Diversity Marks New S. Korean Cabinet : Asia: Former dissidents and three women are among those named by newly installed President Kim. Only two ex-generals are appointed.

SEOUL — Newly installed President Kim Young Sam today named a Cabinet filled with professors, lawyers, former dissidents and women but only two former generals, a mix that promised a fresh approach to South Korea’s domestic and foreign affairs.

Three women, one more than in any previous South Korean Cabinet, were appointed, and, for the first time ever, a professor was named to head the powerful Agency for National Security Planning, the former Korean CIA often accused of meddling in politics.

In addition, Kim, a longtime opposition leader until he joined forces with former President Roh Tae Woo in 1990, named Kim Sang Chul, 46, a human rights lawyer, as mayor of Seoul, a non-Cabinet post. Governors and mayors are still appointed by the president.

“In these appointments, we tried to select capable people who are qualified to pursue the building of a new Korea with fresh, innovative thinking and competence. We also tried to represent all spectrums of society, especially youthful persons and women, emphasizing our determination to renovate national management,” Kim, 65, the nation’s first president without a military background since 1961, said in a statement.

Most of the ministers were in their 50s.

Named to the key post of deputy prime minister and minister of the Economic Planning Board--Korea’s economic czar--was Lee Kyung Shik, 59, president of Korea Gas Co. and a former planning board bureaucrat. He also previously served as president of Daewoo Telecommunications and Daewoo Motors.

Hong Jae Hyong, 55, was picked to head the Finance Ministry, where he served as a career bureaucrat before being named president of the Korea Exchange Bank.

Particularly notable was the appointment as foreign minister of Han Sung Joo, 52, a Korea University professor who is one of the country’s foremost internationalists and has a host of friends among American officials, scholars and politicians. Although Han has served occasionally as an unofficial adviser to past authoritarian governments, he has consistently supported democratic reforms and solid ties with the United States.

Han, who received a doctorate in political science under the noted Asian scholar Robert Scalapino at UC Berkeley, is bilingual in Korean and English. He also is an expert on North Korean affairs and domestic politics.

Kim Chul Soo, 52, who won high marks from American diplomats when he served for many years as South Korea’s chief trade negotiator with the United States, was named minister of trade and industry. Formerly an assistant minister of trade, Kim was serving as president of the Korea Trade Promotion Corp.

The three women appointees are Kwon Young Ja, 56, director of the Korean Women’s Development Institute, as second minister of political affairs; Whang San Sung, 49, a former lawyer, as minister of environment, and Park Yang Shil, 58, chairman of the Korean Women Doctors Assn., as health and social affairs minister.

Only nine women have served in all previous South Korean Cabinets dating back to 1948. Former President Roh appointed only three women during his five years in office--all to the post of minister in charge of women’s affairs.

Named to head the former Korean CIA was Prof. Kim Dok, 57, of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, an expert in international relations and North Korean affairs.

“In line with the new era of civilian government, it is a demand of the times that the scope and functions of the Agency for National Security Planning should be changed,” said Lee Kyung Jae, Kim’s press secretary, who announced the appointments.

Previously, former generals or prosecutors were picked to head the agency, which even under Roh was caught engaging in political “dirty tricks” against opposition politicians.

In an attempt to reduce regional animosities that have plagued Korean politics, Kim named to ministerial posts three natives of the southwest Cholla region. Residents of the region were neglected by the three ex-generals, all from the southeast Kyongsang area--who ruled South Korea from 1961 until Thursday. President Kim also is a Kyongsang native.

The Cabinet was selected after the National Assembly met Thursday to confirm a Cholla native, Hwang In Sung, as prime minister.