SEOUL : Into the Spotlight
Kim Young Sam on Thursday will take over as South Korea’s first civilian president since 1961 in an inauguration ceremony that, unlike earlier spectacles staged as displays of overseas support for authoritarian rulers, will include no foreign leaders as guests.
Kim, a former opposition leader who joined forces with outgoing President Roh Tae Woo in 1990, is expected to quickly name a prime minister and a Cabinet.
Elected on a platform of eradicating what he called “the Korean disease” of slackening work ethics, lax social discipline, conspicuous consumption and social injustice, the 65-year-old leader has pledged to put priority on boosting the economy and uprooting corruption.
No changes are expected in South Korea’s dependency on U.S. troops to guarantee security against Communist North Korea while the two Koreas pursue rapprochement.
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