Other important headlines_September 27

- [YTN] North Korea Vice Foreign Minister Choi Su-heon reiterated North Korea’s position in his keynote speech at the United Nation that the regime would not participate in the six party talk if the US continues imposing financial restriction on it.

- [Yonhap] Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with Wall Street Journal that she would check out on a possibility of ‘one last push’ to resume the six party talk when she visits Asian countries in November. She also said North Korea was not very afraid of US’s ‘modest’ financial measures so there were some other things going on.

- [No Cut News] The Ministry of Finance and Economy is said to have been hiding survey results about the on-going Korea-US FTA negotiations for more than three months which includes negative opinions about the FTA. According to the survey, 52 per cent of respondent favor delaying the negotiation while 26 per cent favor the current schedule. And 49.5 per cent of people say the Korea-US FTA will do more harm than good to Korean Economy. 40.2 per cent say the government should reveal negotiation results more openly to the public.

- [The Electronic Times] DMB service providers are likely to give up offering the service in the subway due to failed negotiation with subway companies over W2.4-3 bn fee per year. DMB service providers are struggling with disappointing profits coming from weak demand.

- [Yonhap] The government is to pass revised income tax law which will allow more tax deduction for household with more than two children.

- [Donga Ilbo] Teachers are found to be satisfied with ‘Teacher Evaluation System.’ According to a survey on 1,948 teachers, students, and parents, 73.9 per cent of teachers answered ‘the evaluation is a good opportunity for me to look back on myself,’ and 60.3 per cent said ‘the evaluation make me more focus on teaching quality.’ Half of students said they are ‘more satisfied with the class after the system launched.’

- [YTN] Detailed information of 200,000 applicants for LG Electronics was leaked on the internet last night. The information was deleted from the web after 20 minutes but applicants are furious about the leakage saying 20 minutes are enough for someone to copy the information and spread to other sites. The reason has not fully determined yet but the company suspects an applicant who failed in the first document screening caused the disruption on purpose.

Local paper headlines_September 27

1. Chosun Ilbo

- House price and price for rented house are expected to go up next year, which is likely to make ordinary people’s life more difficult. New house supply in Seoul is predicted to decrease by 40 per cent while oversupply of house becomes a big problem in provincial areas.

- World Economic Forum announced its annual list of national competitiveness and Korea slid to 24th from 19th last year among 125 nations. The WEF said Korea’s weakened competitiveness was blamed on the government’s inefficiency and companies’ weak management structure.

- The Board of Audit and Inspection is reported to have asked the prosecution to investigate into Bank of Korea for illegal property transactions. According to BAI, Bank of Korea in 2005 swapped its land in Heohyun-dong with a building in Myongdong area owned by a company. BAI suspects the transaction was hurriedly done and there was something illegal about the swapping.

- Cultural Properties Administration is reported to have paid North Korea $0.3 m in return for the forum held by the North regarding the registration of North Korean cultural properties to UNESCO World Heritage List.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Equity linked warrant (ELW) has gained a lion's share in the domestic securities market with the overall volume of ELW adding up to 10 percent of the entire sector in a space of 9 months. The number of listed ELW-related companies also shot up, amounting to more than 1,000.

- Pantech & Curitel, a handset maker, signed a contract with UTStarcom Technologies, one of the biggest US mobile phone providing company, to provide at least 30m phones for the next three years.

- US Ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow said in a meeting with ruling party lawmakers yesterday that the negotiations to hand over wartime command should not be politicized. He said Defense Ministers of both countries would meet in the US at the end of October and are expected to come up with mutually agreed road map on the matter.

Other important headlines_September 26

- [Dong-a Ilbo] Forty-seven government agencies are reported to have asked 119,901 more officials by 2010. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs said, however, it wouldn’t be possible to increase the number as requested by the agencies and revealed a ‘government management plan for 2006-2010’ which includes increasing government personnel by 43,000-50,000. Security and social welfare departments will see their personnel up next year with 23 new staff for MOFE, 14 for MOCIE, and 8 for MOFAT.

- [YTN] As for the report that the Ministry of Unification had submitted to Cheong Wa Dae a comprehensive inter-Korean economic cooperation plan, the ministry rejected it as ‘groundless.’

- [Joongang Ilbo] That President Roh sent a tea set to children without parents and torrential rain victims as a Chuseok gift is criticized by some for its irrelevance. Accordingly Cheong Wa Dae decided to send some additional rice to them.

- [Yonhap] The government is said to have verbally expressed sorry for the US report which included Korea as a child sex labor trading country. A government official close to the issue said “we confirmed with the US and it seemed they have mistakenly included Korea on the list. We expressed our sorry twice to US Ministry of Labor.”

- [Money Today] Jinro has filed a lawsuit against an event company hired by Doosan for defamation and business interference. The event company is alleged to have spread rumors that Jinro is backed by Japanese capital and is paying loyalty fee to Japan.

- [Donga Ilbo] Expensive private schooling is no longer an issue limited in Seoul. Parents in provincial areas are suffering from snowballing spending for private education for their children. Some parents in Cheongju monthly spend W3m for a famous private essay teacher from Seoul.

- [E-Daily] Hyun Jung-eun, president of Hyundai Group, said at Kaesung industrial park she would continue pushing forward with inter-Korean economic cooperation through take-over of Hyundai Construction Co..

Local paper headlines_September 26

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Cho Young-hwang, head of the National Human Rights Commission, suddenly resigned yesterday allegedly over internal division with other commissioners. There have been differences in opinion among commissioners over various controversial issues such as the dispatch of Zaitun to Iraq, abolition of National Security Law, and elimination of temporary work positions.

- The prosecution revealed it would limitedly open criminal case document when the document is referred to in a civil case in order to discourage frequent complaints and protect people’s privacy.

- The Ministry of Unification is said to have reported to the presidential office a comprehensive and concrete inter-Korean economic cooperation plan which includes providing the North with energy, communication, logistic infrastructure on condition that the North would return to the six party talks. According to the plan, the expected cost will total a whopping W39000 -74000bn.

- The Seoul Metropolitan government decided to put up for sale publicly funded apartments after construction is 80 per cent completed, and detailed construction costs will be made public.

- Dong Kuk Steel strengthens its alliance with JFE Steel of Japan and builds a 760 billion won ($805.6 million) plant in the western coastal city of Dangjin to produce high-end steel plates.

- Due to lackluster construction market, the number of construction companies going bankrupt is on the rise with 50 companies in August, up 13 from a month ago.

- The relations between North Korea and Hyundai seem to recover. Hyun Jung-eun, President of Hyundai Group, visited yesterday to Kaesung Industrial Park after four month and met Park Chul-soo, Vice President of central committee of Central Development District of North Korea.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- According to the report issued by Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Korea stands at number 11 in the world by economy size and 12th by trade volume among 64 countries but it scores poorly in the fields of R&D personnel pool(25th), national image(34th ), international competitiveness(38th ), and life quality(39th).

- One in ten people who filed personal bankruptcy says the biggest reason for their default was education spending for their children.

- According to a report by Bank of Korea, foreigners last year earned net profit of $103 bn through investment in Korean assets while Koreans lost $1.9 bn through overseas investment.

- Kookmin Bank introduces a new service to allow customers to withdraw money from ATM using RF (Radio Frequency) chip established in their mobile phone. The pilot program is soon to be available in five branches of the bank.

Other important headlines_September 25

- [Yonhap] The Board of Audit and Inspection warned Industrial Bank to sell off five financial subsidiaries which are Daewoo Securities, KDB Capital, KDB Partners, KDB Asset, and Korea Infra Management. Industrial Bank, however, says it will not sell Daewoo Securities, KDB Capital, and KDB Asset, saying the BAI’s warning is just a warning, not legally bounding.

- [No Cut News] Uri party lawmakers argued in a press conference this morning that it would not be good to extend the stay of Zaitun army in Iraq. They have recently visited Iraq to see whether security there becomes stabilized and concluded the US and the Iraqi government have still been providing only limited security.

-[E-daily] SK Telecom announced this morning that the number of its user passed W20m last weekend, 10 years and 9 months since a mobile phone based on CDMA technology was world-first introduced in January 1996.

-[Money Today]Kang Woo-seok, a movie director of ‘Silmido,’ ‘The Korean Peninsula’ and ‘The Public Enemy,’ is creating a ‘Kang Woo-seok Fund’ with the size of W50bn joining hands with Shinbo Venture Capital. The director said “the fund aims at dealing with financial problems of the Korean movie market, especially the chronic problem of small budget movies, which have difficulties even in finding a theater to show, and we will manage the fund in order to grapple with such problems.”

- [YTN] Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability confirmed that the report which included the remark of North Korean Deputy Foreign Minster Kang Seok-Ju was a hypothetical statement. Kang was reported to have said North Korea possessed more than 5-6 nuclear weapons.

- [Yonhap] A government source said Korea and the US agreed to exclude the gambling sector from the list of FTA negotiation items.

- [E-daily] Music download site Jukeon (Jukeon.com) introduced music download service which charges onlyW10 per a song. The company allows its users to download up to 1000 songs for W10,000 per month. The existing service charge of the company is W500 per song. The digital music industry is rapidly transforming itself into a pay market.

Local paper headlines_September 25

1. Chosun Ilbo

- As universities put more emphasis on student’s essay ability in the entrance exam, foreign-capital-backed essay institutions make aggressive inroads into the lucrative market, which is expected to grow into a market worth trillions of won in the next 3-5 years.

- Lee Young-hoon, head of the Supreme Court, is understood to express sorry tomorrow for his remark which has infuriated prosecutors and lawyers. His remark is expected to allay their anger.

- Korea Tourism Organization is alleged to have paid W90bn for Hyundai Asan-owned facilities in Mt. Kumkang, which is only worth W34bn. The organization bought out the facilities in 2001-2002 at a time when Hyundai Asan was in deep financial trouble. It is suspected that the difference in balance might go to North Korea.

- Lee Ku-taek, CEO of POSCO, again stressed the need for going global. He addressed new staff on September 20, “the domestic steel market is mature with oversupply so we can’t produce any more profit here.” “For a new success miracle, we should advance to other countries such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Poland and South East Asia where demand is high,” he underlined.

-Civic groups intensify their criticism against KTF and LG Telecom which have earned W108bn for caller ID service from February to July while SK Telecom has been providing the service free of charge for users since January.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- The government decided to incorporate four public insurances including public health insurance, pension fund, employment insurance, and industrial accident insurance, from January 2009. But labor unions at the four government insurance companies are set to stage a strong protest against the plan, which will serve as a huge stumbling block for the plan.

-Korea, China, and Japan are fighting fiercely for resources in Central Asia which is emerging as a very attractive energy supplier, alternative to the Middle East.

- President Roh will have a summit meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao next month in Beijing. They are expected to discuss the resumption of six party talks and China’s controversial history distortion.

- Consumer sentiment is very bad in the run up to Korea’s one of the biggest festivals, Chuseok. Consumer Expectation Index was 93.7 in August, the lowest point in 19 months. Bank of Korea’s Consumer Psychological Index was below the average 100, marking 96 in the third quarter.

Other important headlines_September 22

- [Yonhap] Former American deputy secretary of state Richard Amitage is said to have warned yesterday “North Korea will experiment its nuclear weapons within this year,” and “if that happens, every issue including wartime command transfer should be reconsidered all over again.”

-[Yonhap] The US department of Justice said yesterday an executive at Samsung Electronics in San Hose, the US, admitted to have been participating in the price collision of DRAM and agreed to receive punishment. Thomas Quinn, vice director of Marketing team, is sentenced to 8 months in prison and to pay $250,000 in fine.

-[Yonhap] President Roh cancelled his plan to visit the Kangwon region due to fatigue and sickness caused by long haul business trip. This is the first time that the President, believed to be very healthy and active, cancels his schedule due to health problems.

- [Newsmaker] Former Kyunggi mayor Sohn Hak-gyu is often called as ‘undervalued blue-chip’ in the political circle. He is very popular among opinion leaders in Korea but not so within ordinary people. According to the 2004 survey on lawmakers, journalists, and professors, he was chosen as the most competitive and prominent politician, who was capable of becoming the next president. Though ordinary people don’t know very well about him partly because he hasn’t established his very own ‘image’, his moves should be carefully watched until the presidential election next year.

- [Donga Ilbo] The Ministry of Health and Welfare will increase public health insurance fee by 6.5 per cent next year in order to supplement national financial deficit, which certainly puts more burden on already difficult life of ordinary citizens.

- [No Cut News] According to a survey by matchmaking company DUO, Koreans choose a government official(53.1 per cent) for man and teacher(55.5 per cent) for woman as the most ideal job of a spouse.

- [Chosun Ilbo] One in every seven household in Korea doesn’t have a fix-line phone largely because mobile phone is replacing fixed-line phone.

Local paper headlines_September 22

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Jung Sang-myung, Prosecutor General, expressed regret over the remark made by Lee Young-hoon, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Lee’s remark is interpreted by many prosecutors and lawyers as being groundlessly denouncing their role. The bar association openly demands that Lee step down.

- The IMF said in its report of ‘2006 Asian Pacific Regional Outlook’ that the reason behind Korea’s relatively weak economic performance was due to unstable job market, and the Korean economy lost capability to create permanent salaried employment.

- Song Min-soon, the President’s chief secretary for national security, is increasingly gaining more power in matters of security and diplomacy than Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok. Song is the mastermind behind the common extensive measure in dealing with North Korea which has been mutually adopted by the leaders of Korea and the US. Meanwhile the work of Lee Jong-seok is getting scaled down to mainly North Korean issues.

- Japanese Asahi TV obtained a footage in which a North Korean female worker is executed by a firing squad. The woman is reported to have been arrested after she stole 10kg of corn from her neighbor and during the process killed the daughter of the neighbor.

- Financial Supervisory Service found out that some of management of KE Card manipulated stock price of the company during the sell-out process of the card company to the KEB.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Japanese Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Shotaro Yachi said “the leader of Liberal Democratic Party Shinzo Abe considers the relations between Japan and Korea as very important and the summit meeting between the two countries should be held as soon as possible.”

- The National Statistical Office said the number of people who went to overseas for a long term has increased 14 per cent to 672,000 from a year earlier and among them young people aged from 20-39 make up 55.7 per cent. And 100,000 young people went to foreign countries to study last year.

-Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo returned home yesterday from his five-day business trip to India. He said, “I will aggressively look for another markets as well,” showing his firm determination for ‘global management.’

other important headlines_September 21

- [Yonhap] China and Russia are reported not to attend the US-led ‘ten-party talk,’ which is to be held in NewYork today, on security in North East Asia.

-[JoongAng Ilbo] It is belatedly reported that North Korea has already opened four bank accounts at Woori Bank Kaesung branch. The Ministry of Unification has kept it secret and notified the bank that there was no problem with the accounts.

- [Yonhap] Former Foreign minister Han Seugn-joo said in his lecture sponsored by Korea Forum for Progress, “wartime command transfer is now an irreversible issue,” and “if we put efforts to improve our security conditions in a systematic and long-term manner based on Korea-US alliance, there will be good results.”

- [Money Today] Cheong Wa Dae underscored government’s determination to block the opening of rice market. Presidential public relations secretary Lee Baek-man said rice was the least internationally competitive item in the Korean agricultural sector.

-[Dong-a Ilbo] Korea’s world first DMB service might discontinue due to more than W100 bn losses only 7 month after the service launch. The cost for service launch was about W116.9 bn but its profit has been W109.5 bn.

- [Hankook Ilbo] Korea’s world best selling products such as LCD TVs and cars fare badly in Japan. According to a research, Samsung Electronics’ TV sale in Japan in the second quarter ranked only 14th among competitors, only taking 0.3 per cent of market share, while Sharp, the number one seller, sells 100 times that of Samsung. Hyundai Motor has started exporting cars to Japan since 2001 but its annual sale is a meager 3,000 and what’s worse the sale is dropping year by year.

-[Yonhap] The government and Uri Party will push ahead with a measure under which parents can’t divorce without legal consent on childcare and half of inherited wealth goes to a spouse.

-[Seokye Ilbo] US President Bush is said to have wished ‘good luck’ for Ban Ki-moon who is running for the top post of the UN when he met with Ban at the Korea-US summit on September 15.

Local paper headlines_September 21

1. Chosun Ilbo

- A US defense official made it clear that the US would confirm the time of wartime command transfer at the upcoming SCM which will be held next month. Asked whether the US hurriedly transfers the control, he, who asked not to be named, said “that Korea is determined to take responsible for security themselves is based on national emotion so if we drag on such issue it will make the relations between the two countries strained.”

- A US official backed the report that President Roh had asked US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson to wind up the investigation into North Korea’s BDA bank account. He added “the US was keeping the comment confidential, but now that Lee Tae-shik, Korea Ambassador to the US, has already mentioned it so we can confirm that.”

- President Roh puts his foot down in the matter of appointing a new head of the Constitutional Court. He is set to ask the National Assembly to reopen confirmation hearing for the nominee.

- GNP lawmaker Lee Kye-kyung revealed yesterday companies in Kaesung industrial park had some problematic foreign exchange dealings with North Korea for the last 18 months. South Korean companies give their payment in Korean Won to North Korea via Woori Bank Kaesung branch, and the branch gives the money in dollar to the North, which might be exploited for money laundering or illegal funding.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Chinese authorities discovered fake Korean-brand products which have been secretly churned out at a plant in a Chinese city. According to LG Electronics, 400 fake LG air conditioners and 430 TVs, which are worth W170 m, were found out by the Chinese police.

- Kim Ki-moon, President of the Council of Korean Company at Kaesung Industrial Park, said “we need to have authority over North Korean workers. Right now North Korea fully controls personnel management such as employment, reward and fire, which makes Korean companies hard to do business there.”

- Pohang construction union workers finally finished their 80-day strike yesterday as 67.6 per cent of unionists agreed on a tentative compromise put forward by management and labor.

- President Roh countered ‘growth-first policy’ mainly argued by business circle, saying that “the time when economic growth resolves lack of jobs and promote people’s well-being nears its end.”

The 386 generation

The 386 generation was the first generation of Korea who staged an extensive and collective demonstration for democracy. The word refers to a group of people who are now in their 30s, went to university in the 1980s, and born in 1960s. The 386s used to mean resistance to the establishment, but now they are actively working in all walks of life and some of them are the establishment themselves. So the color and pride the word ‘386’ used to connote turn pale.

The interesting thing is that as this government came to power, the 386s is given a new light, not least because government members themselves are the 386s. President Roh also believes he is a member of the 386s.

According to the survey on 1000 people by Sin-Donga, 68.1 per cent think the 386s have influence on the policy and personal management of the current government and 18.3 per cent say the influence is ‘great.’ 84.9 per cent say they have favorable opinion toward the 386s. But 69.7 per cent see political participation by the 386s as ‘not good.’

That many people view the 386s identical with the current government shows that the generation stands at a good chance to have more participation in the government but at the same time it can be a crisis for them when and if the Roh government fails miserably. As Roh’s approval rating is near at the nadir, the word ‘386’ is sometimes used with bad connotation such as contempt or caution.

Other important headlines_September 19

[Dong-A Ilbo] It is confirmed that North Korea has asked to open a bank account at Woori Bank’s Kaesung branch last December in a desperate attempt to find a way out of US-led financial sanctions. The bank rejected the demand at that time and North Korean authorities pressed to shut down the branch. The government has not yet allowed the opening for fear of angering the US.

[Yonhap] Cheong Wa Dae rejected the rumor that President Roh had asked US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to close down the investigation into BDA’s business with North Korea. Presidential Press Secretary Yoon Tae-young said “the president mentioned it would be desirable to match US law execution with the efforts to resume the stalled six party talks but not talked about early winding up of the investigation.”

[Kookmin Ilbo] Despite the government measure to give fathers paid-vacation for childcare aimed at driving up low birth rate, only 1.8 per cent of fathers have taken some time off to raise children since paternity leave was introduced.

[Chosun Ilbo] Many top-class hotels are reported to turn down people over 60 who applied for lifetime fitness membership. Hotels say the age limit is due to health concerns for the elderly. But one hotel manager admitted that young club members don’t like exercising with old people.

[E-Daily] WiBro business hasn’t taken off yet. KT and SK Telecom revealed they have altogether attracted only 1,000 subscribers since the service launch in June. The number is much lower than expected as the industry aimed to lure as many as 2m users by 2009. The lackluster performance is blamed on delayed launch of handsets, lack of aggressive marketing strategies, and expensive price of WiBro cards.

[Chosun Ilbo] Lee Tae-shik, South Korean ambassador to the United States, said Korea, the US, and Japan will have a high-ranking official meeting as early as next week to discuss North Korean nuclear problem. Six party chief negotiators of Korea and the US also will meet this week in New York.

[Yonhap] The employment rate of graduates in university in Seoul turned out to be highest in Korea University with 82.1 per cent, followed by Sungkyunkwan University with 81 per cent, and Ewha Woman’s University with 78.2 per cent. Seoul National University showed a disappointing result with 54 per cent of job finding rate. The university said “the reason for the comparatively low hiring rate is because many students advance to graduate school, prepare national exams, or go overseas to study.”

[CBS Radio] 90 per cent of divorcees regret their marriage break-up and even after they remarry, in many cases they go through the same problem all over again. The divorce rate of remarried couples is four times higher than that of first-married couples.

Local paper headlines_September 19

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Korea’s telecommunication fee turns out to be more expensive than that of the US. The YMCA said “expensive mobile phone using fee is due to government’s collision with telecommunication companies.” SK Telecom countered “it is not fair to simply compare the fee in Korea and the US, without regarding the quality of communication,” indicating Korean companies provide customers with better quality of talking on the mobile phone than the US.

- Uri party’s middle-of-the-road lawmakers issued a statement which says the timing of wartime operational control should be determined with consideration of North Korean nuclear program and overall security situation in the North East Asia, suggesting the timing would be better to be delayed behind the year 2012 the government has set. It is the first such statement coming from Uri party, which shows cautious attitudes towards the plan are gaining ground even in the ruling party.

- A group of North Korean defectors consisted of former army officials said they would have a press conference today in front of the Ministry of Defense to express their opposition to wartime command transfer. In a pre-released statement, they said “if the current situation is not halted, it is a matter of time that the reality of North Korea spreads into the South.” “We can’t understand why (the South government) is dealing with the issue of independent wartime command, on which our nation’s future hangs, as Kim Jong-il wishes.”

- Lone Star asked Kookmin Bank to raise the price tag for taking over KEB, and the request was flatly rejected by KB.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Korea’s voting share at the IMF almost doubled from 0.764 per cent to 1.346 per cent, ranking 19th by voting power among the member countries.

-Jeon, Yun-Churl, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, hinted at extensive restructuring in Bank of Korea and Development Bank. “Bank of Korea should reduce its overseas branches and Development Bank should reinvent itself according to changing times,” he said.

-“The responsibility for investment ultimately falls on the shoulder of Ssangyong Motors,” said Philip Murtaugh, new representative director of the Chinese-controlled Ssangyong Motors, indicating the controlling shareholder of China would not further invest in the Korean automaker.

Other interesting headlines _ September 18

[Yonhap] As Korea has recently stopped sending abandoned babies to Australia to be adopted due to decreasing number of new-born babies, it is sending shocks in many Australian families who have been waiting for a Korean baby, reported Australian newspapers.

[Yonhap] The Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced that the rate of housing supply per capita is 89.7 per cent in Seoul and 96.8 per cent in the Metropolitan area. The highest rate is shown in Cheonnam area with 135.5 per cent.

[YTN] President’s chief secretary for national security Song Min-soon said he didn’t believe the current situation on the Korean peninsula was a crisis and stressed that the government was, at least, offering a clear direction regarding security issues.

[Chosun] A research conducted by Cheil Communications on 400 singles aged 25-34 shows that 62 per cent of respondents believe marriage is kind of an investment and 84 per cent think marriage is a preparatory step for old age. 70 per cent say the first thing they consider is ‘conditions’ of a potential spouse and 55.8 per cent respond age doesn’t matter as long as a future spouse has a good ‘qualification.’

[Joongang Ilbo] The cause of death of Jang Geum-song, a daughter of Jang Seong-taek, who committed suicide by taking a bunch of sleeping pills last months, is reported that the family had been strongly opposing the North Korean man she fell in love with. She was discovered by her driver and maid two days after she killed herself.

[Maekyung] Opposition party lawmakers are proposing former President Kim Dae-jung to become a special envoy to North Korea to help solve nuclear problem impasse. Kim’s secretary said of the demand “former President Kim wants to visit North Korea as an individual and have talks, not any official meeting, to discuss the future of the nation.”

[Yonhap]Rep. Cha Myung-jin of the GNP is reported to have been investigated by North Korean police as he tried to give peanuts and ice-cream to North Korean soldiers during his visit to Mt.Kumkang.

Local Paper Headlines_September 18

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Prices of commodities in Korea are very high enough to compete with those of other developed countries. According to Chosun Ilbo research on the past six years from 2000 to 2006, the rate of prices climb is 20 per cent, ranking 6th among 30 OECD member countries.

- The 13th typhoon Shan-Shan is rapidly heading north. Korea Meteorological Administration expects the peninsula to be completely out of typhoon influence from this afternoon.

- A lot of subway constructions are being halted due to lack of budget. Residents especially living around ‘Bundang line’ are strongly complaining about the delayed construction and urge the government to keep its promise to finish the work by 2008.

- Kim Young Nam, president of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, said if the financial sanctions were not lifted, the regime would not participate in the six party talks. “The US is irrelevant of six party talk agreements and unilaterally imposing sanctions, thereby paralyzing the talks and driving the situations to the unexpected” and “North Korea doesn’t need nuclear weapons but we have no choice but to possess them as a deterrent.”

- Jay Lefkowitz, special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea, said in an interview with VOA that President Bush expressed serious concerns in North Korean human rights issues during his summit meeting with President Roh.

- Uri Party press secretary Woo Sang-ho said yesterday President Roh meant to have ‘Samgyeopsal’ party by inviting ‘RohSaMo,’ but the group positively refused Roh’s invitation.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- According to TEE (Trust, Economic Freedom, and Entrepreneurship) index based on Master of Business Administration of Switzerland, Korea’s business environment is getting worse, ranking 46th in 2006 for economic freedom, sliding 14 steps from 32nd in 2002. For entrepreneurship Korea ranks 42nd, down from 26th four years ago, and 50th for trust.

- Hyundai Motor CEO Chung Mong-koo left for India yesterday to visit the company plant there and meet with Indian Prime Minister for the on-going construction of a second plant in the country.

- Jooyontech Co., a local desktop maker, has been producing operating profits for the past 15 years and recently passed a preliminary evaluation for flotation. The company has been keeping the second spot in the domestic desktop market for the last five quarters.

- Vice Prime Minister Kwon O-kyu expected the economy to improve next year saying “though the next year’s economic growth number will be worse than that of this year partly due to sluggish construction market, it is expected that oil price will stabilize next year thereby boosting over economic performance and consumption.

other important headlines_September 15

[Chosun]- Contrary to the country’s low birth rate, the banking sector is seeing the opposite. In the past two-three years, the number of female employees in banks, who take maternity leave, is skyrocketing. Hanabank has seen 309 female employees giving birth in 2004, 400 in 2005, and 450 as of July 2006. In the country’s largest Kookmin Bank, 442 female workers temporarily left the bank for childcare in 2004, and 454 last year. The trend is thanks to the fact that the industry provides much better benefits than any other industry does, with up to two years maternity leave, full salary for 5-6 months, and 30-50 per cent salary for the remaining months.

[Yonhap] The ministry of information and technology said this morning it is investigating into the allegation of LG Telecom that the company illegally provided mobile phone subsidies during August 25 to September12. If convicted, the company is expected to be fined for the wrongdoing.

[MBN News] The beer sale is struggling. In 2003 the beer market size was estimated to be around W3470bn with 106 bottle consumption per capita, but from last year beer consumption has been on the wane. The industry blames the sluggish sale on country’s overall lackluster economic performance. But experts point out that unlike highly competitive soju companies, the beer industry is lacking innovation and aggressive marketing, which partly makes consumers turn away from the liquor.

[E-daily] Kwon O-kyu said the government would share information with tax haven countries in order to more actively respond to international tax evasion. “The government will shore up measures against increasingly intellectual tax evasion practices,” he said.

[Hankyoreh] Kim Yoon-kyu, former vice president of Hyundai Asan, appeared in the official meeting for the first time this year and made keynote speech in ‘Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Policy Symposium,’ held by Seoul Peace Unification Forum in which he assumes President. “For the past 17 years I aided the passionate works of the late Chairman Chung Joo-young and helped him pioneer inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, of which I feel very proud.” “I hope consistent efforts can lead to two Koreas’ prosperity and ultimately the realization of unification,” he said.

Local paper headlines_September 15

1. Chosun Ilbo

- During a summit at the White House on Thursday, US President Bush relayed his message to Korean people that the US is responsible for maintaining security on the Korean peninsula, and the size of US army in Korea and the date to transfer wartime command control would be decided in close consultation with the Korean government. He added, “President Roh and I agreed that the issue(wartime command control) shouldn’t be politicized.”

- President Bush said President Roh strongly asked to include Korea in the US VWP and they decided to discuss this issue in a swift manner.

- Japanese Mainichi paper reported that Tokyo would freeze North Korean bank accounts activated in Japan as early as this month. If the plan went ahead, financial assets would be freezed, and key financial transactions such as withdrawal and overseas wiring would be blocked.

-AFP reported that Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon again won in the second straw poll to test the waters as to who would be elected the next Secretary General of the United Nations. He received 14 approvals and one disapproval.

-IMF expected Korea to grow 4.3 per cent next year, the second lowest among 12 emerging Asian economies.

2. Hanokook Ilbo

- The Ministry of Information and Technology is to introduce a pilot program to designate ‘Internet-Off Day’ in order to prevent youngsters from excessively using internet. Information Minister Roh Jun-hyung told reporters yesterday “the ministry will actively promote preventive measures for young people’s internet addiction and cramp down on online gambling sites

- Kim Jun-young, president of OB Co., dismissed the rumor that Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. is making moves to buy out the company as just a speculation spurned off by foreign investment banks. He said the fundamental of the company is very strong with operating profit rate of 35 per cent and the market prospect is also bright since the demand for household beer is increasing.

- Eland strongly resisted the yesterday’s decision by Fair Trade Commission to sell off three Carrefour branches in six months, saying there is practically no potential buyer out there even if it wants to sell them, thereby only delaying the buy-out process.

- The Federation of Korean Industries argued yesterday the abolition of inter-affiliate investment ceiling and the easing of various investment restrictions in the Metropolitan area will ultimately lead to the creation of investment worth W27,000 bn.

Other Interesting headlines _September 14

- [Hankyoreh] In Dandong, China, a border city near North Korea, emergency guard is reported to have been imposed for three days from yesterday. The special train carrying Kim Jong-il used to pass the city and emergency guard has been issued whenever Kim visited China. North Korea experts expect Kim’s visit to China is imminent.

- [Yonhap] Lee Gun-hee, CEO of Samsung Group, left for the US to attend Van Fleet Award which will be held in Manhattan on September 19 by US Korea Society. A person close to the matter said “Chairman Lee will stay in the US for a while for visits to Samsung US offices and business meetings with US IT experts,” but declined to say further details of the visit. Meanwhile the prosecution said Lee informed the prosecution of his visit to the US long before his departure.

- [Kookmin Ilbo] SKY IMB-1000, Korea’s first satellite DMB phone, is complained a lot by its buyers on frequent failure. More than 200,000 phones have been sold since April despite huge price tag of W0.8 m. On cellular phone review sites, thousands of complaints have been posted but the company said it doesn’t have any plan to recall the phone.

- [Herald SaengSaeng News] More than 300 financial companies have disappeared in the past five years due to reconstructing moves in the sector, and 2000 workers in the field got pink slip. According to Financial Supervisory Service, the number of financial companies is 312 nationwide, down 18.3 per cent from 1395 at the end of 2000.

- [Kookmin Ilbo] Only 50 per cent of February graduates from Seoul National University got hired. The department of nursing science posted the biggest employment rate with nearly 100 per cent while 93.4 per cent of medical school graduates also found a workplace. But graduates of humane and music studies posted lower-than-average employment rate.

- [SBS] Consumer sentiment is usually very good in the run up to ‘Chuseok,’ Korea’s harvest festival, but amid disappointing economic performance and bleak future prospects, consumers are reluctant to open up their wallet.

Local Paper headlines _ September 14

1. Chosun Ilbo

- It was confirmed that the US sent out a letter containing the need to take vigorous measures against North Korea on the back of a UN resolution not only to six party members but also all 160 UN members. A high-ranking US official told Chosun Ilbo that the US would forge ahead with the plan with or without South Korea’ consent.

- Park Seong-jun, Professor at Sung Kong Hoe University and the husband of Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, is reported to have until very recently participated in the fierce demonstration against US army base relocation to Pyeongtaek. He stopped joining in the move in May.

- Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret over flaws in the nomination process for the new head of the Constitutional Court, but the Grand National Party said the statement fell short of an apology. The current president’s term expires today.

- Foreign investors continue their selling spree in the Korean stock market. Korea Exchange announced yesterday foreigners’ selling totaled $2.88 bn in August alone, which is bigger than last year’s total sell-off of $2.23 by foreign investors. Foreign investors are said to believe stock price increase in the Korean market will not be high due to Korean company’s disappointing sales figure and the overall sluggish economy. And anti-sentiment toward foreign capital weighs heavy on the sell-off more than uncertainty coming from North Korea nuclear threat. John Lee at Lazard Asset Management said “North Korea’s nuclear problem is a short-term concern but the sentiment is a bigger concern that can shake the fundamental.”

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Real estate experts say the government excessive move to crack down on property speculation caused the current crisis in which ordinary people can’t find a leased house to move into. The number of available leased house is only half that of last year and the price also increased compared to a year earlier.

- Fair Trade Commission approved E-land’s takeover of Carrefour on condition that Eland should sell three Carrefour branches within six months to prevent company’s excessive market share.

- Kum-ho Asiana is reported to have asked Daewoo Construction creditors to reduce the take-over price by more than W1000 bn from its bidding price of an estimated W6600 bn. The maximum price that Kumho can bargain is W990 bn. The company begins today discussing with KAMCO on the final terms of the deal.

- Hyundai Motors will establish a R&D center in Chennai, India, which will be up and running in two years and employ 1,000 engineers.

Hard Life of North Korean Defectors

In the past, North Korean defectors were treated like a hero, but now they either lead a harsh life in South Korea or just fall to ‘international refugee’ status. Even though they managed to escape to Korea, life in Korea is usually not as rosy as they expected to be.

As the cold war ended and the number of people fleeing the impoverished North is skyrocketing, the affections and interests South Koreans used to have toward them are now growingly on the wane. And the issue is not any more a domestic problem but an international human rights problem.

The accumulated number of North Korean refugees totaled 8,541 as of June this year. But it is expected that 50,000-100,000 people ran out of the country and live in China now after failing to come to Korea. It is expected that the number will hit 10,000 in the first half of next year.

The situation of North Korean defectors who successfully escaped the regime and relocated in the South is not favorable. According to a survey on 550 North Korean defectors conducted by Seoul National University and Monthly Joongang found out that 66.4 per cent answered they ‘are willing to go to a third country,’ and 70.5 per cent said they “would like to take refuge in the US if given an opportunity.”

Among them, 61.4 per cent do not have a job and if they do, only 16.7 per cent work on a regular basis. 65.7 per cent of those who work regularly or irregularly receive an average monthly salary of less than W1M.

The Korean government still provides basic support, though downsized, for them such as job education and subsidies for settlement, but they get discriminated against in many aspects of life in Korea. For example, when a divorced defector gets married to a Korean citizen, he or she can’t get official recognition of the marriage because of the impossibility to confirm the divorce back in North Korea.

Yoon In-jin, sociologist at Korea University, said “assistance for North Korean defectors should be based not on a make-shift policy but on a consistent long-term policy so as to ensure these people firmly settle down and lead a normal life here.” “These people can be very helpful in that they can play an important role in bringing about social cohesion when and if the two Koreas are unified, so the government should come up with more comprehensive and extensive assistant policies to help them.”

Other interesting headlines_September 13

- SK Group CEO Choi Tae-won is said to frequently read comic books, and he once recommended fresh employees ‘Mr. Sushi King,’ a very famous Japanese comic book, saying “I think about management a lot while I am reading it.” He ordered SK Research Institute for SUPEX Management to study the book.

- Six out of ten Koreans think KB’s deal with Lone Star to takeover KEB should be annulled, a survey on 1534 adults by Pol & Poll found out. Seventy per cent of respondents consider it would be favorable for KEB to survive on its own. On the current investigation by the prosecution, 79.5 per cent say the probe should continue even if it continues into the next year.

- The impending US sanctions are expected to be tough. Government officials familiar with the issue say the punitive measure might encompass military, economic, political arena including air or sea blockade, strengthened implementation of Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), additional financial sanctions like freeze on North Korea’s oversea bank accounts, and North Korean refugee and human rights issues.

- In the past, North Korean defectors were treated like a hero, but now they lead a harsh life in South Korea or many of them just fall to ‘international refugee’ status as the cold war ended and the number of people fleeing the impoverished North is skyrocketing. The accumulated number of North Korean refugees totaled 8,541 as of June this year. But it is expected that 50,000-100,000 people ran out of the country and failed to come to the South and live in China.

- Kang Jae-sup, the ruling GNP party leader, made it clear that the party will fight against any agreement with the US to transfer military command control in time of a war. He said “even if the US wants to talk about the issue, the president should not respond to it,” and “Now is an emergency when North Korea is preparing nuclear weapons and missiles, so the discussion, in itself, should be stopped.”

- North Korean Cooperation Civil Group Association said the first round of relief supplies, bought with budget raised by ‘Matching Fund,’ will be shipped to North Korea on 27 and 28. Under the fund system, the government supports the fund in proportion to the amount of money raised by civic groups.

Local paper headlines _ September 13

1. Chosun Ilbo

- It is confirmed that the US is soon to take tough measures to punish North Korea’s misbehavior according to the UN resolution 1695 and conveyed its willingness to do so to six-party talks member countries. A high-ranking government official expects the sanction would be imposed after the Korea-US summit meeting currently being held in the US.

- The Ministry of Education is preparing a system under which poorly-managed private universities will be punished. According to a report, one in ten universities nationwide lured less than 70 per cent of its full capacity.

- As an increasing number of people is hostile toward the government’s plan to reassume wartime command control, all groups, which have respectively issued a statement against it, started a movement to encourage people to sign a petition to condemn the plan. Their goal is to get 5m people to sign on it.

- President Roh is expected to meet US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who is believed to be the mastermind behind US’ financial sanctions against North Korea, so one of the top agenda will be US financial sanctions against the regime. It is not known who suggests the meeting.

- Samsung Economic Research Institute expects export in next year will see one-digit growth rate for the first time in four years and the current account, which has continued to post profits for the last nine years, is expected to go into red. It forecasts the growth rate to slip to 4.3 per cent from 4.8 per cent this year.

- Hynix sued Hyun Jung-eun, CEO of Hyundai Group for W 80 bn in losses incurred by the late Chung, Mong-hun. In a written accusation, the company said from 1996 to 2001, then CEO Chung Mong-hun and the management misappropriated company money and raised slush funds, which severely caused damages for the company. Hyundai Group says “we are trying hard to repay debt of the late chairman.”

2. Maeil Business Newspaper

- Contrary to the popular belief, customers in their 50s and 60s spend more than young people in on-line shopping with 60-something monthly spending on average W264,993 and 20-something W153,482.

- It is reported by Choi Kyung-hwan, GNP lawmaker, that the national budget is seriously squandered due to overlapping or cut-off government-run businesses. During the Roh government, the spending waste is estimated to be around W52000 bn.

- According to a report by Goldman Sachs, foreign investors in Asia are still very cautious about the Korean market while investment expectations on China and Taiwan are relatively high. The report says “foreign investors keep an eye on any negative impact the US slowing economy might have on the Korean market,” and “they are also concerned about Korea’s sluggish domestic consumption and worse-than-expected company profit reports.”

- In an effort to improve air quality, Seoul buses will be replaced by environment-friendly CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) buses by 2010.

Outlook for Samsung Electronics's share price

Foreign securities firms are releasing a negative outlook for Samsung Electronics. Foreigner-holding shares in Samsung Electronics have been around 50 per cent since last April. The share amounted to 53.82 per cent in the early this year but the percentage dropped to 50.58 per cent on August 14 and 50.76% on September 4 amid foreign investor's selling spree, the lowest point since 50.53 per cent in February 2000.

Citi Securities edged down its investment outlook for the company from 'buying' to 'retaining' on the ground that the company's profitability will deteriorate next year after hitting the ceiling in the fourth quarter. It explained the bad profitability is contributed to the expected weak demand in D-ram and mobile phones over sluggish world economy and to over-supply of NAND Flash.

Macquarie Securities advised "the market condition for Samsung Electronics' backbone products is not favorable," and "given the recent rally of the company stock, now is the time for investors to start realizing their profits."

It is contrary to domestic securities' rosy projections for the company.

Lee, Min-hee, researcher at Dong-bu Securities, points out "the company's three mega products, semiconductor, LCD, and mobile phone, successfully made a turnaround in August so there are still room for the stock price to continue its upward trend."

Foreigners' share-holding of the company crossed 50 per cent for the first time in 1999 and once slid to less than 40 per cent when IT bubble busted and other business bad incidents in that year. On February 25 the next year, the number rose to over 50 per cent and ever since it stayed over 50 per cent for 6 years and 7 months.

Foreign investors have been selling about 4.75 m shares of the company this year while institutional investors have been buying up 2.46 shares and Samsung Electronics has been stocking up 2.6 m shares.

Some expect that if this trend continues foreign ownership of the company might be reduced to 40 per cent in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile Samsung electronics ended at W656,000 per share on September 4, up 3000 won or 0.45 % from a day ago.

Other important headlines _ September 12

- US chief FTA negotiator Wendy Cutler said in a phone interview that Korea-US FTA will be one of the top agenda of the summit meeting between the two presidents. She didn’t hide her disappointment on the third round of talk, saying “we are disappointed with Korea’s proposal on the agricultural sector,” and “we understand how sensitive the agricultural sector in Korea but there is a need to conclude a comprehensive FTA.”

- Asked on North Korea’s human rights issues, President Roh said yesterday, “Since the two Koreas are one nation and thereby being in unusual relations, the South takes a special attitude toward the matter.”

- Telecommunication spending outstripped dining expenses in overall household spending for the first time. According to BOK, national telecommunication spending in the first half of the year amounted to W1326 8, bn, taking up 7.2 per cent in household expenses, up from 3 per cent in 1997. Meanwhile the dining expenses were W12963 bn.

- The liquor industry has begun a massive ‘low-price’ marketing strategy. Last February, Doosan brought down the price of its soju from W800 to W730, and OB Beers lowered its new beer of 1.8 l to the same price of 1.6 l-beer. It is understood that OB’s drastic strategy aims at Hite Beer which far outperforms OB Beer.

-Major domestic banks are actively looking for overseas business opportunity. Kang Jung-won, President of the nation’s biggest Kookmin Bank, said the bank eyed on East Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia as a new business market. Kookmin Bank is reported to have a plan to take over several Asian banks from the end of the next year. Wooribank, Shinhan Bank, and Hanabank all jumped in the bandwagon.

- It is reported that the US has internally concluded that North Korea doesn’t have any willingness to negotiate and set to come up with comprehensive sanctions against the regime. Chief US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill is believed to convey a message to North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan to meet and talk when he was staying in China to no avail.

- It is belatedly reported that the son of Kim Shin-bae, SK Telecom chief executive, appeared on a commercial of SK Teletec’s SKY mobile phone. He, 25, is a student of a university in Korea and the commercial ran for more than two months.

- Japan’s Koizumi criticized Seoul and Beijing for their rejection to have summit meeting. He said it was not right to refuse a summit meeting just because he has a different idea on the Yasukuni Shrine and that the two countries would see later that it was wrong.

Local paper headlines _ September 12

1. Chosun Ilbo

- A poll on 611 adults conducted by Chosun Ilbo and Korea Gallop points that two thirds of the respondents oppose to Korean military’s independent wartime command control. 66.3 per cent said the current government plan made security condition more unstable while 29.4 per cent approved the plan on the ground of sovereignty and self-defense. 71.3 per cent of people think security condition would deteriorate if Korea takes independent control.

- A group of 30,000 pastors and priests issued a statement against the transfer a day after police officers showed their strong opposition to the plan by releasing the statement.

- Hwang Chang-gyu, president of Samsung Electronics’ chip division, revealed that the company developed the world’s first 32-gigabit NAND flash memory chip at a press conference yesterday. Along with the innovative technology, the company also introduced the world’s first CTF (Charge Trap Flash) technology, which allows insulators to be used in the development for semiconductor.

- Korea’s CBS plans to have its own independent newspaper as early as October. The Korean Association of Newspapers said the broadcast station should suspend its plan until the revision of the controversial Newspaper Act is finalized. Under the Newspaper Act, the controlling shareholder can own up to half of newspaper company shares while the Broadcast Act strictly prohibits a newspaper’s holding a single share in a broadcasting station.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Hwang Chang-gyu, president of Samsung Electronics’ chip division, proudly said “except for creativity and the time with your family, you can leave all your works at flash memory,” and “this year marks the first year of the ‘Flashtopia’ era.

-The National Tripartite Commission decided to postpone the implementation of the most hot-button issue for another three years. The issues include clauses that drop full-time union officials from company payroll and permit multiple trade unions at a single company. The two clauses have been first brought up in 1997 and postponed ever since amid harsh opposition from labor.

- From the end of this month, when buying a house worth more than W600 m, people living in the designated areas where any house transaction should be reported are required to summit a document on how to prepare the money to buy a house.

Other important headlines_September 11

- President Roh and US President Bush agreed not to adopt any type of statement in the upcoming summit which is slated to be held in Washington on September 14. The two countries have adopted two joint statements and one joint press release during their five summit meeting since the current Roh administration came to power.

- Yoo Ho-yeol, professor of Korea University, argued that the continuing US financial sanctions and international sanctions according to the UN resolution are expected to make situation on the Korean peninsula more dangerous in which it becomes more likely for North Korea to test its underground nuclear experiment. He said “the North regards ‘Pakistan’s way,’ rather than ‘Libya’s way’ as a more viable solution for its survival.”

- From next year, people can have access to internet anywhere in the country. The Ministry of Information and Communication announced that 99 per cent of rural areas can have internet infrastructure by the year-end as part of government projects to narrow information gap between rural and urban areas.

- The Fair Trade Commission launched an investigation into alleged unfair internal trade practices among affiliates of Hyundai Motors, including Hyundai Motors, Hyundai Mobis, Glovis, Innocean, Amco, Rotem, Hisco, and Hyundai Steel. The industrial experts see the investigation might focus on Hyundai Group’s illegal assistance of Glovis.

- According to Korea National Statistical Office, 50 per cent of population aged from 20 to 39 is single. Six out of ten women at the age of marriage from 25 to 29 are single, up a whopping 20 per cent from five years ago and 38.2 per cent of them are reported to live in Kangnam area.

- Kang Jung-won, President of Kookmin Bank, said “I understand the consultation with Lone Star about the prolonged KEB sale is well underway.” “Though it has been quite a while since we signed the contract, I don’t see any major problem because nothing much has changed from then,” he said.

- Foreigner-holding shares in Samsung Electronics have been below 50 per cent since last April. The share amounted to 53.82 per cent in the early this year but the percentage dropped amid foreign investors’ selling spree.

Local paper headlines_September 11

1. Chosun Ilbo

- President Roh met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sideline of ASEM, currently being held in Finland, and said of Beijing’s history research program that has triggered furor from South Koreans, “(it can) have negative impact on bilateral relations so the Chinese government needs to take necessary measures according to an agreement it concluded with Seoul.”

- A group of 160 people consisted of former diplomatic government officials announced a statement against the hotly-debated wartime operational control transfer. The statement goes, “the axis of Korea-US alliance is ROK-US Combined Forces Command and US-controlled wartime command,” and “if the axis disappears, it will cause the weakening of the alliance and military capability, which will consequently lead to a major disruption not only in politics but also in economy.”

- It is reported By English newspaper Daily Telegraph that Kim Jong-il has recently made clear his willingness to forge ahead with nuclear program tests. According to the paper, the North Korean leader said in front of Russian and Chinese diplomats the country would stage a military demonstration by having an experiment of underground nuclear explosion.

- As various economic index paint a bleak picture for the foreseeable future, an increasing number of companies is depending on ‘Pung-su management,” which means following the theory of divination based on topography. Especially when they make an important management decision such as building a new company building, they choose a new building site based on what topography experts recommend to be geographically and topographically good.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- KT is to boost ‘digital cinema’ service, a new state-of-the-art filming service, as the next promising business. According to industrial experts, KT developed the system and joined hands with big multiplex movie theaters including Lotte Cinema, CJ CGV, and Mega Box to provide the service.

- The US sent out a positive signal at the third round of FTA talks about the possibility to recognize Korean certificates in the field of nurses and architects. If the US accepts Korea’s proposal, workers in those fields will be granted permission to work in the US with their Korean certificates.

- The Uri party seeks to come up with a major compromise by November, which will include the abolition of inter-affiliate investment ceiling and the provision of incentives such as tax exemption if conglomerates voluntarily resolve the ‘circulatory investment’ practice, prevailing in the Korean chaebols.

-According to an internal report prepared by Ministry of Finance and Economy, the illegal gambling caused the country’s GDP to drop 0.3 per cent and severely disrupted domestic consumption.

Other important headlines _ September 8

- In a press conference in Finland, President Roh said of North Korean missile test, “I think they launched missiles not to stage military aggression but to use it for political purposes.” “The fact that many media see it as military threats is one of the reasons that make things more difficult,” Roh said.

- It is reported that US General Accounting Office released a report saying Korea can’t be included in a list of Visa Waver Program owing to a high rate of visa rejected cases.

- The court acquitted a netizen of the charge that he defamed former GNP leader Park Geun-hye. The netizen had distributed a post through internet claiming that the incident in which Park’s face was slashed with a box cutter was a premeditated political stunt by the Grand National Party and its leader.

- Moves to promote Insam worldwide are increasing. Insam, along with Kimchi, is a Korea’s best-known traditional food product, but under the Japanese colonization, Insam was wrongly pronounced by Japanese to become known as ‘Ginseng.’

- US beef is to be re-imported. The agricultural ministry said this morning it approves the resumption of US beef import after a rigorous safety check.

- The Supreme Court sets up criteria for sex change recognition in part to block man from exploiting sex change in dodging draft. In case of changing sex from man to woman, the person should have served in the army or exempted from military service to be legally recognized as woman.

- It is reported that the number of cases of technology leakage to overseas for the last four years amounts to 70, causing an estimated W90,000 bn in losses. Though the cases is reported to be increasing, insufficient punishment encourages more illegal leakage.

Local paper headlines_September 8

1. Chosun Ilbo

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced yesterday that Korea doesn’t consider a Chinese research institute’s biased history information on Koguryo, Korea’s ancient kingdom, as an official position of Beijing. In a briefing, a MOFAT official said, “we believe the Chinese government is trying to uphold the 2004 mutual verbal agreement on that matter.”

- Shinsegye’s honorary president Chung Jae-eun gave all of his shares, 7.82 per cent of the company share, to his eldest son Chung Young-jin, vice-president of the company, and his daughter Chung Yoo-kyung, executive director of Chosun Hotel. Each received 840,000 and 634,571 shares respectively. The company said it would properly pay donation tax worth about W350 bn.

- China signaled a possibility of Kim’s visit to the country, saying “China and North Korea is in traditionally friendly relations and each country’s leaders also have had amicable visits to each other,” and “we well let you know in a timely manner if there is any high-ranking official’s visit between the two countries.”

- Ahead of a summit meeting between Korea and the US on September 14, there is a sign that the US might take a comprehensive sanction against North Korea. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said two days ago that the US was discussing additional sanctions under the framework of the UN resolution condemning North Korea’s missile tests, but declined to give further details.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Daewoo Electronics, Korea’s third largest consumer electronics company, is likely to be sold to an Indian company as a consortium led by Videocon of India was chosen as a preferred bidder by a group of creditors led by Wooribank. Videocon decided to buy out 100 per cent of Daewoo Electronics shares worth W670 bn from the creditors.

- Hyosung Corp. strikes a $3.2 bn deal with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Under the deal, the Korean company will supply tire cords, fabric reinforcements that boost a tire’s durability and safety, to the US company. Hyosung took over four tire cord plants in the US, Brazil, and Luxemburg from the US biggest tiremaker, further cementing its position as the world’s largest tire cord maker.

- US FTA negotiators demanded that Korea repeal any preferential treatment for its ‘special banks,’ such as Industrial Bank and Nonghyup Bank. On controversial issues, such as agricultural products and medicine, the two countries still don’t see eye to eye.

- The Ministry of Education revealed yesterday that it has established a council consisted of nine people from all walks of life. The council, led by Park Seung, former governor of Bank of Korea, will decide who should take charge of spending Samsung –donated W800 bn and where the donation goes. It is believed that the donation will be mainly used for scholarship for underprivileged children.

Statement by a group of 700 S.Korean intellectuals

“Attempts to take back wartime command should be stopped”

The current government is forcibly pushing ahead with its plan to take back wartime operation control at a time when North Korea continues provocative moves such as missile launch and nuclear development, which seriously endanger peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the international community. The government plan faces strong opposition from the public including former defense ministers and security experts. The crucial issue should have been pursued based on public consensus and consultation but we are very concerned that the matter is politically motivated.

There is no doubt that we have to take independent wartime operational command some time in the future. But we now fully control peacetime operation command, Korea-US alliance is on the foundation of equal partnership based on mutual respect, and the two countries run optimal security cooperative system with strong war deterrent capability by ROK-US Combined Forces Command. The Roh government, however, politicizes the security issue in the name of ‘sovereignty’ and ‘independence.’

The on-going plan and subsequent internal division can invite North Korea’s misjudgment, serious security vacuum later and more serious public disrupt. Therefore, we hereby strongly urge the government to stop the promotion of the plan and would like to announce our position.

1. A war should not happen again on our soil. For the last 50 years since armistice, Korea-US alliance and ROK-US Combined Forces Command have served as the best war deterrent so it is very risky adventure to underestimate threats by North Korea and recklessly pursue self-defense.

2. Korea-US alliance and ROK-US Combined Forces Command should be put in place as a security ‘stronghold’ for South Korea until a new, stable international security system around the Korean peninsula is formed.

3. Sound alliance between the two countries lays the firm groundwork for Korea to enjoy freedom, human rights, democracy, and market economy. Moreover independent wartime command gives us astronomical financial burden. According to government’s data, the transfer will cost W 621 trillion by 2020, which is translated into W54 m per household. But the problem is whether we can have military capability with efficient war deterrent power even after spending that much money, and whether we can afford such a huge amount of money. It will not be late to discuss the issue after we enter the ranks of developed countries.

4. Now is not the proper time to discuss wartime command control. It will not be late to discuss the matter after North Korea, at least, abandons its nuclear program and shows its willingness to open up to the outside world and to build peace between the two Koreas. Right now we should, more than any other things, strengthen Korea-US alliance. If the government continues its plan, we can face serious crisis where nobody can guarantee national security and lives and wealth of people. Korea is not ready for this.

September 5, 2006

Other important headlines_September 7

- Bank of Korea freezes its overnight call rate at 4.5 per cent on concern over sluggish economic growth. Various economic index point to worse-than-expected economic performance.

- Burwell Bell, United States Armed Forces Commander in Korea, showed confidence in Korean military’s capability to take independent wartime command and said Korea could handle wartime operational control in 2009 through military restructuring and a high degree of military drills.

- Regarding a group of intellectuals’ opposition to wartime control transfer, Prime Minister Han said their concern stemmed from misunderstanding of truth. She said the matter had been sufficiently discussed between Korea and the US.

- The market share of NHN, Korea’s biggest search engine, is 73.8 per cent, up from 72.8 per cent in July. Daum earned the distant second spot with 11.3 per cent followed by Yahoo (5.7 %) and Empas (3.5 %). NHN has been named top portal site for six months in a row by page view, search, and front page.

- Unlike the government announcement that Vision 2030 will need an additional budget of W1100 trillion, it is said that a report, which projected the spending around W1600 trillion, had been posted on the government website. The report was deleted from the site after the government’s announcement on the project. Speculation is rife that the government purposely released an underestimated figure in order to ally people’s fear for tax increase.

- According to Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and Korea Gas Corporation, Korea might be in for lack of LNG for this winter. The amount of government-holding LNG is much less than that of last year, which might trigger lack of heating resources. About 35-40 per cent of LNG is consumed for heating in household.

- Despite Korean government’s continuous warning, China is stepping up its efforts to distort history by laying claim to Korea’s ancient Kingdoms, Kochosun, Koguryo, and Balhae.

-Korea’s national football team achieved a sweeping victory against Taiwan yesterday by 8 to 0.

Local paper headlines_September 7

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Employment Projection Index released by Korea Chamber of Commerce paints a very bleak picture for the fourth quarter of this year as companies are reluctant to invest amid market uncertainty. Employment plans of ten conglomerates in the second half point to a reduced hire with 11,690, down 1.3 per cent a year ago.

- Twenty-three lawmakers are going to file a lawsuit today at the Constitutional Court against the government for failing to get approval from the National Assembly before it unilaterally pushed ahead with the on-going FTA negotiations with the US. They also complained about lack of information revealed by the government on the negotiation process.

- The prosecution raided on KEB’s headquarters yesterday to secure concrete evidence of the bank’s secret fund. It suspects that around 2003 when Lone Star bought out the bank, KEB’s IT team bloated prices of computer stuff supplied by LG-CNS and later secretly raised slush fund with the balance.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- The number of cases of personal bankruptcy filed in a court has been skyrocketing since April with monthly filing passing 10,000. When people file for personal bankruptcy, they can be almost exempted from debt payment. But in some cases, reporting financial failure can lead to tarnished credit reputation which, in turn, can cause a job loss or bring hard time in getting new jobs.

- Ordinary people are having a hard time to find a leased house and even if they find, prices have increased a lot. According to a statistics, leased house prices have risen 4.3 per cent this year while the average house prices have actually dropped.

- Korea’s listed companies are expected to see their sales profits going up in the third quarter after disappointing sales figures in the second quarter. The overall economic index is not very rosy but export environment is improving, which is believed to help companies gain more profits. KT, Posco, Hynix, SK Telecom are expected to post profits while Hyundai Motors and LG Philips will continue their losing streak.

- From the first day of the third round of FTA talks, Korea and the US showed their differences in various issues from rules of origin, antitrust regulations, to Kaesung products. As for products made in Kaesung, the US reaffirmed its opposition, saying the free trade deal is between the two countries and does not involve a “third party.”

- A research by International Finance Corporation revealed that Korea stands at 116th among 175 countries in terms of friendly environment for a start-up. In Korea, establishing a business needs 12 steps, which normally takes 22 days.

Other important headlines_September 6

- It is confirmed that the US demanded to include a clause stipulating ‘chaebol control’ in a Korea-US FTA agreement. According to the report by the FTA negotiating team, the US negotiators consider the cosy relations between politics and business is still prevalent in Korea and fair trade laws don’t strictly apply to chaebols. The Korean government agrees the need to create fair competition atmosphere but opposes to stipulate the clause.

-“If North Korea tests its nuclear programs, it will have big repercussions in the financial market, but it won’t have any influence on Korea’s credit rating because the rating was marked in consideration with North Korea’s possible nuclear test,” said John Chambers of Standard & Poor’s said in a press conference in front of a group of Korean reporters.

- Agriculture Minister Park Hong-soo said “the competitiveness of Korean agricultural products is insufficient compared to those of the US, so we need the minimum safeguard to prepare for market opening.” “Safeguard measures should be brought in and we will try our best to get it through in the FTA negotiations.”

- The average competitive rate of seven MBA schools is 2.4 to 1 with Seoul National University’s MBA program marking the highest competition rate of 3.2 to 1. The seven MBA schools are to be up and running from next semester

- Gwanak-gu ward office is pushing ahead with name changes for Shillim and Bongcheon-dong to help the two villages get rid of its hillside slum images. Due to relevant law revisions, it becomes easier to change the name of a village. Under the revised law, name change requires approval from two thirds of its resident.

- International marriage is increasing as four out of ten men living in a rural area tied a knot with foreign woman. Vietnam is the most frequent as the nationality of brides, followed by China and the Philippines. Meanwhile the divorce rate between Korean man and foreign woman is also growing with 2,444 cases in 2005, up 51.7 per cent from a year ago.

- The Seoul Metropolitan government is considering bulldozing ‘Pung-mul’ market in DongDaeMun Stadium in order to make a park. The plan is likely to trigger a massive backlash from street peddlers who used to run their small business in Cheonggyecheon area and were moved to the market when the restoration of the stream started.

- Oh Jong-nam, director of the International Monetary Fund, said Korea jumped to 19th from 28th in voting shares as the IMF board meeting decided on August 31 Korea’s quota increase from the current 0.764 per cent to 1.346 per cent.

Local paper headlines_September 6

1. Chosun Ilbo

- A group of 700 Korean intellectuals announced their strong opposition to the government’s initiative to retain wartime operational control from its long-time ally US. In a statement, they said, “independent wartime command cost a lot of money so it should be discussed only after we enter the ranks of developed countries. We are not ready for that.” “It won’t be late to discuss the issue after North Korea abandons its nukes program and we have real peace on the peninsula,” goes the statement.

- China denies the rumor of Kim’s visit to the country in a press briefing, saying “China has no plan right now to have North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s visit.” Meanwhile a high-ranking government official familiar with the issue said “the special train believed to carry Kim Jong-il is still staying in North Korea.”

- It is reported that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism ignored the internal report warning the possible serious consequences the introduction of the Sea Story gambling machine might cause to ordinary people’s livelihoods. The internal report prepared by Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute points out that 43 per cent of the users are low-income people with a monthly income of less than W2 m.

- Samsung Electronics is slowly changing its production system from the conveyer belt to the cell type production because its in-house study finds out that cell-type production system increase the productivity about 30 per cent.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- A special report by two senior economists of Citi Group says international debate on North Korea mailyi focuses on its politics but the regime’s economic reform is much more advanced than popularly known. In the conclusion, “given the achievement of North Korea’s economic system reform, it is unlikely that North Korean economy will have internal-factor-triggered collapse.”

- Retirement grants will be mandatory in a company with less than four employees as early as 2008.

- As early as next year, financially-stable local savings banks will be allowed to issue their own banker’s check. There are about 1,500 small-loan financial institutions nationwide. It is expected the law revision can relive borrowing inconvenience for low-income families from big banks.

- 84 per cent of Korean CEOs answered that they have experience of feeling insecure in places where they don’t have access to internet, according to a Maekyung survey on 100 CEOs. 52 per cent said they always bring their laptops with them when they go on a business trip and 86 per cent said they visit portal sites at least once a day. 75 per cent don’t run their personal mini-hompy or blog due to busy schedule.

Other important headlines _ September 5

- It is reported that the US insisted that only English version of FTA agreement have legal force as the original copy, if there is inconsistence between the Korean copy and the English one. US insistence is against the international norm to recognize a formal agreement in both languages of the two negotiating countries and likely to trigger strong backlash from Korea. The Korean government is said to have expressed both agreements should have the same legal effect and it can’t accept the US stance that an English version should take priority.

- Reaffirming his usual argument that a workaholic is ‘noisy,’ President Roh said “I will let you continue to hear noisy sound,” indicating he will keep doing his best in national administration until the end of his term. “If you work hard, there must be lots of disputes,” he said.

- Song Min-soon, chief presidential security advisor, will visit the US from September 5-7 to work on a set of agenda which will be discussed during President Roh’s US visit. He will meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Steven Hadley.

- KTF was fined W4.8 bn for offering illegal subsidiary for hand-set buyers in July.

- It is reported that a special train of Kim Jong-il left Pyongyang and is staying at Sinuiju Station. Accordingly many predict that the North Korean leader is likely to arrive at China soon.

- The prosecution banned former vice minister of culture and tourism Yoo Jin-ryong from traveling overseas to investigate into the gambling scandal. He is one of the core members who introduced a gift certificate as a gambling chip.

- A laptop computer is replacing a desktop PC. According to the research by Korea IDC, IT market research firm, the sale of laptop amounts for 72.5 per cent in the computer sales market while that of desktop takes up for 27.5 per cent.

- The ‘Papa Quote System,’ under which fathers can take mandatory child care leave, will be brought up in the National Assembly for discussion. The core content of the legislation will be extending paternity leave to 13 months from the current 12 months and fathers should use one-month mandatory paid leave.

Local Paper Headlines _September 5

1. Chosun Ilbo

- A 2,200-member unionized workers at the five power companies voluntarily disbanded yesterday, 15 hours after they staged an illegal strike near Korea University. Experts point out that the latest workout is attributed to management’s lack of punishment for participants in the 2002 illegal strike.

- Korea’s 750 intellectuals including professors and lawyers will have a press conference today and issue a statement opposing to the controversial wartime control transfer. In a pre-released statement, they say “the Roh government is using the security issue for political purposes,” and “government’s attempt to take independent wartime command under the veil of ‘self-defense,’ which in fact is based on anti-US and anti-alliance, is not true self-reliant defense.”

- It turned out that Seoul Guarantee Insurance Co., to which W11,900 bn worth of public fund has been poured, doubled the average salary of its employees for the past 6 years. During the same period, the company paid back only 18 per cent of its debt.

- ‘Financial broker’ Park Geun-sung was arrested by the prosecution on allegation of using its broad connections with political and financial circles to bribe financial institutions for easy loan.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- While neighboring countries see its economic future in the service industry which creates more jobs than manufacturing, Korea is still far lagging behind HongKong, Thailand, or Singapore in that regard largely due to lack of deregulation. Economic experts say the service industry is not taking off because of opposition from various interest groups and inconsistent policy implementation and that Korea should open the service market for foreign investors and lessen a slew of regulations in order to improve competitiveness in the service sector.

- From the first half of next year, profits gained by acts of industrial spying will be seized and the punishment for industrial spying will get harsher. Those who get caught leaking industrial technology will be sentenced up to seven years in prison.

-SidusHQ(IHQ), Korea’s biggest entertainment company, is dreaming of becoming Korea’s Warner Brothers after SK Telecom took over the management. IHQ has recently bought out five entertainment companies including Chungeorahm Film, the producer of ‘the Host.’ Stock price of the company rose 18.04 per cent for the last 10 days on expectation for synergy effects coming from SK Telecom’s participation in management.

other important headlines September 4

- Reuters and AFP quoted a US defense official as saying “there was no sign spotted, indicating another missile launch in the Kittaeryung missile launch pad in North Korea.”

- It was reported that US President Bush will announce at the end of this month a set of economic sanctions measures against North Korea. The measures will, however, within the framework of UN resolution adopted after the regime’s firing of seven long and medium range missiles in July.

- KOTRA announced this morning that Korean government’s homepage ranked No.1 among 198 countries worldwide followed by Taiwan, Singapore, and the US, in “Global E-Government 2006” by US Brown University which studied the level of convenience of government websites. Meanwhile North Korea stands at 17th in the evaluation, seeing its rank skyrocketing from the last year’s 183rd among 198 countries.

- Korea’s 200-member FTA negotiation team will fly to the US this afternoon to attend the third rounds of negotiation which is slated to be held for three days in Seattle.

- The result of prosecutors’ investigation into the defamation lawsuit filed by Korea’s famous actress Kim Tae-hee against a netizen will be out this week. The netizen is accused of floating groundless rumors that the actress is going to get married to Chung Yong-jin, vice-president of Shinsegye and former husband of Miss Korea Pageant winner-turned-actress Ko Hyun-jung.

- The average apartment price in Seoul amounts to W420 m, up by W55.82m from the average price of W363 m at the time of government’s 8.31 property measures announcement. The Kangnam–gu saw the biggest leap in the price, followed by Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu, and Youngsan-gu.

- A prison university, designed to provide inmates with social and job skills, is reported not to quite run according to its original purposes. Inmates from organized crime groups are taking by force all merits such as scholarship and other powerless inmates are forced to do gang members’ homework or report. Also cheating is prevalent and professors are reported to turn a blind eye to it.

- Male cosmetics market is growing more than 20 per cent annually as the increasing number of appearance-conscious man spends chunk of their time in adorning themselves.

Local paper headlines September 4

1. Chosun Ilbo

- It gets harder for middle-income family to buy their own house as their yearly income has not increased but house prices go up, house supply is in short, and interests for mortgage loan is rising due to various government’s measures to cool down the property market.

- Unionized workers at the country’s five major power companies said they would launch a strike today over failed negotiations with the management for a pay rise and better working conditions, triggering the government to bring about a 3,500-member emergency task force.

- Supreme Prosecutor’s Office investigating the “Sea Story gate” revealed yesterday that it will confiscate and scrap 60,000 gambling machines nationwide.

- 200 conservative civic groups gathered together in front of city hall plaza on Saturday to pretest mainly against the on-going wartime command transfer from the US to Korea. The gathering was attended by more than 200,000 people including former GNP leader Park Geun-hye and former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak.

- The US opening of Yoduk Story, originally scheduled to run from August 28, is being delayed due to lack of collateral of W300 m requested by a US national theater.

- According to a report by Samsung Economic Research Institute, local companies will not survive if failed to aggressively go for M&A of foreign companies. Foreign companies attempts to conclude M&A against Korean companies, service sector in particular, will become stronger, the report said.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Korean financial companies make bold inroads into South East Asia and Central Asia for better opportunity in emerging markets. Kang Jung-won, CEO of KB, said “Korean financial companies learnt a lot from foreign capital so now is time for us to go overseas to show our ability that we have accumulated so far.”

- A survey by Maekyung on Korean economists shows that 62 per cent of 52 respondents advise the government proceed with the FTA negotiation without considering the expiration of TPA, saying that it will work to Korea’s disadvantage if the US gets the impression of Korea being hurried in concluding the deal.

- Samsung Electronics and LG electronics decided to increase production facilities in Europe to meet the skyrocketing demand for LCD and PDP TV. Europe is the biggest digital TV market, taking up 40 per cent of the world digital TV demand.

Other interesting headlines_September 1

- Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said of wartime control transfer, “(we are discussing) the transfer based on four elements, and the US fully agreed on it.” The four elements refer to continuing: ROK-US Mutual Defense; US army station in Korea and more dispatch in emergency; US intelligence assistance; and war deterrent power on the Korean peninsula and mutual preparation.

- All elementary and middle schools in Seoul will have a native English teacher as late as September 2006.

- “The accomplishment of Son Gi Jeong, I think, was a result of Japanese modernization, but Koreans don’t even try to acknowledge such an objective historic view,” said Katsuhiro Kuroda, Seoul bureau chief for Sankei Shimbun and an extreme right-winger. Son was a Berlin Olympics marathon gold medalist but recorded Japanese in the Olympics history since Korea was at that time under Japanese colonization.

- A survey on 1,128 office workers by Scout, job portal site, shows that 59.4 per cent of respondents say they don’t have any plan to have a baby even with government support. The biggest reason was high child care spending (46.6 %) and lower-than-expected government support (29%).

- The prosecution found solid evidence that a Uri party lawmaker received kickback of W80 m for favors in the selection of gift certificate issuer. But the lawmaker flatly denied the allegation.

- In the marriage market, the popularity of ‘Gold Mr.’ is skyrocketing as the number of 30-something single woman is increasing. ‘Gold Mr.’ refers to an eligible bachelor in his 30s with ‘not bad’ looking and good job. 30-something women are looking for a man with similar age while single women in her 20s also want 30-something man for financial stability.

- North Korea urged Japan to give back the remains of Megumi as early as possible, saying “we did our utmost to solve the abduction issue by giving the remains and revealing the reason for her death, but the Japanese only politically exploits ‘Megumi issue.’

- According to a survey by Job portal site Career, the most popular foreign company in Korea among job seekers is reported to be P&G Korea, followed by IBM (5.8%), Nike Sports (5%), HSBC (4.8%), and Google (4.7). Reasons behind the preference for P&G are company welfare system (51.9%), company image (20.5%), and salary (11.3%).

Local paper headlines_September 1

1. Chosun Ilbo

- The US Army is reported to hold back its plan of army relocation to PyoungTaek for the time being as it decided to transfer wartime operation control to Seoul much earlier than widely expected. A government official familiar with the issue says “PyoungTaek army base relocation was originally planned on premise that ROK-US Combined Forces Command will stay in place for a long time.”

- The prosecution broadens its investigation into the “Sea Story” gate, focusing on lobbying relations between the game industry and politicians.

- Parents groups lambasted the decision by Korean Teachers and Educational Worker’s Union to take a collective holiday in October ahead of college entrance exam in November. Meanwhile the union reiterated its plan to go ahead with its original walk-out amid severe criticism.

- Papertainer (Paper + container) museum, the first paper building in Korea, was built inside the Seoul Olympics park. The cost for building the paper museum was W3 bn and the museum will open from September 15 to December.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Chung Moon-Soo, advisor to the President for Economic Policy, said yesterday “if the property market continues its stability there is no need for additional measures, but if it turns unstable again we will come up with new measures,” indicating government’s plan to continue its stern property control policy.

- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering receives an order worth $1.27 bn from Cabinda Gulf Oil Company to build drilling and production platform (DPP). Including the contract, DSME has been awarded a total of $9.26 bn in order this year, nearly achieving its yearly order goal of $10 bn.

- “We will open 4G technology to all telecommunication companies in the world,” said Lee Ki-tae, president of Samsung Electronics Co.’s telecommunication network business. “It is important to work together (with other companies) to make standardization and commercialize 4G technology.” He said “by 2008, people can see 4G mobile phones about the same size current ones.”

- Reigncom Co.,a MP3 player maker famous for its iRiver, brings in a new CEO to revive its weak performance. Kim Hyuk-kun, the new co-CEO in his 30s, is a former management consultant at AT Kearney. “I helped so many faltering companies revive, but normally it took at least 2-3 years. In the case of Reigncom, I can turn it around much earlier,” he said.