S Korean PM resigns

Park hid his properties under another name

South Korean Prime Minister, Park Tae-Joon, has resigned.

The announcement from the presidential palace in the capital, Seoul, came two days after a court ruled that Mr Park had evaded tax on property he owned.

In a statement earlier, Mr Park had apologised to the South Korean people for the scandal, for which he took full responsibility.

The Finance and Economy Minister, Lee Hun-Jai, has been appointed acting prime minister.

The resignation from a largely ceremonial post is unlikely to affect President Kim Dae-jung's role, economic reforms or relations with communist North Korea.

Major embarrassment

But his downfall is a major embarrassment and has further sullied the reputation of South Korea's political establishment, which has endured a series of corruption scandals in recent years.

Opposition parties and civic groups had called on the prime minister to quit after a court said this week that he put property valued at $5.3m in another person's name to avoid paying taxes.

Park Tae-joon hid his properties under the name of his private treasurer from 1988 to 1993, when he served as the chairman of the now-defunct ruling Democratic Liberal Party.

At that time, it was legal. Since then, the law governing the concealment of property under another's name has been made illegal.

Park, 72, is a retired army general and served as head of the state-run Pohang Iron and Steel Co for 13 years before embarking on a political career in 1981.

He only became prime minister in February.

Before that, he headed an opposition party, the United Liberal Democrats, which had formed a coalition partnership with President Kim's ruling Millennium Democratic Party.