Chosun headlines

- Cheong Wa Dae said on its web site “(North Korean missiles) were not targeting anyone.” “It was a known fact that North Korea was set to fire a Taepodong missile. That was why military authorities did not issue an emergency warning. Not only Korea but also other involved countries didn’t made an emergency warning.” It further said “if anyone wants to drive this situation to an emergency for political reasons, it will be only political incident and can’t be a security emergency.” “Cheong Wa Dae decided to slowly respond to this, and this is a decision by the president."

- In an interview with Chosun Ilbo, Christopher Hill said “either Scud or Nodong missile went to far closer to Russia than expected but overall North Korea seems to be satisfied with it.” “I am very cautious about saying Taepodong 2 was a total failure. If it was for military, it was a failure but if it was just an experiment, we are not sure exactly what was going on.”

- A third typhoon EWINIAR is approaching southern parts of Korea, increasing worries over possible damages. The typhoon is heading north at the pace of 26km per hour.

- In an unprecedented move, North Korea presses didn’t report on Kim Jong-il’s visit to Kim Il-sung’s tomb at the 12th anniversary of Kim’s death. Experts say the North is hiding the whereabouts of Kim Jong-il amid heightened tension over its missile test firing.

- Posco is said to raise the rate of favorable stake to more than 34 per cent from 27 per cent. A Posco official says “even if the world biggest steel maker Mittal tries to make a hostile M&A bid towards us, there will be no problem in guarding management control.”