President Lee names unification minister

ROK President Lee Myung-bak appointed Seoul's top envoy to Beijing as the minister in charge of reconciliation efforts with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yesterday, Lee's office said.

Kim Ha-joong, a career diplomat, will lead the Unification Ministry, which has been accused of being too soft on the DPRK.

Lee, who has vowed to pursue a harder line with Pyongyang, wanted to shut down the ministry and transfer its duties to the Foreign Ministry, but he later withdrew his plan due to pressure from liberal lawmakers who argued that the Unification Ministry was too important and symbolic for inter-Korean reconciliation.

Kim is Lee's second choice for the job in as many weeks.

Nam Joo-hong, a university professor who is a hard-liner on the DPRK, had been nominated for unification minister but he resigned last week amid allegations of ethical lapses, including real-estate speculation.

Two other nominees for Lee's first Cabinet - the gender equality minister and environment minister - have also quit due to similar allegations.

Kim, who speaks fluent Chinese and is a top expert on China, has held several high-profile posts, including security adviser to former President Kim Dae-jung. He has been the Republic of Korea's (ROK) ambassador to China since 2001.

Kim was expected to go through a mandatory parliamentary hearing as early as this week. The legislature does not have the power to reject the appointment.

Joint military drill starts

The ROK and the US kicked off annual military exercises yesterday.

Pyongyang routinely claims the drills are a rehearsal for an invasion of the DPRK.

The angry reactions came hours after tens of thousands of ROK and American troops began their exercises, and amid impasse in international efforts to strip Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons programs.

About 27,000 American troops, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, and an undisclosed number of ROK soldiers participated in the drills, dubbed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, according to the US and ROK militaries. The exercises, scheduled until Friday, involve a computer-simulated war game with field drills.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/03/2008 page6)