South Korea names justice minister as new PM Hwang Kyo-ahn

Seoul: South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Thursday named incumbent Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as the new prime minister following the resignation of the former premier over an alleged bribery scandal. The 58-year-old justice minister was nominated as the premier 25 days after former prime minister Lee Wan-koo resigned over suspicion that he had received 30 million won ($28,000) in bribes during the by-election campaign period in April 2013 from a businessman who killed himself on April 9, Xinhua news agency reported.  “Under our current reality, it is very important to achieve a political reform by eliminating irrationalities, corruption and irregularities that have lasted from the past,” senior presidential press secretary Kim Sung-woo said.  Hwang was named as the first justice minister of the Park administration that took office in February 2013.