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.