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.