SEOUL: The Republic of Korea's (ROK) foreign minister resigned yesterday in a row pitting pro-US ministry officials against left-leaning presidential aides over Seoul's policy towards the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

President Roh Moo-hyun's personnel secretary said Roh had accepted the resignation of Yoon Young-kwan, a moderate who departs at a pivotal moment in multinational efforts to resolve a crisis over the North's nuclear weapons programmes.

Jeong Chan-yong said in a statement Yoon had resigned to take responsibility for failing to guide foreign policy in line with directives from Roh's year-old administration. Foreign policy analysts said there was little doubt Roh had dumped Yoon.

"Some Foreign Ministry staff were unable to shed the past foreign policy and failed to adequately understand the basic spirit of the new independent foreign policy advocated by the People's Participatory Government,'' Jeong told reporters.

The "People's Participatory Government'' is the slogan Roh's team uses for its populist administration, which calls for more independence from Washington and closer ties to the North.

Jeong said the presidential Blue House was reviewing three or four potential successors to Yoon, who helped put Roh's ties with the United States on a smooth footing after a rocky start.

Yonhap news agency reported that Yoon's replacement could be named as early as today. The agency said possible candidates included Han Sung-joo, the ROK ambassador in Washington, and two senior Roh aides: National Security Adviser Ra Jong-yil and Foreign Policy Adviser Ban Ki-moon.

The president has faced criticism over a political funding scandal, labour strife and a sluggish economy but had been given relatively high marks for stabilizing ties with Washington.

"The resignation could very well signal a change in Korea's foreign policy direction, especially in relations with the US,'' said Lee Jung-hoon, professor of international studies at Yonsei University, referring to Yoon.

"If (Yoon's successor) is a person who shares more ideals with the National Security Council (NSC), the alliance with the US will become more difficult,'' he said. The NSC reports to Roh. Conservatives have dubbed some of its aides "Red Guards."

But Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said he didn't anticipate big policy changes. "I don't think there will be particular problems in the alliance with the US just because the leadership at the Foreign Ministry is changed,'' he said.

(China Daily 01/16/2004 page8)