Important headlines_Oct 25

- Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, who was regarded as one of the core members of the current government’s engagement policy, issued resignation this morning saying “I think someone more capable should take this job to overcome difficulties at a time when all the efforts and accomplishments we have done or achieved for peace and security on the Korean peninsula and for inter-Korean reconciliation are now being relentlessly questioned after North Korea N-test.” “As a Unification Minister, I don’t think there has been a major setback in the government’s dealing with North Korea, and I am pretty sure about the accomplishment of engagement policy toward the North,” he added. He expressed his willingness to come back to Sejong Institute as a researcher.

- Song Min-soon is to succeed Ban Ki-moon as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In case of Yoon Kwang-woong who expressed his willingness to resign yesterday will assume a core security role such as presidential advisor for security or the head of NIS.

- Korea’s B-boy teams were awarded second and third position in the Battle of The Year 2006, the so-called ‘world cup for B-Boy.’ The battle was held in Germany on October 21 and ‘Last for One’ which won last year’s battle ranked second, and ‘Drifters Crew’ got the third position. ‘Last for One’ starred in a movie, which depicts lives of B-boys and is produced by an American director. The film will be shown in the Sundance Film Festival next January.

- Kim Kyung-jae, former representative of the Democratic party, who was a staunch supporter for Kim Dae-jung’s sunshine policy, now turns his back on him and lambasted Kim for failing to be tough on North Korean matter. He said “now is the time for Kim to wield a stick and storm at Kim Jung-il.” But he said he didn’t oppose the sunshine policy in itself.

- A parody video clip titled ‘Super Kim’ in which Kim Jong-il is compared to a game character Super Mario takes off among internet users around the world. The clip appeared on U-Tube and was clicked about 10,000 times in just two days. In the clip, Kim Jong-il acquires a nuclear weapon and reinvents himself as Super Atom Kim.

- The next secretary-general of the UN Ban Ki-moon addressed Seoul National University students and said “I expect North Korea to capitalize on me and make a decent decision as early as possible to solve the nuclear problem.”

- A large amount of historic remains were unearthed in part of KTX train construction sites linking Seoul and Busan. The remains date back to the Shilla dynasty. The train route will not be changed despite the discovery and the construction will be resumed after unearthing the relics.

- According to the Agricultural Ministry, the number of foreign women, who married to a Korean man and live in a country side, totals 14,000. The ministry data shows among 8,027 marriages in a rural area last year, 2,885 cases were between a Korean man and a foreign woman, 59 per cent increase from 2004 of 1,814. The ministry will, from next year, dispatch 300 helpers in rural areas to assist foreign women to study Korean. The helpers will visit foreign women three times a week for five months.