Cabinet reshuffle provokes mixed feelings

As the new Cabinet lineup that will administer state affairs in the latter half of President Kim Dae-Jung`s tenure was unveiled Monday, candidates for the Cabinet posts had mixed emotions.

Here are some behind-the-scenes episodes and reactions of ruling camp figures concerning the Cabinet reorganization.

President Kim was said to have started formulating plans for the Cabinet reshuffle long ago, and had confirmed the list of new ministers by August 5, except for two or three posts to be allotted to the United Liberal Democrats (ULD).

The President had already selected Jin Nyum as finance and economy minister and Song Ja as education minister at that time, sources said.

He also decided to retain all the members of the diplomacy and security team when he received a weekly report from Lim Dong-Won, director of the National Intelligence Service, on August 5, they added. And on August 6, Chief Presidential Secretary Han Kwang-Ok met Prime Minister Lee Han-Dong to explain the President`s plan and asked him to recommend ULD members as candidates for some cabinet posts.

Prime Minister Lee visited honorary ULD Chairman Kim Jong-Pil at his house in Chonggu-dong, downtown Seoul, in the evening to discuss the reshuffle, and informed Han of the results of their discussions. As a result, rumors that the President struggled until the last moment to select the new finance and economy minister proved groundless.

Meanwhile, there were no leaks of the list of new ministers until it was unveiled. Chief President Secretary Han once again fulfilled his role as the "triple zipper.`` Han has maintained that as long as he remains chief presidential secretary, lists of new cabinet members will never be leaked in advance. The new ministers were all referred to as possible candidates one or more times, except for the ULD members, whose entry into the Cabinet was decided on at the last minute. However, the replacement of Agriculture and Forestry Minister Kim Sung-Hoon, who many said was certain to be retained, was unexpected. Kim was said to have expressed his intention to resign due to a health problem.

Presidential Spokesman Park Joon-Young explained that Minister Kim had no time to see his dentist, even if all of his teeth were at risk. With the replacement of Minister Kim, all the original Cabinet members of the Kim Dae-Jung government were changed. The Cabinet reshuffle was unusually announced by spokesman Park instead of Chief Presidential Secretary Han. Under past governments, the presidential spokesman generally announced the new Cabinet lists.

The ruling Millennium Democratic Party welcomed the August 7 Cabinet shakeup, saying that figures who could push through in-depth reforms amid continued stability were recruited.

Spokesman Park Byung-Suk said this reshuffle placed particular emphasis on teamwork and evaluated the new ministers as figures with specializations, reform-mindedness and morality.

He expected that the new Cabinet would successfully carry out the reform tasks the "government of the people`` has continuously promoted through smooth teamwork based on administrative ability. Rep. Lee Hai-Chan, chairman of the Policy Committee, said the President appears to have placed emphasis on maintaining the basic economic policy framework. He said the President displayed his determination to maintain stability and to ease market jitters.

He added that the new Cabinet ministers were all armed with power to grasp business and political forces.