The South Korean parliament yesterday approved a no-confidence motion against the minister in charge of Seoul's engagement with Communist North Korea. The vote deals a blow to President Kim Dae-jung and his troubled diplomacy with Pyongyang.
Mr Kim is not obliged by law to respect the National Assembly vote of 148-119 to dismiss Unification Minister Lim Dong-won, whose departure would signal a major defeat for his "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea.
But analysts said the fall-out from ignoring the first no-confidence action in 30 years would be huge and YTN television reported that Mr Lim was expected to tender his resignation today.
The vote against Mr Lim followed his ministry's approval of a controversial visit last month to Pyongyang by South Korean activists, more than 100 of whom joined rallies which glorified North Korea's Communist rulers.
The opposition said the incident symbolised the failure of Mr Lim's approach to North Korea. Seoul, it claimed, had nothing to show for feeding and funding North Korea with money that would be better spent at home.
The vote against Mr Lim took place a day after Pyongyang sent a letter to him calling for the resumption of stalled talks. North Korea's sudden call for dialogue after shunning South Korea was slammed as a transparent bid by Pyongyang to rescue Mr Lim that showed he was beholden to the Communist North.
The two Koreas remain technically at war under a 1953 armed truce that has kept their border sealed and fortified.