South Korea appoints new Prime Minister

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has appointed a key ruling party leader as the new prime minister and appointed a team of special advisers, an official said on Friday (Jan 23), in a move to restore public confidence.

Mr. Lee One-koo

Ms Park has appointed Lee One-koo, a key leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, to replace Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, presidential press secretary Yoon Doo-hyun said.

Mr Chung will remain the second most powerful figure in South Korea until Mr Lee is confirmed by the National Assembly.

Ms Park chose Mr Lee as someone who "has a deep understanding of the president's way of governing the country and can contribute to the regular activities of the National Assembly by coordinating with the opposition party", Yonhap news agency quoted Mr Yoon as saying at a press conference.

Lee One-koo, a U.S.-educated lawmaker, said he would contact opposition parties and speak frankly with President Park Geun-hye about national issues. He made the comments shortly after the official announcement of his appointment.

Ms. Park still decided to keep Mr. Kim Ki-choon as Secretary-General of the Blue House.

She has been under intense pressure, mostly from the opposition party, to fire Mr Kim and three other key presidential aides following the leak of a presidential document.

The case sparked a political storm over allegations that one of Ms Park's former aides had tried to meddle in state affairs. However, an investigation found that a senior police officer had forged the document.

According to Vietnamnet