Goh Kun Approved as New Premier by S.Korean Parliament

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 27, 2003

Goh Kun Approved as New Premier by S.Korean Parliament

South Korean parliament Wednesday approved Goh Kun as President Roh Moo-hyun's first choice for prime minister.

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South Korean parliament Wednesday approved Goh Kun as President Roh Moo-hyun's first choice for prime minister.

The former Seoul mayor, won the confirmation of the National Assembly by 163-81 in the total of 246 votes, reported national news agency Yonhap News.

The endorsement paved the way for Roh Moo-hyun, who became the country's new president on Tuesday morning, to announce his cabinet line-up soon.

In his speech on the confirmation, the new premier vowed to accomplish various pending tasks. "First, I will focus myself on dealing with the subway tragedy and preventing such an incident from recurrence," he said.

He added that he would also do his best to address inter-Korean issues and revitalize the country's economy.

Since entering civil service in 1962, Goh has served various posts, including the premiership between 1997-1998 and three ministerial posts. In particular, he worked as Seoul mayor twice during 1988-1990 and 1998-2002.

Earlier Wednesday, the National Assembly passed a motion on independent counsel to probe into a huge secret remittance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which made the ballots of the premier's confirmation possible.

The vote on Goh's appointment was delayed one day for the row between the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) over the independent council motion.

The GNP, who holds 151 seats among the total 273 seats in the parliament, insisted that the vote of the prime minister's nomination should be carried out after the independent counsel motion passed. While the MDP indicated that the two matters had no relation.

Although the MDP members left the assembly hall to boycott the vote, the opposition GNP's lawmakers passed the motion proposed itself unilaterally, using its majority predominance.

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