Culture Minister Resigns, President Kim Appoints Successor

Culture and Tourism Minister Park Jie-won Wednesday resigned his post, forced to give in to unfavorable public sentiment and calls for his dismissal within the ruling party for his involvement in the illegal Hanvit Bank loan scandal.

President Kim appointed as his replacement Rep. Kim Han-gill, chief secretary to the president of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP).

"The president accepted Park's resignation to pave the way for him to cooperate with the prosecution as it works to get at the facts," Presidential Spokesman Park Joon-young said.

In a news conference before Chong Wa Dae gave its official announcement, the outgoing minister said that "I am resigning because I do not want to burden the president any more. Whatever the reasons, I offer my deepest apology to the public for causing worry."

Park said that he would fully cooperate with the prosecution while calling on Lee Un-young to fulfill his pledge to appear before the prosecution Sept. 21. Lee, a former employee of the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, alleges Park used his influence to help ArcWorld, run by Park's relative, obtain a massive amount of loans.

Behind deteriorating public sentiment is a growing overall distrust of the ruling MDP as a series of scandals involving senior MDP officials have pitted the ruling and opposition camps against each other, while bad news in the economy adds to public anxiety.

President Kim, who had remained hesitant to dismiss his closest aide, bowed to these factors, insiders said. Last year's "furgate" scandal implicated wives of senior officials and a jailed business tycoon, dealing a severe blow to Kim's popularity when it broke out May 1999, dragging his approval rating down to a record low of 61.7 percent.

Despite Park's emphasis that the decision to resign was solely his, insiders say that it was a political decision made by the president.

Division within his ruling party over Park also prompted Kim and Park to make the decision. MDP members have been calling for Park's dismissal for the two days since Monday, saying that it was a political burden that they did not need to carry.

The MDP yesterday accepted Park's resignation as a "difficult" but necessary step to break the current political impasse. The opposition camp has been boycotting the National Assembly, requesting that a special prosecutor look into the case.

The opposition Grand National Party welcomed the news of Park's resignation. But it said the move fell short of what it has demanded to return to the National Assembly, darkening prospects for an immediate resolution to the current political gridlock.

The resignation, in effect, brings to a halt a brilliant political career for a former businessman who debuted in politics in 1992 mainly due to his relationship with the president. The former culture and tourism minister served as a special envoy for the president, brokering the historic June 15 inter-Korean summit talks.

His track record as Chong Wa Dae spokesman and spokesman for the National Congress for New Politics, the MDP predecessor, was impeccable.

Political analysts, however, expect Park to rebound if he is cleared of the allegations, and assume a role for himself helping the president proceed with the rapprochement with North Korea.

The new culture and tourism minister, 48-year-old Kim Han-gill, has served two terms in a National Assembly seat allocated to his party as part of its proportional representation quota. A novelist and former television talk show host, he earned the president's trust as media strategist for the 1997 presidential election. He also served formerly as senior secretary for policy and planning.

by Kim Jin-kook