SCHROEDER'S 5TH MARRIAGE

GERMAN ex-leader to tie the knot for the 5th time.

FORMER German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will marry a South Korean translator 26 years his junior after his fourth marriage fell apart, he said Thursday.

The 73-year old former German leader -whose colorful private life and multiple marriages earned him the nickname ''Audi man,'' a reference to the German carmaker's four ring symbol -said-

That he would wed Kim So-Yeon this year.

''I've already met her family,'' he told a press conference in Seoul where where the smiling couple stood arm-in-arm in front of the cameras.

''The wedding will probably be held in the fall and exact venue and timing will be decided later.''

Kim, 47, is a Seoul representative of the Economic Development Agency of the German state of  North Rhine-Westphalia and has worked as a Korean translator for Schroeder.

Their relationship emerged last September when Doris Schroeder Kopf, Schroeder's fourth wife, said in the process of divorcing him that Kim had played a part in the breakup.

Schroeder insisted Thursday that Kim had nothing to do with breakup but said he would spend the rest of his life travelling back and forth between Germany and the South.

''I have tremendous interest in South Korea's history, culture and arts and....would like to have more opportunities to learn more about South Koreans   and the country's heritage,'' he said

Agencies.