other important headlines_Oct 27

- Christopher Nelson, editor of US intelligence paper Nelson Report, said based on various sources he gathered, Kim Jong il didn’t directly apologize for the test, but he conveyed his apology for putting China in an awkward position.

- The head of the NIS expressed his willingness to resign to the president. An official of the NIS said “Kim Seung-kyu met the president yesterday and said he would step down.” “He doesn’t want to be a liability for the president to reorganize diplomatic and security camp,” he added.

- The GNP urges the Minister of Construction and Transportation to resign over the confusion and speculative moves triggered by the premature announcement of a new city construction.

- Rep. Kim Ae-sil of the GNP revealed the number of female temporary researchers at government-run institute is much higher than their counterpart. In the case of Energy Research Institute, 78.6 per cent of female researchers work on a temporary payroll while there are only 2.9 per cent of male temporary researchers. At the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), 32 per cent of female researchers are temporary compared to only 4.8 per cent for man.

- Seven out of ten Seoul citizens find there is a severe gap between Kangnam and Kangbuk regions. Rep. Choi Kyu-sil of Uri party surveyed 700 Seoul residents and 69.6 per cent of respondents say there is a disproportionate development trend between the two regions.

- Only 16.3 per cent of people find the public pension fund satisfactory and the younger the respondent, the more dissatisfied with the fund, said GNP Rep. Ahn Myung-ok. Only 8.7 per cent twenty-somethings say they are happy with the current fund.

- A sigh of relief is felt within the government as the visit by John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN, has been canceled. It has been reported that the government felt pressured by his visit who is known as a hawk within the Bush administration regarding the North Korean issue.

- Lee Myung-bak who is visiting European countries revealed that he would build a city of science and business in a non-metropolitan area in cooperation with other major international cities if he gets elected as next president.

- Bank of Korea governor Lee Sung-tae said in his lecture at Busan Natioanl University “the call rate of 4.5 per cent is pretty low,” indicating a possibility of another raise of the rate.