Roh looks beyond the capital for expertise in policy

Many of President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's transition committee members are university professors at schools outside Seoul; just two of the eight professors appointed to the committee teach at universities in the capital.

Those close to the committee said it is unusual for professors from provincial universities to outnumber their Seoul counterparts on any government committee.

Regional parity seems to have been a factor in naming the committee members. Observers said Mr. Roh, who hails from Busan, gave priority to naming committee members from outside the capital in demonstrating his will to decentralize power from Seoul and Gyeonggi province. The president-elect has said he wants to nurture regional universities by linking national research and development projects to the schools.

Most of the committee members advised Mr. Roh during the election. Yoon Young-kwan, director of the committee's unification, diplomacy and security subgroup and a professor of Seoul National University, is known to have provided the framework of Mr. Roh's foreign policy line. Suh Dong-man, a professor at Sangji University in Wonju, Gangwon province, and a member of the unification subgroup, helped Mr. Roh in putting his own twist on President Kim Dae-jung's policy of engaging the North.

Most of the professors named to the committee have given priority in pending local issues instead of pure research. Kwon Ki-hong, a professor at Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang province, and director of the social, cultural and women's subcommittee, was director of the Taegu Institute of Social Studies. Lee Joung-woo, a professor at Kyungpook National University in Daegu and a director of one of the economic subcommittees worked at the institute along with Lee Chong-oh, a professor at Keimyung University in Daegu, who heads the subcommittee on monitoring and surveying public opinion through the Internet.

Seong Kyoung-ryung, a professor at Hallym University in Chuncheon, Gangwon province, and a member of the planning and coordination subgroup, has studied regional issues at a private organization based in Chuncheon. Kim Dae-hwan, a professor at Inha University in Incheon and head of one economic subgroup, worked with the civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.

Mr. Roh's close aides have also been named to working-level jobs. Kim Jin-hyang, a former lecturer at Kyungpook National University and a member of Nosamo, Mr. Roh's online support group, has been named as a special aide to the unification and diplomacy subcommittee.

by Kang Min-seok