S. Korea Shakes Up Cabinet After Opposition Election Gains

In a sweeping Cabinet shake-up apparently designed to ease the government’s authoritarian image, President Chun Doo Hwan on Monday appointed a respected former foreign minister, who currently heads the South Korean intelligence agency, as prime minister.

“The president expressed his belief that the new Cabinet will meet popular expectations for stability and reforms and dedicate itself to national unity and progress to help achieve national goals toward the year 2000,” presidential spokesman Hwang Sun Pil said.

The changes came in the wake of last Tuesday’s parliamentary elections, in which a new party allied to dissident leader Kim Dae Jung emerged as a major opposition force with 68 seats. Chun’s political party did worse than expected, taking 148 seats, almost half of them bonus seats not won directly.

In all, 13 new Cabinet ministers were named in the shake-up, which came a few hours after Chun’s Cabinet resigned to give him a free hand to reorganize.

Named as prime minister was Lho Shin Yong, 55, director of the Agency for National Security Planning--formerly known as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. A career diplomat given credit for improving the image of Chun’s regime during his service as foreign minister, Lho succeeded the ailing Chin Iee Chong.

Chief presidential bodyguard Chang Se Dong, a retired army lieutenant general, was named to replace Lho as intelligence chief.

Retained were nine Cabinet members, including the foreign minister, defense minister and most of the Cabinet members dealing with the economy, indicating little change in Chun’s pro-Western and stability-oriented policies.

The ministers retained include Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Planning Minister Shin Byong Hyun, Foreign Minister Lee Won Kyung, Finance Minister Kim Mahn Je, Defense Minister Yoon Sung Min and Trade and Industry Minister Kum Jin Ho.

Home Minister Choo Young Bock was replaced by Chung Suk Mo, the chief policy-maker of the ruling Democratic Justice Party.