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President Kim Dae-jung urged the cabinet yesterday to solve the Hyundai Group's liquidity problems and settle a strike by medical doctors during a weekly cabinet meeting.

At the meeting, held at Chong Wa Dae, he said he would continue to pursue reform during the remainder of his term in office.

"This cabinet must review and take lessons from the past and carry on with thorough reforms," Kim said.

Kim presided over the meeting one day after he replaced 11 ministerial officials. The President, whose five-year single term enters its second half Aug. 25, called the new and retained ministers his "second cabinet."

Kim emphasized the importance of unflagging reforms partly because of negative views about the revamped cabinet, which critics said lacks fresh, reform-minded figures.

The President himself acknowledged the unfavorable views of the cabinet change, in which mainly former and incumbent officials changed positions.

"There are various public opinions," Kim said. He noted that some say that the appointments showed that he sought "reforms amid stability" or wanted to promote consistent reforms. Others pointed to the lack of reform-minded figures, he added.

"Whatever the views are, the position of this cabinet must be clear," Kim said.

He said that the first cabinet achieved a lot in the past two and a half years, like economic reforms and improvements in relations between South and North Korea.

"All these achievements have received fair, generous recognition at home and abroad," the President said.

Kim said, however, that some problems such as conflicts between interest groups and failures of government agencies to ensure teamwork and coordination caused continual public worry over policies.

It should also be pointed out that some policies were announced without sufficient intragovernment discussion and some agencies failed to implement policies consistently.

"We have to admit that the first cabinet failed to effectively manage reforms and attain full support from the public," he said.

Kim did not speak in detail. But officials said one of the main influences on the cabinet reshuffle, which affected mostly economic ministers, was growing woes over the protracted tug of war between the government and the Hyundai Group over the crisis at the nation's largest firm.

Analysts said handling of the crisis at Hyundai would provide a litmus test on the new economic policy team's resolve and capability to pursue financial and corporate restructuring.

In the cabinet meeting, Kim also touched on the importance of promoting public sector reforms, saying this lags far behind reforms in other fields. Kim cited a report of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), which he said found public corporations were still engaged in "wasteful" management practices.

The President called on the cabinet to ensure that ministers work well together and preclude mismanagement in policy matters.

"Let's go forward with a fresh resolution so that this second cabinet can take the nation into the ranks of advanced countries in the 21st century," Kim said.