Foreign minister replaced

From combined dispatches

SEOUL — South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun named his foreign policy adviser and seasoned diplomat Ban Ki-moon as the new foreign minister yesterday.

Mr. Ban, 60, will replace Yoon Young-kwan, who resigned in a dispute pitting pro-U.S. ministry officials against left-leaning presidential aides over Seoul’s policy toward the United States and North Korea.

Mr. Ban also steps into the position of South Korea’s top diplomat at a critical moment in multinational efforts to resolve a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear arms programs.

“He is expected to work through pending issues based on the spirit of trust with our allies,” the presidential Blue House said in a statement.

“He is also equipped with the ability to strengthen and consolidate the participatory government’s foreign policy by encouraging and reforming the organization,” the statement said, referring to the Foreign Ministry.

Mr. Ban stressed there would be no change in the country’s alliance with the United States, in an apparent effort to allay concerns the departure of his moderate predecessor signaled a shift away from the spirit of friendship with Washington.

“There is no change whatsoever in our relationships with allies, including the United States, under any circumstances,” he told reporters soon after the appointment. “The friendly alliance with the United States will continue to be as solid as ever.”

Mr. Ban is a career diplomat with a reputation as a moderate who understands the workings of the Foreign Ministry. He was South Korea’s vice foreign minister in 2000 and 2001 during the administration of former President Kim Dae-jung.

During his 11-month tenure as Mr. Roh’s adviser in the Blue House, Mr. Ban was considered a pragmatist who played a balancing role against younger aides with relatively little practical experience in national security affairs.

A dispute billed by local media as a battle between the “Alliance Faction” and the “Independence Faction” erupted late last year with reports that Foreign Ministry officials disparaged members of Mr. Roh’s National Security Council as amateurish.

Mr. Roh’s mostly young and nationalistic NSC advisers in turn criticized the diplomats as being too pro-American.

With the removal of Mr. Ban’s predecessor, the national security panel appeared to have prevailed over the Foreign Ministry’s pro-U.S. line.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who returned from a two-day visit to Beijing yesterday, said China and Russia were trying to encourage dialogue between North Korea and the United States, Interfax news agency reported.

The United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea have been trying for months to restart another round of six-nation talks on persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. A first round ended in Beijing in August without much progress.