By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak has narrowed down the number of candidates for the first prime minister of his administration to 3-4, the transition team's spokesman said Tuesday.
The finalists have been chosen from among 10 candidates, the spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, told reporters.
Lee, who will be sworn in on Feb. 25, will nominate the successful candidate soon, transition team officials said. Under the current law, the nomination is subject to the approval of the National Assembly.
Lee plans to complete the selection of prime minister and Cabinet ministers around Jan. 25 at the latest, sources said.
The nominees for prime minister and Cabinet ministers will undergo an Assembly hearing before Lee's inauguration.
Those who are most favored to become prime minister include Park Geun-hye, former chairman of the Grand National Party; Lee Kyung-sook, chairwoman of the transition committee who is also president of Sookmyung Women's University; Ahn Byung-man, former president of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies; and Rep. Chung Mong-joon, sources said.
Others include Park Se-il, a professor of Seoul National University; Euh Yoon-dae, former president of Korea University; and Chung Un-chan, former president of Seoul National University, they said.
Also included in the candidates are Sohn Byung-doo, president of Sogang University, and Kim Hak-joon, president-publisher of the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, according to the sources.
A transition team official said the President-elect made it clear that he will appoint those with the ``right qualifications and experience to the Cabinet."
Several former career bureaucrats and professors are likely to join the next Cabinet, he said.
The incoming government has sought to reduce the role of the prime minister and abolish the post of three deputy prime ministers installed at the ministries of finance-economy, education-human resources development and science-technology. The presidential office will become more powerful than now, sources said.