S.Korea parliament approves reformist premier (agencies) Updated: 2004-06-29 16:13 South Korea's parliament voted on Tuesday to
approve former political dissident Lee Hae-chan as prime minister, setting the
stage for a small-scale cabinet reshuffle.
Lee, 51, is a five-term member of parliament who was jailed for several years
as a political prisoner for opposing South Korea's military rulers in the 1970s
and 1980s. He helped set up the ruling Uri Party of President Roh Moo-hyun.
Roh tapped Lee earlier this month to replace Goh Kun, a veteran administrator
who resigned last month. Lee is expected to name new culture, health and
unification ministers in the coming days.
The 299-seat National Assembly approved Lee by a vote of 200 for and 84
against. Roh's Uri Party has a thin majority of 152 seats in the single-chamber
parliament, meaning Lee also received support from opposition parties.
Roh's left-of-centre government faces rising labour unrest, delicate nuclear
negotiations with communist North Korea and continued fallout from the killing
in Iraq last week of a South Korean man by insurgents demanding that Seoul scrap
plans to send troops to help rebuild the country.
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