South Korean President Kim Dae-jung sacked his foreign minister yesterday in a sweeping Cabinet shake-up that analysts expect will rejuvenate diplomatic engagement with Washington and Pyongyang.
Kim named ex-ambassador to the US and former commerce minister Han Seung-soo as the new foreign minister.
Analysts said Han's appointment reflected efforts to keep rapprochement with North Korea on track and to smooth over recently ruffled ties with Washington.
"The president is seeking to specialize each post," said Shin Wookhee, professor of international relations at Seoul National University.
Kim replaced nine of the Cabinet's 20 ministers yesterday, less than a week after sacking the health minister in the wake of a controversial law revision expected to spark large cost overruns for the national heath insurance system.
"[The new ministers] are likely to express their own opinions more," Shin said. "That will help cultivate balanced policies."
The president named Lim Dong-won, a key architect of Kim's "sunshine policy" of greater engagement with North Korea, as unification minister, Seoul's top post in reconciliation efforts with Pyongyang.
Lim is former head of the National Intelligence Service.
He is not expected to alter Seoul's approach, analysts said, but moving the former spymaster was seen as positive as it would help separate the spy agency's activities from the ministry in charge of thawing Cold War tensions with the North.
"There had been questions about whether the head of the National Intelligence Service was in the right post to handle rapprochement with North Korea," Shin said.
"This now means the Unification Ministry will single-handledly lead engagement, in line with its original function," Shin said.
New Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin is not expected to bring big changes as he is a career military man and former Army chief of staff.
Kim's shake-up of his Cabinet comes on the heels of a series of gaffes and is seen designed to fortify his ruling coalition as he heads into the last two years of his five-year term still faced with economic reform and sensitive diplomatic tasks.
The new foreign minister hails from one of two small political parties that Kim's ruling Millennium Democratic Party relies on to pass reforms bills and other important legislation.
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