A feminist and former political dissident was picked yesterday to become South Korea's first woman prime minister, officials said.
Han Myung-sook, a lawmaker from the ruling Uri Party, was nominated for the vacant post by President Roh Moo-hyun, a move hailed as a step forward for women in male-dominated South Korea.
Han, known as the "godmother" of South Korean feminism, is a two-term lawmaker who served as minister of gender equality in 2001 and environment minister in 2003.
Han, 61, cut her political teeth as a dissident fighting South Korea's military dictators in the 1970s and 1980s. She was jailed for two years for pro-democracy activities in 1979.
She was selected for the top Cabinet post over Kim Byong-joon, a former politics professor currently serving as policy planner on Roh's presidential staff.
"She has worked for more than 30 years to improve women's rights, environment protection and democracy," presidential secretariat chief Lee Byung-wan said.
"She has also accumulated experience in state administration by serving as minister of gender equality and minister of environment," Lee added.
The appointment requires approval from parliament but Han is widely regarded as a bipartisan choice as she is respected by members of the conservative opposition Grand National Party, who were irked by her predecessor's brusque and partisan style.
Suggesting that Han would adopt a more compromising attitude, Lee said that she would operate with "soft" leadership.
"The government expects the prime minister, as the country's first female prime minister, will carry out state tasks smoothly with a soft leadership," he said.
Han is married to a university professor who was also jailed in the past for pro-democracy activism. They have one son.
Women's groups have hailed Han's appointment as a momentous shift that would encourage women to strive for recognition in South Korea's male-dominated political and government circles.
"Han is the best choice as she is broad-minded and excellent in mediation. The epochal appointment will also raise the social standing of women," said Kim Hwa-joong, head of the Korean National Council of Women.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese