Seoul, Jan 16: President Roh Moo-Hyun today named his foreign affairs adviser as South Korea's new foreign minister.
Ban Ki-Moon, chief presidential aide for foreign affairs, will replace Yoon Young-Kwan who resigned yesterday after a rift over Seoul's alliance with the United States divided the South Korean government.
``We expect Ban will smoothly deal with the pending issues for the country, based on trust with allies,'' Roh's office said in a statement.
Ban's appointment comes at a critical time as South Korea and the United States wrangle with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programs and discuss sending South Korean
troops to help the US-led coalition in Iraq.
President Roh accepted Yoon's resignation on Thursday, saying that the foreign ministry was not fully backing his administration's policy of ``independence'' from Washington.
Bureau Report
