Ability emphasized for reshuffle

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Ability emphasized for reshuffle

President Kim Dae-jung ordered his cabinet members to resist requests based on regional and school ties in assignments and promotions in the government reshuffle expected to take place in January.

Prime Minister Lee Han-dong delivered the presidential message Saturday from Mr. Kim who was at the presidential retreat Cheong Nam Dae, North Chungcheong province. The prime minister presided over the cabinet meeting, which was held to "make capability, innovativeness and clean-handedness the three criteria in the reshuffle."

Mr. Kim explicitly said, "No requests should be made or received."

The president has repeatedly stressed that he wants to end the culture of government appointments based on regional and school ties. Because this is the final reshuffle of director generals and directors at major government agencies during Mr. Kim's tenure, the results will be crucial to the final year of his presidency.

Internal government polls show that Mr. Kim's naming Kim Pan-kyu, a native of Gyeongsang province, as army chief of staff, and Yi Pal-ho, a native of Chungcheong province, as commissioner general of the National Policy Agency, received a favorable public response. After those appointments, he commanded the heads of the army and the police to "follow in my example with further appointments."

The Blue House early last year conducted an overview of government appointments and proposed that the bias toward regional and school ties be corrected. But rumors continued to flourish that certain regions or schools, such as Gwangju and Mokpo high schools, prevailed in the doling out of the juiciest government offices. Therefore, the president explicitly disallowed appointment requests between graduates of the same schools or people from the same regions. Presidential insiders said that the president will take the same approach in a cabinet reshuffle expected in January or February.



by Kim Jin-kook

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