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President Lee Myung-bak is reportedly considering a reshuffle of the Cabinet and Cheong Wa Dae as early as next week, but it will only be on a small scale, a key presidential official said Wednesday. What is billed as a "dialogue with the people" scheduled for next Monday has also been postponed until after the 18th National Assembly is launched.
The presidential official met reporters after attending an extended meeting of presidential secretaries chaired by Lee on Wednesday. "A personnel reshuffle could be the last step" of a reform program, he said. "I don't mean that nobody will be held responsible for policy blunders, but you've gone too far if you say that there will be an en masse resignation of the Cabinet members or a wholesale Cabinet shake-up."
He said Lee ¡°is not a person who replaces his staff easily. We don't know yet¡± whether such a reshuffle "will be a small or large scale. It's totally up to the president to decide."
In a briefing, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said the president planned to have his ¡°dialogue with the people¡± on Tuesday, the 100th day of his presidency. ¡°But he put it off until next Monday because he decided it would be good to have the dialogue after he delivers the opening address for the 18th National Assembly, in which he will present a blueprint for his government and seek people's understanding for his policies." President Lee¡¯s decision was also influenced by the fact that ¡°no progress has been made in political parties' negotiations on the launch of the new National Assembly,¡± he added,
but will come ¡°at an opportune time which he believes is not too late."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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