Seoul Drops Spy Chief, 4 Cabinet Members to Ensure Fair Election
SEOUL — South Korean President Roh Tae Woo fired his controversial spy chief and four key Cabinet ministers Friday, and declared war against corruption to ensure fairness in December elections to pick his successor.
“The most important task for the new Cabinet is to hold the forthcoming presidential election in the fairest, cleanest and most upright fashion in our constitutional history,†Roh said in a nationally televised speech. Past presidential elections were marred by charges of corruption and vote-rigging.
The new Cabinet will be headed by Prime Minister Hyun Soong Jong, a 73-year-old law scholar, who was sworn in Thursday.
Roh dumped spy agency chief Lee Sahng Yeon, and replaced him with former general Lee Hyun Woo.
Others appointments included Paek Kwang Hyun, a well-known lawyer, named home minister; former Supreme Court judge Lee Chung Woo, named justice minister; former ambassador Yoo Hyuk In, named information minister and Kim Dong Ik, a newspaper executive, named first state minister for political affairs.
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