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.