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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, January 17, 2004

S Korea has new foreign minister

Ban Ki-moon was appointed as new foreign minister of South Korea, announced the Blue House, the presidential office, on Friday.


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Ban Ki-moon was appointed as new foreign minister of South Korea, announced the Blue House, the presidential office, on Friday.

"President Roh Moo-hyun appointed Ban Ki-moon as the new foreign minister for his experience at the Foreign Ministry and his understanding of the vision of the foreign policy of the Participatory Government," said Jeong Chan-yong, senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs. Participatory Government is the name the Roh administration uses to describe itself.

"Incoming Foreign Minister Ban fully understands the foreign policy direction and philosophy of President Roh because of his service at the presidential office for the past 10 months since the launch of the Roh government," Jeong said.

The nomination came one day after Yoon Young-kwan resigned fromthe top diplomat post, taking responsibility for some officials ofthe foreign ministry remarks over Roh's US policy.

Jeong also hoped Ban could handle pending issues with the United States in a smooth manner based on his friendly relationship with that country.

Ban Ki-moon, 60, is a veteran diplomat who has served with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for more than 30 years. He once served as director general of the North American Affairs Bureau at the ministry.

He was promoted to vice foreign minister under former President Kim Dae-jung's administration in year of 2000. Roh Moo-hyun nominated Ban as adviser for foreign affairs early last year.

Ban said to reporters after he was appointed as foreign minister that "There has been no dispute between Seoul and Washington on major pending issues. I will exert the best of our efforts to tackle the nuclear issue (of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) among others to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

He also vowed to try to realize the six-party nuclear talks through close cooperation with involved countries.

The replacement of Yoon Young-kwan was widely believed here as a signal that Roh wants to take "independent policy" or the so-called "pragmatic diplomacy with focus on flexibility."

Some foreign ministry officials were probed by the Blue House for their impertinent jokes over Roh and the National Security Council (NSC)'s policy toward the United States. Roh also made public criticism over those officials.

NSC said in a statement on Thursday the resignation of Yoon didnot mean any change of policy toward US-South Korea alliance.

However, South Korea and the US have big differences over some key issues, such as South Korea additional troop dispatch to Iraq and the US troops relocation in the Asian country, according to press reports.

South Korean officials from foreign ministry and Ministry of National Defense now are holding talks with US officials in Hawaiiover the redeployment issue.

Ban's appointment, however, alleviated such concerns because heis a career diplomat who has maintained good personal relations with officials in the United States and other allies while servingin the foreign ministry for the past 33 years, some local analystssaid.

Source: Xinhua








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