South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun named new ministers to the crucial commerce and unification portfolios on Monday in a reshuffle that allows former cabinet members to prepare for possible presidential bids.
Roh named Lee Jong-seok, a liberal expert on North Korea, as unification minister, replacing Chung Dong-young, one of two ministers who resigned last week to return to the ruling Uri Party, a presidential Blue House official said by telephone.
The Unification Ministry handles ties with North Korea. Returning to the party is widely seen as a preparatory step for launching a bid for the 2007 presidential election.
Roh - elected for a single five-year term - named Uri Party chief Chung Sye-kyun as the minister for commerce, industry and energy. That is a vital role in Asia's fourth-largest economy and one of the world's top energy importers.
Roh also named new science and labour ministers.
Under South Korea's system, only the prime minister needs parliamentary approval, but, under a new law, the appointments are subject to parliamentary committee hearings.
"(Lee) is an expert on North Korea issues and on North-China relations, and has played an important role in building the government's diplomatic and security philosophy and establishing a security strategy," the Blue House said in a statement.
Lee was the deputy head of the National Security Council that advises Roh. He was previously a North Korea specialist at the Sejong Institute think tank.
Roh had sought his advice before taking office in early 2003.
Since assuming the post at the National Security Council, Lee has been a key architect of the Roh administration's policy on the North, including a huge offer of electricity to the impoverished state in return for giving up its nuclear weapons.
It was not immediately clear whether Lee would take over as chairman of the National Security Council because of a pending reorganisation of the presidential office, chief personnel secretary Kim Wan-key was quoted as saying in a Blue House briefing note.
Chung Dong-young had doubled as chairman of the council.
New Commerce Minister Chung Sye-kyun is a veteran member of parliament and a former corporate executive who has held key party policy posts. But his appointment, replacing long-serving ministry bureaucrat Lee Hee-beom, drew a mixed reaction from analysts.
Roh's former chief of staff and an engineering professor, Kim Woo-sik, was named science minister.
Former Uri Party lawmaker Lee Sang-soo was named labour minister, another important position because of the country's often fraught relations between workers and management.
The Uri Party picks a new leader at a party convention in February ahead of local elections in May.
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