S Korea to keep ministry on North

SEOUL, Feb 9 (Reuters): South Korean lawmakers have agreed to spare the ministry responsible for relations with North Korea and reject a call for its closure made by the president-elect, local media reported Saturday.
President-elect Lee Myung-bak, who takes office on February 25, wanted to get rid of the Unification Ministry, saying it had drifted too far off its original course, and transfer most its functions to the foreign ministry.
"We have come up with a compromise for the Unification Ministry," Ahn Sang-soo, a senior member with Lee's conservative Grand National Party (GNP), told Yonhap news agency.