Stopping short of a clean sweep

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Stopping short of a clean sweep

What stands out about Tuesday's reshuffle of cabinet ministers and presidential secretaries was the changes in the line up of senior secretaries.

Seven of the nine senior secretaries were replaced. Only Kim Hak-jae, the secretary for civil affairs, and Cho Young-dal, the secretary for education and culture, were retained. In addition, the president created a new post - special adviser to the president for policy - to bring one of his most trusted aides, Park Jie-won, back to the Blue House. Mr. Kim appointed another long-time confidante, Lim Dong-won, as special adviser for foreign policy, national security and unification in September 2001.

Mr. Park has been appointed to a Blue House post on three other occasions. He was President Kim Dae-jung's first presidential spokesman and was named senior secretary for policy and planning in March 2001. He resigned in November 2001 at the insistence of reformers-in the ruling Millennium Democratic Party.

Ruling camp insiders refer to the former businessman as "someone who takes up more than half of President Kim Dae-jung's mind." Some predicted that Mr. Park would stay away from politics and North Korea affairs, focusing on economic affairs and helping the president deal with crises.

But his appointment could still be contested. The same reformists who had him ousted from his post last year, as well as the main opposition Grand National Party, reacted negatively to his return.

"By selecting someone the public has criticized and the opposition has said should not be appointed, the president has shown that his grasp of state, government and political affairs is questionable," said Nam Kyung-pil, the opposition spokesman.

The new Blue House spokeswoman, Park Sun-sook, is the other newsmaker in Tuesday's reshuffle. She is reportedly another trusted Kim aide. By being promoted to a senior secretary she achieved two feats: she is the first Blue House spokeswoman and the first woman to be named a presidential senior secretary.

The 42-year-old mother of a middle school student got her start in politics by helping out a former democracy activist, Representative Kim Keun-tae of the ruling party, with organizing rallies in 1984. A native of Pocheon, Gyeonggi province, she is known for her ability to compromise but is also renowned for not backing down from heated policy discussions.

by Kim Jin-kook

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