SEOUL, March 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyunon Friday named Han Myung-sook, a female lawmaker of the ruling Uri Party, as new prime minister, according to the Presidential Office.

    If the nomination of Han is approved by the National Assembly later, she will be the country's first female prime minister.

    Han, 62, served as minister of environment between 2003 and 2004 in Roh Moo-hyun's administration.

    She was also appointed as the first minister of gender equality in 2001 by then President Kim Dae-jung.

    She was elected to the National Assembly as lawmaker twice, respectively in 2000 and 2004.

    Before joining the politics, she devoted herself to pro-democracy and feminist movement.

    During the years of Park Chung-hee's military dictatorship, she started her career as a social activist in the South Korea Christian Academy.

    She was jailed in 1979-1981 for her role in the academy, which was dedicated to promoting democracy in South Korea.

    Since the 1980s, she devoted herself to promoting women's status in South Korea. She has served as the president of Womenlink Korea, a feministic civilian organization, for a long time.

    She acquired Master's Degrees in Christian theology and women's studies respectively from South Korean Hanshin University and famous Ehwa Woman's University.

    She also obtained Bachelor's Degree in French Language and Literature from Ehwa.

    She was married to Park Sung-jun, a professor at SungKong Hoe University who once served over 12 years in jail for leading a democracy movement against the military regime decades ago. They have one 20-year-old son.

    She was born in Pyongyang, the current capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in 1944. Enditem