SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s embattled President Park Geun-Hye picked a new chief of staff Thursday as part of a reshuffle of top aides aimed at quashing public discontent over a spiraling political scandal. Han Gwang-Ok, a former aide to late President Kim Dae-Jung, was named chief of staff, an appointment the presidential Blue House said would help get the rattled administration back on track. The 74-year-old veteran politician, a long serving liberal who switched sides and joined Park’s administration in 2013, has dedicated his life to “democracy and national reconciliation”. ADVERTISEMENT“He is well suited to assist the president from the citizens’ perspective,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-Kuk said. The scandal comes as South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy, faces slumping exports and high unemployment amid rising nuclear and missile threats from North Korea./rga

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 03, 2016 03:37 UTC