Lee Jong-seok, deputy head of South Korea's National Security Council, arrives at Tokyo's Iikura Guest House for a meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi (not pictured) in this August 24, 2005 file photograph. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun named new ministers to the crucial commerce and unification portfolios on January 2, 2006 in a reshuffle that allows former cabinet members to prepare for possible presidential bids. Roh named Lee, a liberal expert on North Korea, as unification minister, replacing Chung Dong-young, one of two ministers who resigned last week to return to the ruling Uri Party, a presidential Blue House official said by telephone. The Unification Ministry handles ties with North Korea. Returning to the party is widely seen as a preparatory step for launching a bid for the 2007 presidential election. BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE REUTERS/Eriko Sugita/Files