Lee to replace Cabinet ministers holding parliamentary seats

President Lee Myung-bak plans to replace the Cabinet ministers concurrently holding parliamentary seats before the National Assembly begins its new session next month, the presidential chief of staff said Friday. Subject to the reshuffle are Special Affairs Minister Lee Jae-oh, Health Minister Chin Soo-hee, and Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug. Lee plans to replace "those who came from the National Assembly" before next month's regular parliamentary session and the presidential office is making preparations for the planned shake-up, Presidential Chief of Staff Yim Tae-hee told reporters. Ruling Grand National Party leader Hong Joon-pyo has called for replacing Unification Minister Hyun In-taek to break the deadlock in inter-Korean relations. But Yim said that it is difficult to say whether Hyun will be affected in the reshuffle. Asked when Lee plans to name a new senior civil affairs secretary, Yim said that candidates were shortlisted for the post, but Lee could choose his pick before he leaves on a trip to Central Asia on Sunday. Earlier other aides said that Lee has decided to name Cheong Chin-young, a former chief of the Incheon District Prosecutor's Office, as his senior civil affairs secretary. Yim also rejected calls from the ruling and opposition parties for the government to call off tax cuts for conglomerates and use the additional income to carry out welfare measures for ordinary people. "If the situation is difficult, it would be OK to adjust the timing of the tax cuts, but I think it's wrong to withdraw the tax cuts altogether," Yim said, stressing that the tax cuts are mainly for middle-class people. "The basis of the tax cut should be maintained."