Female Prime Minister Rejected
South Korean lawmakers vetoed the country's first female prime minister on Wednesday, dealing a blow to President Kim Dae-jung, who had nominated her to head a politically neutral government in an election year.
The National Assembly rejected Chang Sang, a 62-year-old theologian, by 140 votes to 100 after a bitter two-day hearing in which she was accused of perjury over an inflated resume and property dealings, live television coverage showed.
Parliamentary questioning of Chang focused on why her resume listed a Princeton University doctorate when her degree was issued by the Princeton Theological Seminary and on speculative property investments in which paperwork was improperly filed.
Analysts said Kim could in theory keep Chang on in her current capacity as acting premier, but that he was likely to be forced to select a new candidate.
Chang, a political neophyte and the president of Seoul's elite Ewha Women's University, was appointed in a July 11 cabinet reshuffle in an effort by Kim to promote gender equality and give his cabinet a neutral cast in an election year.
But the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), on the attack ahead of elections in August and December, questioned Chang's suitability for the post, forcing South Korea's first-ever confirmation hearing and vote.
The country of 48 million people holds by-elections on August 8 to choose 13 members of its 273-seat parliament and a presidential election on December 19. The constitution bars Kim from seeking a second term.
Although largely a ceremonial post in a strong presidential system, the prime minister assumes responsibility for state affairs in the event the president dies or becomes unable to carry out his duties. President Kim is 77.
In a nationalistic country in which all males are required to serve in the military, she also came under fire for dropping her U.S.-born son's South Korean citizenship in favor of an American passport and his exemption from military service.
During an intense session on Tuesday, GNP lawmaker Park Jong-hee accused Chang of perjury after she reversed her earlier statements on the resume and real estate documents.
South Korean parliamentary votes rarely stray from strict party lines, but the number of votes against Chang exceeded the GNP's 128 seats, meaning members of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) had also vetoed the acting premier.
Kim founded the MDP, but he was forced to resign from the party in May after his family became embroiled in a complex set of corruption scandals. Two of his three sons are in detention, awaiting trial on influence-peddling and tax evasion charges.
Only 16 members, or 5.9 percent, of South Korea's parliament are women, ranking the legislature a low 92nd in the world, according to data complied by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
By Paul Eckert