SOUTH KOREA'S FINANCE MINISTER RESIGNS

My father's old high school friend, Lee Hun Jai, resigned from his post:

Lee Hun Jai, South Korea's finance minister and top economic planner, resigned after legislators questioned property investments by his wife that contributed to a $6.5 million jump in his family's wealth.

President Roh Moo Hyun accepted Lee's resignation today, according to a statement from the president's office in Seoul, which didn't name a replacement. Ministry spokesman Kim Kyung Ho told a briefing Lee, 60, didn't speculate in real estate, but some transactions prompted ``regrettable'' questions.

Roh rejected an earlier offer by Lee to step down, persuading the two-time finance minister to remain in office until his measures of tax cuts and increased government spending revived growth. Lee's resignation shouldn't derail a recovery in Asia's third-largest economy as the government will likely continue with his policies, said Lehman Brothers' Yoon Yong Chul. (full article)