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Han became S. Korea's 1st female prime minister+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SEOUL, April 19_(Kyodo) _ South Korea's parliament approved Wednesday Prime Minister-designate Han Myeong Sook to become the country's first-ever female prime minister. The National Assembly confirmed President Roh Moo Hyun's nomination of Han as prime minister in a plenary session vote. The 62-year-old Han, a lawmaker from the ruling Uri Party, succeeds Lee Hae Chan, who stepped down from the premiership last month. Han was the first head of the Gender Equality and Family Ministry during the government of Kim Dae Jung, Roh's predecessor, and was an environment minister in the current government. The National Assembly completed its two-day hearing for Han on Tuesday. At the confirmation hearing, lawmakers from the main opposition Grand National Party raised questions about Han's affiliation with the ruling party ahead of upcoming local elections slated for May 31. She vowed to maintain strict neutrality during the government's management of the crucial local elections. Han was widely known as an activist in civic movements and for the betterment of human rights of minorities in women's and civic organizations before beginning her political career in 2000. Lee resigned from the premiership after coming under public criticism for playing golf on March 1 when railway workers launched a nationwide strike that paralyzed South Korea's public transport system. Adding weight to the criticism, the day Lee was playing golf was also a public holiday when Koreans solemnly commemorate the March 1 popular uprising for independence against Japanese colonial rule. |