Top officials offer to resign ahead of New Year shakeup

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- Head officials across the country's education and tax offices offered to resign en masse on Tuesday, signaling a large-scale government shakeup in the new year, sources said.

All seven top-level officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology tendered their resignation to Minister Ahn Byong-man, followed by
three others at the National Tax Service who offered to quit, sources said.
"They offered to resign according to the minister's will to drastically overhaul
the ministry at this time of year," a source said. "My understanding is that the
first-rank officials voluntarily did so as they complied with what the minister
means to do."
The officials include Jang Ki-won, assistant minister for planning and
coordination at the education ministry, Kim Kyung-hee, vice superintendent of the
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and Kim Kap-soon, commissioner of Seoul
Regional Tax Office.
The government usually carries out a large-scale shakeup in the Cabinet and other
top posts at the start of the new year. This year's shakeup could affect more
posts than in recent years as it will be the first major reshuffle after the
conservative Lee Myung-bak administration took power in February after 10 years
of liberal governance.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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