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.