Park taps politician as PM

President Park Geun-hye has nominated Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Lee Wan-koo as her new prime minister, a presidential official said Friday. Park also reorganized her office after selecting three new senior presidential secretaries and naming four people to newly created special adviser roles. However, the presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon remains in office. Lee, 64, a third-term lawmaker representing Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, who became the floor leader in May, has been regarded as fit for the premiership because he belongs to the pro-Park faction of the National Assembly. He also served as governor of South Chungcheong Province between 2006 and 2009. Lee is subject to parliamentary approval, but he is expected to get the nod. "If confirmed, I will devote myself to reviving the economy," Lee said after the official announcement, adding he will strengthen communication with the opposition parties and the public, and speak frankly to Park about state affairs. Yoon Doo-hyun, senior presidential press secretary, said, "Lee has a deep understanding of the President's philosophy in running state affairs and contributed to the normal operation of the National Assembly by cooperating with the opposition party.". Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has been in office since the inauguration of the Park administration in February 2013. Although Chung tendered his resignation due to the government's bungled response to the sinking of the ferry Sewol in April, he was reinstated in June in the wake of two consecutive withdrawals of nominees. Woo Byung-woo, the secretary to the President for civil affairs, was promoted to fill in for the resigned senior presidential secretary Kim Young-han, who refused to attend a parliamentary session on the "memogate" scandal earlier this month. Hyun Jung-taik, former president of the Korea Development Institute, became the inaugural senior secretary for policy coordination who will replace the senior secretary for state affairs planning. Cho Shin, professor at the Graduate School of Information at Yonsei University, was named the senior secretary for future strategy. Special advisers for civil, security, public and social, and cultural affairs are Lee Myung-jae, former prosecutor-general; Lim Jong-in, professor at Korea University; Shin Sung-ho, former JoongAng Ilbo editorial writer; and Kim Sung-woo, senior executive of SBS. Park decided to keep her chief of staff for the time being, seen as a move to reject mounting public pressure to fire him over a series of incidents, including the leakage of sensitive presidential documents. Posted : 2015-01-23 17:02 Updated : 2015-01-23 18:46 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/01/116_172311.html ksw@koreatimes.co.kr