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Staff reporter
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan is expected to announce his resignation as early as this week, sources from the ruling camp said Wednesday.
Chung has been under pressure to step down following the ruling Grand National Party's (GNP) unexpected defeat in the June 2 local elections.
His fate has become increasingly uncertain after his project to convert an administrative town in South Chungcheong Province into a business complex was voted down by the National Assembly last week amid a split of GNP lawmakers.
"It appears that Chung already offered to resign in a closed-door meeting with President Lee Myung-bak last week," a source said. "He is likely to announce his resignation this or next week before Cheong Wa Dae reveals a new lineup of presidential secretaries."
Another source from the presidential office indicated his immediate departure, saying, "It is true that there have been efforts to find his successor. It is a normal course of action to ensure political stability."
President Lee reportedly declined to accept Chung's resignation. Chung's office as well as Cheong Wa Dae have denied that he will step down.
Figures cited by media as likely candidates to replace him as the prime minister include Employment and Labor Minister Yim Tae-hee; Park Se-il, chairman of the Hansun Foundation for Freedom and Happiness, a Seoul-based non-profit think tank; Kim Deok-ryong, an advisor to President Lee for national unity; and former North Jeolla Province Governor Kang Hyun-wook.
Yim, who met North Korean officials last year in Singapore as Lee's special envoy, is rumored to be the top candidate to succeed Chung Chung-kil as the presidential chief of staff.
Lee's aides said the President will conduct a sweeping reshuffle of the Cabinet and the presidential secretariat to chart a new policy roadmap aimed at creating momentum for his reform drive.
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