S. Korean assembly asks minister's resignation
S. Korean assembly asks minister's resignation
SEOUL (Agencies): South Korea's national assembly turned against President Kim Dae-Jung on Monday by voting for the dismissal of his unification minister, a key figure in negotiations with rival North Korea.
Only hours earlier North Korea sent an official offer to end a six-month freeze on contacts with South Korea in what was seen as an attempt to sway the vote in favor of the minister, Lim Dong- Won.
But the opposition motion demanding Lim's resignation was passed by 148 votes to 119 in a national assembly showdown.
Lawmakers for President Kim's Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) sat blankfaced as assembly speaker Lee Man-Sup declared the opposition victory.
The vote, which could set off a chain reaction in South Korea's ruling alliance and inter-Korean relations, is not constitutionally binding but puts the president under enormous pressure to sack Lim.
The minister negotiated last year's historic inter-Korean summit and is a member of President Kim's inner circle. But he has been under fire for approving a controversial visit to North Korea by South Korean activists last month.
The sensitivity of Lim's post controlling relations with the North means his departure could deal a fatal blow to President Kim's already ailing "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with the communist neighbor.
The ballot also threw Kim's ruling coalition into disarray because its junior partner, the United Liberal Democrats, sided with the opposition in demanding the ouster of Unification Minister Lim Dong-won.
The vote "is likely to worsen internal conflicts within South Korea and naturally make it difficult to resume talks with the North," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University.
The two sides have never officially ended the 1950-53 Korean War but the two leaders vowed at their June 2000 summit to move toward reconciliation.
The thaw that followed the summit has since become deadlocked but the vote came as China's President Jiang Zemin started a visit to Pyongyang.
South Korea hopes the visit could unblock the reconciliation process, but analysts say time is now running out for President Kim's policy with only 15 months of his term left.
The national assembly vote casts major doubts over his party's four-year-old ruling coalition with its conservative ally, the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) and the small Democratic People's Party.
The MDP warned the vote could derail the inter-Korean peace process. But ULD members ignored the appeal and voted with the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) against Lim.
The vote also bolstered the GNP's political clout ahead of next year's crucial elections for local government and presidential elections.
The MDP has 114 seats in the 271-member national assembly, the ULD 20 seats and the small DPP two seats. The GNP is the biggest single party with 132 members. The other three are independents.
The opposition demanded Lim stand down after more than 100 members from a 337-strong delegation attended last month's communist festival, which was seen as giving the North valuable propaganda points.
Prosecutors detained 16 delegates on their return from Pyongyang and seven now face charges of carrying out pro- communist activities in the North under South Korea's tough National Security Law.
The GNP has used the political storm to demand an end to the "Sunshine Policy", which helped President Kim win last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
On Monday, Pyongyang denounced the GNP as "anti- reunification."
"It is a shameful act disclosing its narrow mindedness and political ignorance for the GNP to try to use the great cause of the nation for its selfish interests and strategy," the North said through its state media.