President Replaces Unification Minister
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung replaced his point man on North Korea in a sweeping Cabinet shake-up seen as a conciliatory gesture toward the recalcitrant Communist state.
Hong Soon Young will be replaced as unification minister by Jeong Se Hyun, a North Korean affairs expert who served as vice unification minister from 1998 to 1999.
North Korea had indicated through its media that it would not resume dialogue with Seoul as long as Hong remained in the post. North Korean officials criticized him as a hard-liner.
Seven other Cabinet jobs were affected in the shake-up.
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