Lee Yung Duk

South Korea's ruling party forced through the appointment of new Prime Minister Lee Yung Duk on Friday after opposition forces boycotted the vote amid mounting criticism that the Kim Young Sam administration is increasingly authoritarian. The opposition Democratic Party had refused to ratify the Lee appointment unless Kim agreed to launch an investigation into allegations that illegal campaign contributions from a construction firm were funneled to his 1992 presidential campaign.

South Korea's ruling party forced through the appointment of new Prime Minister Lee Yung Duk on Friday after opposition forces boycotted the vote amid mounting criticism that the Kim Young Sam administration is increasingly authoritarian. The opposition Democratic Party had refused to ratify the Lee appointment unless Kim agreed to launch an investigation into allegations that illegal campaign contributions from a construction firm were funneled to his 1992 presidential campaign.

The South Korean prime minister and 23 Cabinet members survived a no-confidence motion Friday triggered by a bridge collapse in Seoul that killed 32 people. The opposition Democratic Party had demanded that the Cabinet resign, arguing that the collapse and a boat fire four days later that killed 29 people prove the government's inability to manage state affairs. Experts have issued repeated warnings in recent years about lax safety standards on South Korea's bridges and public transportation.

Seeking to break a tense nuclear standoff with its rival to the north, South Korea said today that it would no longer press North Korea to exchange envoys as a precondition for further talks. The envoy swap, along with full nuclear inspections, has been a key precondition for high-level talks between the United States and North Korea on improving ties and resolving the dispute over the North's suspected nuclear weapons development program.

South Korean President Kim Young Sam will likely carry out a major Cabinet reshuffle in response to public anger over the collapse of a Seoul bridge that killed at least 32 people, government sources said Saturday. The reorganization is expected to affect the prime minister, the construction minister and many other Cabinet officials, sources said. In South Korea, top officials are often held responsible for major accidents or scandals even when they are not directly involved.

A day before North Korea bade farewell to the cult hero who enjoyed god-like status ruling the Stalinist nation throughout its 46-year history, South Korea on Monday condemned the late President Kim Il Sung as instigator of the 1950-53 Korean War and perpetrator of national division. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Yung Duk made the statement after meeting with his Cabinet.

After weeks of escalating tensions, a North Korean offer relayed through former President Jimmy Carter may provide "an opening" for resolving the standoff over the isolated Communist nation's nuclear program, a senior Clinton Administration official said Sunday. "There may be an opening here" to defuse the crisis, Assistant Secretary of State Robert L.