Seoul, Dec 15: President Roh Moo-Hyun replaced his Energy Minister today after a violent backlash against the government's plan to build its first nuclear waste dump. Last week, commerce, industry and energy minister Yoon Jin-Sik said he felt responsible for the "confusion" surrounding the plan and resigned on Friday. Lee Hee-Beom, a president at Seoul National University of technology, was appointed as the replacement, Roh's office said. Lee served as Vice Minister of Commerce, Industry, and energy from 2001 to 2002. In July, local authorities in Buan, a coastal town 200 kilometers south of Seoul, offered an islet off its shores as the site for the nation's first nuclear waste dump. In return, it would reap millions of dollars in subsidies from the central government.

But Buan residents were enraged by the deal and have since staged frequent rallies, some of them violent. They have burned police vehicles and attacked government officials and facilities. Dozens of residents and police officers were injured in clashes.
The government has begun drawing down a massive deployment of riot police in the town to ease tensions. Last week, the government said it would start the site selection process again and offered to accept new bids, fueling criticism that it wasted considerable time.
Bureau Report