South Korean cabinet shake-up

The South Korean president, Kim Dae-Jung, has announced a wide-ranging reshuffle of his cabinet in a move seen as signalling his intention to push ahead with economic reforms.

The Finance and Economy minister, Lee Hun-Jai, has been replaced after just seven months in the job.

He is succeeded by Jin Nyum, a career civil servant whom correspondents say is expected to take a tougher line with the country's big business conglomorates -- which are perceived as not pushing through reforms of their operations quickly enough.

In all, nine ministers are being replaced , with new appointments for labour, commerce and industry, agriculture, education and maritime affairs.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service