[04/September/2010]

Seoul, September 04 (Saba) - South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan offered to resign Saturday over the ministry''s controversial hiring of his daughter, his office said, a day after he offered a public apology amid mounting criticism over allegations of nepotism, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

"Minister Yu has decided to voluntarily step down as he felt sorry to the people about the trouble the hiring of his daughter has caused," South Korean news agency (Yonhap) quoted ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun as saying.

President Lee Myung-bak is likely to accept the resignation, an aide said. Yu is the longest-serving Cabinet minister under the current administration, serving in the job since the start of the Lee administration in February 2008.

On Friday, Yu apologized after allegations of special favors surfaced over the hiring of his 35-year-old daughter for a mid-level post and said that she would not take the job. Still, Yu contended that the hiring process was fair, but public anger has not subsided. Earlier this week, the ministry selected Yu''s daughter for a post handling free trade agreement affairs.

The move came after the ministry turned down all eight applicants, including the minister''s daughter, in an earlier hiring process for the same post. That prompted allegations that the ministry rejected all applicants to give the minister''s daughter a second chance because she lacked a valid document showing her foreign language capabilities at the time. The foreign language test score she turned in for the earlier process had already expired

Saba