My resignation will not cause any problems as most pending economic issues have been resolved

Jin Nyum

The resignation of Mr Jin - who is also deputy prime minister - has yet to be formally accepted by President Kim Dae-jung.

Foreign investors expressed concern that Mr Jin's departure could lead to a change in South Korea's economic policies.

But Mr Jin, a career bureaucrat who had been economics minister since August 2000, stressed that the policies would outlive his tenure.

"My resignation will not cause any problems as most pending economic issues have been resolved," he said.

Success story

Mr Jin has been credited with putting South Korea's economy back on track after it became embroiled in the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

It is unclear who might succeed Mr Jin

The economy is now in recovery, the stock market is healthy and there has been progress in talks to sell the debt-stricken Daewoo Motor Company and computer-chip manufacture Hynix.

But there are fears that the departure of Mr Jin may affect those deals.

There is also the question of who will succeed him at the helm of Asia's third largest economy.

President Kim has been in a military hospital for treatment of muscle and digestion problems.

He is recovering, and will return to his office over the weekend, a spokesman told Reuters news agency.