said. "The GNP will do everything in the confirmation hearings to prove that the nominations are unreasonable and inappropriate.¡±
Uri Party Chairman Kim Geun-tae expressed support for the lineup, but floor leader Kim Han-gill, who already publicly opposed it the previous day, reiterated criticism first voiced in a meeting Tuesday. "I said that the reshuffle should be conducted to manage the crisis in our security and economy, that the president needs to select talented people from various fields to create a ¡®dream team', and that we need to focus on resolving security and economic issues during the rest of his term of office,¡± the lawmaker said.
Cheong Wa Dae is to announce Song's successor as security advisor at the end of this month after the APEC meeting . Promising candidates are Ambassador to China Kim Ha-jung, Baek Jong-chun, president of security think tank the Sejong Institute, and outgoing defense minister Yoon Kwang-ung.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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