South Korea president replaces chief of staff

South Korean President Park Geun-hye replaced her chief of staff Monday, naming a former three-term lawmaker to the key post, a Yonhap news agency report said. Kim Ki-choon, who served as prosecutor general and justice minister before entering into politics in 1996 and serving three terms as a legislator until 2008, was named to replace Huh Tae-yeol as Park’s chief of staff, senior presidential press secretary Lee Jung-hyun announced. Kim, 73, is considered one of Park’s closest confidants, and is a member of what the local media dubbed the “seven-person group” of political elders who offered her mentoring advice for years through December’s presidential election. Park also named a former ambassador to the European Union, Park Joon-woo, as her new senior political affairs secretary, Lee said. The selection of a career diplomat with no experience in domestic politics came also as a surprise because the job is usually given to a politician, Yonhap added.