Scene on Vista and Korea's chipmakers

by Ellie JY

Microsoft’s new window operating system Vista is to be a blessing for Korean chipmakers for the next year with an expected demand hike for DRAM(dynamic random access memory).

“Samsung and Hynix both will benefit greatly from VISTA,” said Chung Chang-won, IT analyst at Daewoo Securities Co. “I expect the DRAM market to be very bullish in the first half of next year and a little downward into the second half, and vice versa for flash memory, so either way the year 2007 will be very good for both Samsung and Hynix.”

Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip maker with 31.2 per cent of DRAM market share, expects the launch of Vista will expand the global DRAM market by 17 per cent in 2007 to be worth around $35 bn.

Chu Woo-sik, senior vice president of investor relations at Samsung Electronics Co., said at Samsung Tech Forum held on November 13 that the launch of Windows Vista would increase memory consumption per PC from 0.8 GB to 1.2GB. Accordingly the company will strength the DRAM business with higher than industry average bit growth of 65 per cent next year, he said.

The company expects its ‘Vista-ready’ PC shipment will see a 13 per cent increase in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, and the shipment would grow more than 90 per cent next year.

Hynix, which takes up about 16.3 per cent of world DRAM market, also paints a very rosy picture for 2007.

The company told to the FT that the launch of Vista would have a very positive impact on company’s earnings and sales, especially given DRAM sales in the third quarter accounted for almost about 70 per cent of the company’s total sale.

It predicts demand for DRAM will increase by 55-60 per cent next year.

In an effort to meet the increasing market demand, Hynix is set to increase facility investment to $4.6bn by the end of this year, up by $0.75 bn from originally planned. Next year will be similar.

Samsung also revised up the original budget for semiconductor production facility investment in the year 2006 to $7bn from $6bn, according to Samsung’s statement out in October.

Some industry experts, however, voice concern that world’s big chipmakers’ plan for aggressive production facility expansion is likely to trigger other chipmakers to follow suit, which might result in over-competition and a DRAM market slowdown.

Cho Nam-yong, Samsung’s executive vice president of memory sales and marketing expressed his concern when he met reporters last month that other chipmakers would rush to the market, resulting in oversupply.

“A little bit of oversupply is better for the industry,” an analyst in Seoul, who asked not to be named, told the FT.

“Even if oversupply materializes in the first half of next year and drives down the price by about 30 per cent, demand for the second half will offset the price reduction,” he said.

Park Young-ju, analyst at Woori Securities Co., said the overall prospect for DRAM market is very upbeat despite concern for excessive output.

“Even if DRAM prices go down with increasing supply, that won’t have much impact on chipmakers as long as demand remains strong, which will surely be the case, because the cost for chip production is fixed.”

Today's headlines_Nov 24

- The government issued a statement this morning after a ministerial meeting convened by Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook that it would strictly apply ‘zero tolerance’ toward illegal and violent protesters.
It said “demonstration taking place in busy downtown will be strictly restricted in the future.”

- Former Prime Minister Koh Gun said yesterday that he would never participate in any form of primary held by Uri Party.”

- National Intelligence Service is believed to be making a system which enables it to oversee country’s internet network. According to GNP lawmaker Song Young-sun, NIS had revealed that it needed to establish internet-overlooking system in order to track down any espionage activities through web network which it believed to be widely happening.

- Seoul District Prosecution sought detention warrant for two employees of SK Engineering and Construction Co., for giving bribery of W2.9bn to ten reconstruction companies to get business favor in clinching a reconstruction deal.

- Baek Jong-Chun, President of the Sejong Institute, is likely to be Song Min-soon’s replacement as next presidential security advisor.

- A poll conducted by CBS radio shows approval ratings of President Roh and Uri Party hit the lowest with 15 per cent for Roh and 15.9 per cent for the party.

- Kang Shin-ho, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, said he will soon meet Lee Kun-hee to discuss with him next chairman of the organization, saying “it is right manner for me to talk about it with him because he is like a big brother in the business sector.”

- A total of 366 executives and employees at Samsung Corporation’s retail sector lodged a complaint at Seoul District Court against the company to stop the on-going sell-out project of Samsung Plaza to Aekyung.

Today's headlines_Nov 23

- Microsoft Korea’s recent poll on 25,000 from seven Asian countries shows Korean internet users are very well aware of blog, prefer a technology-related blog, and weekly spend 1-2 hours in ‘blogging.’ The percentage of people who answered they know what blog is was highest among Korean ‘netizens,’ with 83 per cent compared to the Asian average of 66 per cent.

- RAND's Public Policy Expert Charles Wolf told to the RFA that about $200m is believed to be annually wired to North Korea from Koreans living in Japan through banks in a third country. He said the money does not necessarily show their support for Kim’s regime but is aimed to help poor relatives living in the regime.

- North Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minster Kang Seok-Ju told to reporters in Beijing that North Korea would never give up its nuclear.

- The government is bracing itself for a possible labor dispute in a joint industrial complex in Kaesung amid the number of North Korean workers passing 10,000 as of Nov 21. A Unification official predicted “in the coming two-three years, their voice will be louder,” A South Korean official at Kaesung said “some North Korean workers who did never care about how much money their colleagues received now care about it.” The Unification Ministry is reported to have commissioned a study to Korea Labor Institute on the matter.

- The prosecution is expected to release its investigation result as early as next weekend.

- Chun Hyo-suk, president’s nominee for the head of Constitutional Court expressed her willingness to a high-ranking governmental official to give up on the post. She is believed to have said she didn’t want to be a ‘burden’ for President’s handling of administration.

Today's headlines_Nov 22

- The FT reported yesterday that Lone Star is close to ditch the KEB deal.

- Shin Ji-ho, president of the Liberty Union, argues that North Korea is now in the phase IV in the ‘nation dismantlement’ process. He divides the phase into five categories; economic failure(I); loosened social order(II); increasing discomfort against the regime(III); intensifying power struggle(IV); and regime dismantlement(V).

- Samsung Electronics successfully introduced the world’s thinnest LCD panel of 0.82mm into the market. The product is 0.07 mm thinner than that of Sharp which announced last month that it had made 0.89 mm panel. The company will churn out the products from the later half of next year.

- Inconvenience from severe traffic jam is expected today due to a series of protests slated to take place in downtown Seoul. The Police expect the number of demonstrators to be around 13,000.

- Chinese Xinhwa reported that North Korea promised Nigeria to help the country enhance railroad system.

- Four out of ten Seoul citizens think the next government can’t solve real estate bubble either and house prices will continue to go up, a research by Hyundai Economic Research Institute shows. Respondents point out government’s failed property policy is the biggest factor behind the rising house prices

- The Health Ministry is set to pass a piece of legislation under which a woman can donate her egg for research purpose only three times in her lifetime and a man can donate his sperm 10 times.

- Financial experts don’t think Lone Star is going to actually annul the deal but rather try to lead the whole situation to its advantage and put pressure on prosecutors by raising the possibility of doing so. Kookmin Bank hasn’t issued any statement regarding the speculation.

today's headlines_Nov 21

Maeil Business Daily

- Beijing is believed to have partially lifted its freeze on North Korea’s BDA accounts, according to Chinese sources and North Korea experts in Seoul.

- Big companies say they will increase investment a little bit from this year despite bleak economic prospect next year.

- Lee Phil-sang, business management professor, was elected new president of Korea University. He is the first president of the university as a graduate of Seoul National University.

Chsoun Ilbo

- The GNP has decided not to support for the appointment of Lee Jae-joung for Unification Minister for the reason of his ‘biased history perception.’

Portal sites

- The government designated five more districts as ‘speculative zones,’ which leads to all districts in Seoul becoming real estate speculative regions.

- GNP rep. Chun Jung-bae and former GNP leader Choi Byung-ryol is going to be a relative by marriage. Chun’s eldest daughter who is working at Seoul District Court as junior judge and Choi’s cousin who has also passed national bar exam and been in train institute will get married next year.

- North Korea, China, and the US are to hold a meeting in Beijing today to talk about details of date, time and agenda for the six party talks.

- According to Seoul Metropolitan Government, a ‘Wall for Proposal of Marriage’ is going to be built in Cheongkyechon by the first half of next year. The city government has been received good ideas from citizens and now decided to adopt nine most feasible ideas as official city development policies.

- National Human Rights Committee advised local banks not to put limitation on education level for new staff. It said the education requirement of current ‘university graduate’ in job application for banks is a discriminatory act.

- A recent poll on 1,000 adults shows 81.2 per cent of the respondents say street protestors’ behavior is violent and 72.6 per cent say protestors don’t abide by rules. Only 18.1 per cent say they stage a ‘peaceful demonstration.’

- US State Department rejected to issue permission for Pak Gil-yeon, North Korean Ambassador to the UN, to travel to Harvard University where he was supposed to address at a debate with Harvard professors.

today's headlines_Nov 20

Maeil Business Daily

- Amid disappointing business performance with the dropping number of tourists to Mount KumKang, Hyundai Asan is believed to reduce salary for its employees. Meanwhile Kumkang Golf course, currently under construction, will open next May and premier membership will sell for W25 m.

- Local banks resume mortgage loans as early as today, but people who want to take out loans should go thorough more rigorous paperwork.

- Since the Asian financial crisis, local companies’ debt ratio to asset has been reduced significantly from 300 per cent in the 1990s to 116 per cent today, but investment has been very slow, according to the report released by Bank of Korea.

Chsoun Ilbo

- The Supreme Court said yesterday that its chief justice Lee Young-hun met with three people from the KEB and Loan Star, including Yoo Hoe-won, in December, 2004 to discuss the civil lawsuit against the KEB.

- The Fair Trade Committee yesterday levied the most expensive fine in its history of W200 bn on local petrochemical companies including SK Corporation, LG Chem Ltd., and Homan Petrochemical Corp., for alluding to fix prices for plastic products.

Portal sites

- With increasing demand for reducing temporary job openings by labor, the overall number of jobs is flat because companies reduces temporary workers while not increasing regular ones. A high ranking finance ministry official said “temporary jobs have been recently on the decline, which holds down the overall number of job creation.”

- Former CEO of Daewoo Kim Woo-jung gave up appealing to the Supreme Court for the ruling of eight years and six months in prison, W10 m in fine, and W17 trillion in retrieved money.

- According to GNP Rep. Lee Han-koo, the number of presidential consulting government agencies increased to 25 compared to 18 in 2002, up 38.9 per cent. Budget earmarked for these agencies this year was W55.2 bn, 131.6 per cent up from 2002 of W23.8 bn.

- In an interview with Reuters, Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu said the government can advance the execution of next year’s budget as much as 57 per cent in an effort for pump-priming.

- As late as next September, ‘water call taxi’ will be in service connecting 20 stops at each side of Han River.

Local paper headlines_Nov 17

Maeil Business Daily

- A team of Korean researchers have successfully developed a battery that can last for a year once recharged.

- Venture companies in Daeduk, Daejon are receiving a flurry of investment offers from foreign companies.

- A former democratic labor party member who has been recently arrested on allegation of being a North Korean spy is said to have testified that he had set up a plan to do terrorist acts on South Korea’s 100 influential men including Lee Kun-hee, Chun Doo-hwan, and Hwang Jang-yeop.

Chsoun Ilbo

- Only 15 minutes after the MOFAT issued its stance on the UN vote on North Korean human rights issues, the Unification Ministry showed a gesture that seemed to water down Korea’s changed tougher stance, by saying the government’s basic North Korean policy of resolving the issue through dialogue, not through sanctions or pressure, would continue.

- In the confirmation hearing, Song Min-soon evaded an answer to the question, “Is North Korea an autocratic state?,” saying “I can’t answer to that in an open place like this.” He was lambasted by lawmakers for his alleged change of position from ‘pro-America’ to ‘anti-America’ in order to ‘please’ President Roh.

Portal sites

- The government moves to raise public health insurance fee by up to 7.9 per cent after it failed to hike cigarette prices. The decision will be out within next month.

- Some opposition lawmakers argue that Lee Heo-chang who left the politics after he had failed in the 16th presidential election, should return to the party to help the GNP take power in the next election. A representative close to Lee said “I don’t think Lee hasn’t thought about returning.”

- Hong Kong’s monthly magazine reported today that there is a possibility for Kim Jong-il to officially designate his heir within this month. The magazine didn’t specify where the information came from.

- Four out of ten government officials over 5-level have more than a Master’s degree and one in ten has a Doctor’s degree. Rural Development Administration, Korea Food & Drug Administration, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office are the three among government agencies that have the most highly-educated staff.

- North Korean deputy ambassador designate to the UN Kim Myong-kil said in a telephone interview with the AP that Seoul’s approval vote on the UN resolution for North Korean human rights would have a ‘bad impact’ on inter-Korean relations.

Profile on Lee Young-hun, reform-minded chief justice of Korean Supreme Court

He was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the South Korean Supreme Court on September 25, 2005.

At the Inauguration ceremony, he said:

“in the decades of dictatorship and authoritarian regimes, the judiciary has not maintained its independence from political pressures nor served as the last stronghold of human rights protection. All jurists deplore the concerns and scars we have caused the Korean public.”

“The court system could not perform its full legal roles throughout the colonial period, the war and associated period of division. We have a bereaved history of dictatorship and authoritarianism during which the court lost his independence and was not able to perform its full responsibilities as the final safeguard of human rights.”

“I will look only at the citizens, and devote myself to serving the citizens.”

“My calling is to bridge the gulf that exists between the citizens and the court system, to return the court to one that is devoted to the citizens’ cause.”

“I will boldly get rid of antiquated systems and practices to create a legal system that is convenient and practical from the citizen’s point of view.”

Lee spoke of his deep regret concerning the history of authoritarianism in Korea and promised “a fresh start for the judiciary.”

“Above all, it needs the courage to confess past mistakes frankly to restore lost public confidence in the judiciary.”

During the National Assembly Hearing, he said:

“If a Supreme Court chief justice cannot retain neutrality, then he does not have the right to be in that position.”

Question on his relationship with President Roh, “I have not met the president outside of the impeachment trial.”

On the subject of court reform, “in truth, the court doesn’t have any power, as it is only a place for trials, But checking the court system can harm the independence of the court.”

To the question on the type of philosophy that has guided his time as a court justice who has served for more than 40 years, “I have always pondered the way to make the most reasonable judgment.”

With regard to his stance upon President Roh’s proposal to nullify the statute of limitations in criminal cases to enable retroactive punishment for wrongdoings in the past, “It is conventional for the court to make future-oriented decision. Problems of the past should be discussed in the National Assembly.”

Regarding judicial intervention, “the court should actively intervene when citizens request it. To make the judicial system easily accessible to the citizens is an important agenda.”

Question about the proper limits of carrying out investigations without a warrant, he answered that such cases much be prevented and emphasized the importance of carrying out prudent arrests. “Behind every arrest is a family’s blood and tears,” he said as he mentioned his past experience as criminal prosecutor advising his juniors to make as few arrests as possible.

On September 13, 2006, he said :

“Most documents prepared by lawyers are the ones that play upon word aimed at trick people.
“There is a word ‘three judicial wheels’, but I think the judiciary is the center, and the prosecution and lawyers are supporters to help the judiciary move smoothly, and these are not the same wheel.”

On September 18, 2006, he said :

“Judges issue arrest warrant without proper consideration. They should recognize the reality that issuing an arrest warrant drives people who gets arrested and their family members into a catastrophe. You know, heads of family are arrested and their family members are put into crisis.”

“Why do they issue an arrest warrant given arrest people will be released after review of legality for confinement, or by stay of execution only a month later?”

On September 19 2006, he said :

“How come is it that prosecutor’s written statement which they unofficially received from a suspect in a closed dark room is treated as same as the oral statement in a court?”

“In a civil lawsuit, if the court is to have proper court proceeding, it should throw away prosecutor’s investigation documents.”



Aged 63, he passed the bar in 1962 and worked as a prosecutor from 1968 to 1992. He established his own law firm in 2000, working as a lawyer taking 472 cases, most of them Supreme Court cases, before he was sworn in as Supreme Court chief justice.

He defended President Roh during the presidential parliamentary impeachment trials in 2004.

People close to him describe him as being “a person with no compromise to his principle,” “a judge who always speaks his mind,” and “a lawyer who is not content with just comfortable life.” Personally he is known to be very warm, free and easy.

Under Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship, he disobeyed the government’s asking to sentence a person who was arrested for political reason two years in prison, and afterwards he had been excluded from any political court cases until Chun’s term was over. At that time he ordered 6 months in prison instead of 2 years.

important headlines_Nov 16

- Government’s plan to ease equity investment cap on Chaebols has been decided. The government, however, failed to reach an agreement with the ruling party due to the party’s demand for softer regulation on Chaebol.

- South Korea, the US, and Japan reached an agreement to resume the stalled six party talks possibly before December 15 and let China take care of detailed schedule.

- In the run up to the ‘Kimchi Season,’ the prices of cabbage and radish continue to nosedive. The price is 30-40 per cent lower than last year.

- Seoul District Court accepted prosecutors’ third attempt for seeking arrest request for Ellis Short and Michael Thompson. Accordingly the prosecution is expected to forge ahead with extradition proceeding.

- Government’s stance on UN vote for North Korea human rights resolution is likely to be known today. It is expected that Seoul will approve the vote, marking a turnaround from its previous stance. A high ranking government official said the government would announce its stance this afternoon.

- According to a poll, 41.3 per cent of respondents say they oppose to the appointment of Chon Hyo-suk as chief of constitutional court and 30.6 per cent agreed.

- Navigation system of Toyota’s luxurious car Lexus doesn’t have Dokdo on its map service. The system is made-in-Japan.

- North Korea’s weekly ‘Tongil-shinbo’ introduced South Korea film ‘Monster’ by saying the movie portrays how ugly US soldiers’ behaviors are in Korea..

- 'On my news’ found out that rankings of Seoul National University and Korean university on World University Rankings reported by The Times on October 6 were exaggerated, based on bloated date submitted by both universities.

- The SERI report revealed that the total domestic spending on English education amounted W15 trillion last year, 1.9 per cent of the country’s GDP of W806 trillion and 47.5 per cent of national education budget of W30 trillion.

other important headlines_Nov 15

- A job portal site Career found out that 78.6 per cent of 1,133 office workers who responded to a poll have thought about getting plastic surgery for self-satisfaction and better impression to others, with 89.8 per cent among female workers and 62.1 per cent among male.

- In concert with government’s announcement of new property measures, National Tax Office is set to start rigorous tax probe into people suspected of evading property taxes. The agency is expected to announce a detailed plan today.

- Asking where the blind date partner comes from becomes increasingly a thing of the past among young generation. Old generation, however, still tend to prefer their offspring to get married to a person from the same hometown.

- Lexus is set to top in the list of best-selling foreign cars in Korea but the car price actually almost double Lexus sold in the US and Japan, which demonstrates ‘high-price marketing strategy’ still goes down well with luxury goods consumers. Toyota Korea said “the Korean car market is smaller in size compared to that of the US and Japan, and that is why Lexus is more expensive here.”

- Former president Kim Dae-jung expressed his hope for US’s softer stance toward North Korea as Democratic Party achieved a sounding victory in the mid-term elections. He lectured to Kongju University in Chungman “I hope the newly structured US Congress to peacefully solve North Korea’s nuclear problems by taking more reasonable and flexible attitudes.”

- Attending a seminar hosted by the GNP on Nov 6, Hwang Jang-yeop said “ in the eyes of China, Kim Jong-il is nothing more worth than just a blockage for ‘capitalistic free democracy’ flooding into China. In order to get rid of Kim’s regime, China should cut off its alliance with North Korea. When and if the US agrees with North Korea’s Chinese-type of market opening while not intervening into Chinese domestic affairs by refraining from asking China to accept more democratic value, North Korean problems will be solved.” Military pressure or economic sanctions on the regime can have some effect but only up to a point, and it is also not very likely that North Koreans stage any kind of upheaval by themselves since they are cut off from the outside world, he argued.

- Minority Democratic party leader tries to woo Shon Hak-kyu for political alliance, by saying that his belief that people with same thoughts and value should stay together didn’t change. He said on Nov 9 that the middle-of-the-road line the Democratic Party has been pursuing was shared by Mr. Shon.

- The Labor Ministry set to investigate the allegation that some of big hospitals asked newly-hired nurses to write a pledge not to marry and get pregnant for the next two years.

- Seoul National University might raise its enrollment fee for freshmen by up to 20 per cent to solve budget shortage.

local paper headlines_Nov 15

1. Chosun Ilbo

- The government is set to announce its 9th real estate cooling measure today after a consultative meeting with ruling Uri Party. The measures are expected to include stricter rules on taking-out mortgage loan.

- Resignation of construction minister Choo Byung-jik and presidential economic advisor Chung Moon-soo, who are the two masterminds of government’s real estate policies, is likely to be accepted. Along with them Lee Baek-man, presidential public communication officer, also offered to step down. President Roh will appoint their replacement after coming back from the APEC meeting in Vietnam.

- In an interview with Chosun Ilbo, Euh Yoon-dae, president of Korea University, who failed in the first stage of vote for the next term, said of his thought on the reason for the failure, “professors tend to dislike changes and prefer stability. I knew that professors didn’t like lecturing in English and strengthened screening process of thesis but these were something that I had to push ahead with.”

- According to a survey by Korean Chamber of Commerce, Korean workers are much more generous to co-worker’s wrongdoing in office than their American counterparts. Only 21 per cent say they will ‘report’ the irregularities while 70.7 per cent say they will warn their co-worker not to do that again. 8.3 per cent say they will turn a blind eye on it. In the case of US workers, 55 per cent say they will ‘report.’

- In the run up to government’s expected new tightening measures on mortgage loan, a flurry of phone calls and visits by anxious customers continued in local banks yesterday to inquire about the loan.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- The government decided to soften its equity investment cap on chaebols by applying equity restrictions on companies with over W2 trillion in total assets, in which case only 24 big companies will be under the share-holding limit, compared to over 340 companies from 14 business groups before the revision. The government also continues to allow major conglomerates to maintain the already established circulatory shareholding structures.

- Yoon Tae-young, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, is likely to be appointed as a new presidential public communication officer.

- Samsung Electronics moves to revamp its service for broken home appliance by introducing ‘+1 service’ under which customers can not only get technical services for broken appliances but also get free check-up for other appliances as well. The service will start in earnest from next year.

Government's plan to add more houses

550,000 new houses will be constructed near Seoul by 2011, up 110,000 from the previous new city development plan in order to solve house shortage.

Under the development plan of new cities near Seoul, namely Songpa, Keumdan, Kimpo, Paju, Yangju, and Pyongtaek, the number of apartments will increase by as many as 110,000. As a result, an aggregate 550,000 new houses will be constructed in the metropolitan area by 2011.

The finance and construction ministries are expected to hold a consultation with the ruling party and announce the new real estate stabilization plan tomorrow.

The government managed to boost supply by raising development density in the area; in the case of Songpa, the original development density plan was 170 residents per a hectare, but the government increased the population density by 30-50 people per hectare. Accordingly it expects to add as many as 60,000 new apartments to the existing plan of 46,000.

The plan is understood by some as government’s last resort since its previous property market policies all failed miserably to cool down run-away prices hike. Experts point out increasing house supply will help house shortages for working-class household in the long term, but demand for good houses, which has been on the steady rise, can’t be met with such a plan especially given that housing problems stem mainly from Kangnam area, not from the metropolitan area.

Park Jae-ryong, researcher at SERI, said “what is important now is how many, how big and where the new apartments are built and just supplying new ones will not solve the problem,” and “the government should hammer out a plan which can absorb demands from Seoul people.”

other important headlines_Nov 14

- The US expressed its disappointment, in a roundabout way, with Korea’s decision not to further participate in the PSI by saying it would welcome when Korea fully joins the initiative. Sean McCormack, spokesman of State Department, said Korea has kept changing its stance on the PSI and the US would welcome when Korea decides to join the PSI one day.

- In a press release, John Grayken of Lone Star countered the argument that executives of the company were resisting investigation by the Korean prosecution by saying their argument was wrong and inflammatory. He said Ellis Short and Thompson revealed their willingness to get investigation if the prosecution guaranteed the leaving date but the Korean prosecutors were only seeking to arrest them.

- Unification minister Lee Jong-seok suddenly canceled his planned visit to Kumkang Mountain for unspecified reason. The visit was planned as the last big schedule as unification minister. Amid wild speculation on the reason for the cancellation, Lee said “nobody pressed me not to go.”

- Chun Young-woo, Korea’s point man in charge of six party negotiations, said this morning that he expected the talk to be held by mid-December. As for the PSI, he opened the possibility for Korea to join the initiative on a case-by-case basis.

- A poll by Woori Home-shopping shows that 37 per cent of housewives in their 20s don’t know how to make Kimchi, while 56 per cent of them say they will make Kimchi by themselves for the coming winter. The reason for buying kimchi instead of making, 61.5 per cent say buying one is much more convenient, 26 per cent say the don’t know how to make it, and 7.9 per cent points to efficiency of buying. 72 per cent of respondents store Kimchi in the kimchi fridge.

- Choo Byung-jik said this morning he would not resign immediately even though he was feeling responsible for the real estate policy failure. He said “despite rising house prices, I don’t think the real estate policy is a failure,” and “the prices will stabilize in the near future, and the policy will ultimately succeed.”

- The prosecution found the lead that billions of money suspected of former president Chun Doo-hwan’s slush fund flew to the bank account of his grandson. If the money is confirmed to be part of the slush fund, the prosecution will seek to seize all the money. Chun was ordered to pay back an astronomical amount of money of W220.5 bn on February 1997, but he has paid only W53.2 bn, 24 per cent, up to now.

local paper headlines_Nov 14

1. Chosun Ilbo

- Amid mounting criticism for failure to deal with real estate policy, it is reported that the presidential blue house passed the responsibility now to the Finance Ministry. Up to now, property market policies have been made by Cheong Wa Dae economic advisors but it is expected that the matter will be handled with more market-friendly hands in the finance ministry.

- Construction Minister Choo Byung-jik is likely to resign mainly over his premature announcement of a new city development plan. He said “I won’t shirk my responsibility.”

- It is reported that government’s plan not to fully join in the US-led PSI was decided without proper consultation with the ruling party in which opinions were very divided on that matter. The government unilaterally announced its position on the PSI while disregarding minority opinions inside the ruling party.

- The prosecution sought arrest warrant for former financial official Byeon Yang-ho for alluding with Lee Kang-won to help Loan Star buy KEB at a discounted price. It also sought arrest warrant for Ha Jong-sun, president of the Hyundai insurance company, who is alleged to lobby Byeon on behalf of Lone Star.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Small and medium-sized companies are suffering from a rising won against Japanese yen. It is reported that 12 per cent of the companies are giving up on exports to Japan. The exchange rate of won against yen hit the lowest since Oct 31st 1997.

- The west seashore is emerging a new Mecca for industrial complex with new plants of LCD, motor, chemical, and steel being built around the area. The popularity of the area is due to its proximity to the metropolitan area and logistics convenience through highways and seas.

- Shipment of rice and fertilizer to North Korea will be halted for the time being in accordance to the UN resolution 1718. As for Mount Kumkang tour, the government will stick to the halting of subsidies, and in the case of Kaesung industrial complex, no further measure except for sale reservation of the first development complex will be taken.

- 550,000 new houses will be constructed near Seoul by 2011, up 110,000 from the previous new city development plan in order to solve house shortage.

- Hana financial group made small changes in its personnel structure and added a M&A specialist from outside. The company brought in Lee Sung-kyu, former vice-president of Kookmin Bank, who will take charge of domestic M&A, future policy coordination, and financial and risk management. Hiring Lee Sungp-kyu is seen part of the company efforts to put more focus on M&As.

other important headlines_Nov 13

- The Seoul City Government’s more-than-ten-billion unmanned parking lot project which was introduced six years ago has not been used properly. Most of the machine on the street, made in the US, is either broken or out of power, and people don’t know how to use it.

- A Japanese intelligence source said yesterday the North Korean ship detained by the Indian maritime police on the way to Iran might have tried to import enriched uranium from Iran. He said “I talked to the Indian government and I assume that North Korea’s sending empty ship to the country may be for importing enriched uranium which Iran is believed to have succeeded in producing.”

- The top 100 house owners have on average 155 houses and the number of household owning two houses amounts to 720,000, according to Democratic Labor Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung. The top 37 people have more than 100 houses.

- According to Korea Consumer Protection, SK Telecom has been receiving the biggest consumer complaints with 4012 cases in the year to June, followed by KTF 2,849, Hanaro Telecom with 2,416 and LG Telecom with 2,092, showing that telecom operators are registered with the most frequent consumer complaints. Automobile companies have also received lots of complaints with Hyundai Motor standing at 12th and Kia at 15th.

- Among 36 first-level officials at Cheong Wa Dae, 17 officials or 47 % turn out to live in a so-called ‘bubble seven area,’ where Cheong Wa Dae designated house prices are most likely to be inflated. On internet, netizens are spreading a document named “the address of Cheong Wa Dae officials who live in ‘bubble seven,’ which contains the information of their name, the exact address, pyong, and price.

- The more educated, the bigger the yearly salary gap between male and female, according to the research by a job portal site of Career. For high school graduators, the gap is on average 2.3m, and for two-year job college graduators, 2.0m, but female university graduators receive on average 4.1m less than their male counterparts do. In the case of females who graduate from graduate schools, they receive 4.96 m less than their male counterparts.

- GNP Rep. Ahn Myung-ok, a member of health and welfare committee, said some of international marriage brokers do not show any respect for human rights of the foreign women who want to marry a Korean guy and do the excessive commercialization of such women. On the websites of such companies, provocative signs such as “never run away” or “bride-quality guaranteed,” are shown. In some advertisement, they divide bride-to-be women into groups according the education level and price them accordingly; W8.8m for under high-school graduator, W9.8m for more than two-year job college education, W15m for female from urban middle-class who can speak English.

- UN secretary-general designate Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with YTN that he would like to visit North Korea to solve the nuclear problems next year. One of the biggest regrets and the thing he felt sorry for the Korean people was that he, as foreign minister, couldn’t solve the nuclear problems, he added.

local paper headlines_Nov 13

1. Chosun Ilbo

- As overheated property market doesn’t show any sign of abating, experts say the government should leave the issue to the market principle and focus on people’s livelihood rather than churning out new property cooling measures. Prof. Kim Kwan-young of Hanyang University said rising house prices were not something that the government could fix in a short time.

- The government decided not to extend its participation in the PSI. A government official familiar with the issue said “we agree with the principle of the PSI but we decided as such after taking into consideration special security conditions of the Korean peninsula.” The decision was made during the Nov 11 meeting held between Cheong Wa Dae, the government, and the ruling party.

- The Uri Party voices strongly for the resignation of Lee Baek-man, Cheong Wa Dae’s public relations advisor, who stirred controversy by saying “if you buy a house it is a big mistake,” and construction minister Choo Byeong-jik for the government’s failure to deal with the property market.

- The Defense Ministry moves to create an army unit specializing in disaster relief in an effort to strengthen Korea’s peace keeping operations in the United Nations Forces.

- North Korea’s one of the most influential diplomatic men, Kang Seok-ju, who is often called by Russia as Kim Jong Il’s special envoy, is said to have been staying since Nov 7th in Moscow to get treatment for his year-long cataract.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- In an interview with the paper, Ellis Short, vice president of Lone Star, argues that the Korean prosecutors’ investigation was seen as being encouraging nationalism or populism and the prosecution was trying to make one of the most successful foreign investments give in for no reason. Lone Star made the near-bankrupt company survive and become successful, he added.

- Insurance companies either scraps to sell cancer insurance policy or scales back guarantees of such policies because of increasing burden for cancer insurance benefits giving out to patients.

- With mega marts being sprawling up around the country, small supermarkets or local traditional markets are suffering greatly.

-Buying out 68,786 Samsung Electronics stock on Nov 9-10, foreign investors are showing to end a long sell-off spree of the stock. They had been selling off the company shares for 21 days from Oct 11 to Nov 8.

other important headlines_Nov 10

- As a result of government’s plan to decrease apartment prices by 20-30 per cent in an effort to stabilize property market, prices for small and medium sized apartment in a new city will be around W7m-W10m.

- With Donald Rumsfeld being replaced, attention is now focused on whether the schedule for transferring wartime operational control from the US to Korea will be changed. A military expert in Washington said even though defense minister changed, that would not have much impact on the already-agreed issue, but Rumsfeld who urged to give the control by 2009 was now out so there was more room for Korea to push ahead with its plan to push back the date till the year 2012.

- Uri Rep. Chun Jung-bae made clear his opposition to a formation of a grand neutral cabinet suggested by some of his party members. In a radio interview, he said “the government should be led by the president and Uri party. That is a politics of responsibility and according to democratic principle and I don’t think we need such a cabinet.” He also revealed his ambition to run for the party’s presidential ticket.

- Rep. Choi Yean-hee of GNP is on the brink of losing his lawmaker position as the court sentenced him six months in jail and one year of stay of execution. He was accused of sexually harassing Donga Ilbo female reporter.

- As the UN is said to put a North Korean human rights resolution to a vote within this weekend, the government, which has either abstained or not attended in the vote for the past three years considering special security conditions on the Korean peninsula, is now agonizing on its stance. Criticism from in and out of country of Seoul’s ambivalent stance on the common value as well as Ban Ki-moon’s appointment as UN secretary-general weigh heavily on the government’s decision.

- GNP Rep. Chung Hyung-keun argues “Kim Jong-il ordered his top military staff to make Kaesung park a military base in case of emergency,” and “he ordered them to dispatch people from a special military forces as a worker at the park.” “Kaesung Industrial Park is not an industrial complex for pure business as the government thinks it is,” he added.

- The Defense Ministry moves to halve its military force of Zaitun in Iraq from the current 2,400 to 1,200 by next year in an effort to quell criticism of extending the military’s staying. The ministry will file the proposal to the National Assembly around November 23.

local paper headlines_Nov 10

1. Chosun Ilbo

- As part of real estate cooling measures, the government is to introduce various measures to drive down prices for apartment by 20-30 per cent, and impose stricter rules on taking-out mortgage loans in order to block the excessive money from flowing into the real estate market. Also development of new cities will be introduced earlier than expected.

- The board of KBS, Korea’s state-run broadcasting station, is going to recommend Chung Yean-joo as president for the second term. His appointment has been under criticism because he was considered one of close aides to President Roh. The opposition party voiced concern that Cheong Wa Dae tries to use Chung and KBS by extension for the next year’s presidential election.

- Google Korea moves to entice excellent Korean software developers working in Korean internet firms such as NHN, and SK Communications to move to the company. Local companies hit back at such an aggressive move by Google by providing its staff with more incentives and stepping up security on personnel information. For example Samsung Electronics keep secret their organization details and sometimes senior executives meet top technicians to persuade them to stay at the company.

- It is reported that when Lee Kun-hee visited Dubai, Samsung took away LG TV, which was hung on the wall of the suite where Lee was staying, and put up a Samsung TV. The company initially asked for it to the hotel, Burj Al Arab, the seven-star hotel, but the hotel rejected the request so the company did that by itself.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- In a press briefing, BoK governor Lee Seung-tae said “big rise in apartment prices in the metropolitan area really is a big concern,” but “real estate conditions is one of many factors in determining monetary policy and interest rate should be determined from a balanced and holistic viewpoint.”

- Cheong Wa Dae is willing to form a nonpartisan Cabinet in response to mounting calls from the political sectors for drastic change in the government line-up if the ruling and opposition parties agree to cooperate in legislating important bills, presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said. “The two parties’ agreement on the smooth running of the national assembly should be guaranteed,” he empathized.

- The number of unionized workers in Korea is dwindling to 10.3 per cent as of the end of last year, the lowest since 1977 when the labor ministry actually started counting the number of unionized workers. One of the biggest reasons for the reducing number is increasing service industry while manufacturing jobs have been on the decline.

- 0.19 m computers worth W50bn seized from illegal gambling places since ‘the Sea Story gate’ broke out are going to be sent to poor houses around the nation and other developing countries. The government initially meant to terminate all the seized computers.

other important headlines_Nov 9

- The BoK keeps its call rate at the current 4.5 per cent. Meanwhile a financial ministry official said “the economic fundamentals are still instable and there is no sign that prices will be unsettled, so I don’t think the BoK could find any reason for raising interest rate.” “Though property market is fluctuating but it can’t be a reason enough to increase the rate.”

- President Roh is said to have been secretly trying to have inter-Korean summit through a direct channel, which marks a turnaround of his policy that prefers having such a summit after resolving nuclear problems. According to a source who is very familiar with the issue said core members of Seoul and Pyongyang had secret meetings in a third country twice in the end of October and agreed on the resumption of six party talks and inter-Korean summit.

- FTC commissioner Kwon O-seung said yesterday in a lecture “chaebol is owned by a leader of the company if it succeeds, but the country provides public funds when it fails,” and “accordingly chaebol can be understood as a public company in a sense.” “Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK Group are private companies but also public company.” His remark was fiercely opposed by business people who were attending the lecture.

- The Police will hire the disabled as a police official for the first time in its history. The agency posed a job offering for two disabled people among 20 cyber-crime investigators.

- Lone Star employees rejected yesterday the prosecutor’s request to come to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. They are reported to have said the Korean prosecutors should come to the US if they wanted an investigation. The chief investigator Chae Dong-wook said “Lone Star has no respect for Korea’s legal system.”

- It is reported that the government will decide its stance on the PSI within this week. The decision, however, might be influenced by former president Kim Dae-jung and Uri party leader Kim Keun-tae who oppose the extended involvement of Seoul in the initiative. A Cheong Wa Dae official said “the blue house is finalizing its stance after seeking advice from relevant government agencies,” and “I wonder if Cheong Wa Dae can possibly ignore DJ or the ruling party.”

- Sony Korea hasn’t decided yet on when it releases its new Play Station 3 in the Korean market on worries over profitability due to illegal copy of game title (software).

- Aekyung Group is set to take over Samsung Corporation’s retail business including Bundang Samsung Plaza. Samsung Corporation has chosen Aekyung Group ARD Holdings as a preferred bidder and will conclude MOU soon. The company will have due diligence and conclude the contract by the end of the year. The estimated price for the take-over is about W500bn.

local paper headlines_Nov 9

1. Chosun Ilbo

- US Democratic Party swept the House for the first time in 12 years in mid-term elections yesterday, which is likely to have a negative impact on President’s Bush’s implementation of diplomatic policies around the world.

- In the university entrance essay exam, creativity and clear demonstration of thought are the two most important evaluation criteria. Creativity takes up 40 per cent of the total evaluation grade, followed by demonstration of 30 per cent.

- The prosecution expands its investigation into Lone Star on allegation that the equity fund bribed relevant officials for expedition of KEB take-over process. It also says to file arrest warrant for Lone Star employees for the third time with more evidence attached.

- A Korean government official said yesterday the US Treasury Department seemed to find out new evidence of North Korea’s money laundering during its BDA investigation. He said the US would have direct conversation with the North concerning financial issues on the sideline of the six party talks.

- Korea’s biggest search engine NHN achieved net operating profit of W36.6bn in the third quarter, up 14.1 per cent a quarter ago due largely to increased on-line advertisement.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- Samsung Electronics is jointly developing with Sprint Co. ways to establish WiBro chip into other digital appliances such as MP3, digital camera, and games.

- The Finance Ministry will take charge of property policies while the Construction Ministry’s role in this regard is scaled back. Accordingly Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu will take the top job of supervising real estate market. On the Cheong Wa Dae part, policy coordinator Byeon Yang-kyun will replace presidential economic advisor Chung Moon-soo as a chief of property policy.

- Local banks increase the interest rate of mortgage loan by 0.2-0.3 per cent in accordance with the government’s stricter measures to reduce mortgage loans.

other important headlines_Nov 2

- President Roh is said to have talked to Rohsamo members in August that he would continue working for the government after his term expires. “I have been working very hard to enhance Korea’s press, politics, and environment to the levels of developed countries and I won’t give up those issues when my term as president expires.”

- The number of mobile phone subscribers is expected to be over 40 m within this year. The number as of the end of October stood at 39.8m, up by 0.16m from a month ago. An industry expert says “I expect the number to pass W40m within this month or next month given the recent trend.”

- Democratic Labor party members who are visiting North Korea are scheduled to meet Kim Young-nam, President of the Supreme People's Assembly, tomorrow. The DLP source said, “the exact time and attendants, however, have not been decided yet.”

- A job portal site Career polled 5,663 job seekers and found out that Kepco (40.4%) is the most popular company among government-run companies, SK Telecom (51.7%) among information technology companies, and Kookmin bank (35.8%) in the banking sector, Samsung Electronics (51.5%) in electronics, and Posco Construction (21.8%) in the construction field.

- Samsung Corporation’s planned sell-off of Samsung Plaze Bundang faces fierce opposition from employees and the company decided to push back the announcement of preferred bidder to next week in order to have more conversation with its employees. Aekyung is believed to offer the highest price for the take-over but employees strongly against the buyout by Aekyung.


- Former Kyunggi governor Shon Hak-kyu attacked Lee Myung-bak saying a government-led development system in the 1960-80s should be thoroughly reviewed. His remark is understood to aim at Lee’s project of ‘Korean peninsula canal,’ which is one of Lee’s election pledges in the next presidential election.

- According to parliamentary audit sources, the court has received a total of 225 divorce complaints from North Korean defectors since 2003. But only eight cases have been resolved while 217 cases (98.4 per cent) have not. The reason behind the late process is due to the current law under which a spouse who is practically responsible for the break-up can’t file a divorce lawsuit.

- The national tax office decided to levy a 250 bn tax on the KEB as a result of tax probe into the bank. A person close to the matter said “the agency notified the bank that it should pay tax of W250bn for corporation tax exemption it received during the merge process of the KEB Card.”

- Kim Soo-hyun, presidential secretary for social policy said the 8.31 real estate policy has failed and he was one of the masterminds of the policy.

local paper headlines _Nov 2

1. Chosun Ilbo

- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the New York Times that the US would demand a verifiable dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program or the resumption of IAEA inspection when the six party talks would be held.

- The government is considering resuming the shipment of rice and fertilizer to North Korea as soon as the news of the North’s willingness to come back to the negotiation table broke out. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said in a radio interview the government would review when to resume the shipment and the shipment date would be decided sooner or later.

- Security authorities are said to investigate into the phone list of Chang Min-ho to find out whom he has contacted with. When the list becomes revealed, the repercussion is expected to be massive throughout the political sector.

- The government is set to unveil a massive development project in the southwest province of the country. According to the project, a tourist complex and logistics centers will be built in the area by the year 2016 with an estimated budget of W7,000 bn.

- The prosecution is understood to be considering seeking arrest warrant for former president of KEB Lee Kang-won on suspicion of breach of trust. Lee Kang-won was summoned last week as a suspect for investigation.

- Shinsegae decided to file a lawsuit against the Fair Trade Commission for conditional approval for its takeover of Wal-Mart Korea. The FTC approved the take-over on condition that Shinsegae sells 4-5 stores to prevent monopoly.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- A high-ranking government official said “we agreed with the US before to form a financial working group to deal with the BDA issues when the North agrees to come back to the six party talks,” and “forming such a group is one of the ideas that we have brought up.”

- Chae Dong-wook, leading prosecutor in the Loan Star case, reiterated his willingness to handle the case in a stern manner. He said “if convicted, we will punish them according to law.” “Vice president of Loan Star is very important post and seeking arrest warrant was based on a careful consideration,” he added.

- The financial authorities put a brake on mortgage loans provided by local banks, asking banks to strictly follow the LTV (Loan To Value ratio) and restraining themselves from excessive competition.

- In the parliamentary audit yesterday, the Grand National Party blasted the MOFAT for failing to join the meeting between China, the US, and North Korea in which the North surprisingly agreed to the resumption of the six party talks. GNP lawmakers contended Korea has been always pushed aside whenever important things happened regarding North Korean issues.

- Inno Design plunges into a new business of producing its own digital products, by launching Innoman. Lee Soon, CEO of Innoman, said “the company is in charge of planning a digital product and global marketing, and we will make a technical tie-up with other companies and outsource works.”

- Two shareholders of Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. filed a lawsuit, as representatives of the company’s shareholders, against Hyundai Group CEO Hyun Jung-eun and HMM CEO Roh Jung-ik for W42.4 bn in damage that they are alleged to have caused to the company by selling company shares at a 20 per cent discounted price and buying shares of unlisted Hyundai Logistics at a high price for management control.

other important headlines_Nov 1

-‘Excessive body exposure’ will be written off from the list of misdemeanors because it is considered behind the times, said the Police.

- In the parliamentary audit, GNP lawmaker Lee Han-koo said disproportionate development has become more serious since the Roh government took office which was elected on platform of equal development. “Budget on R&D, capable industrial workers, bank loans are all too focused on the Metropolitan area,” he said.

- Despite a long Chuseok holiday, October export posted a double-digit growth. The average daily export increased by more than 20 per cent to $28.2 bn, 11.5 per cent up from a month ago. LCE panel sold the highest with 37.1 per cent of the whole export items, followed by ship (34%), semiconductor (25.6 %), petrochemicals (21.1%), steels (18.6 %), and cars (15.1%).

- November 11 (11.11) is a very special day for school girls. On the day, they give ‘Bbae-Bbae-ro’ a cookie made by Lotte Confectionery Co which looks like a number 1, to close friends, hoping for more concrete friendship. The custom has stared from 1994 in Busan where middle school girls share the cookie for fun on that day. The company said the sale of the cookie during November normally rises to W25 bn, almost one third of its annual sale.

- According to the research by a job portal site Job Korea in cooperation with Chinese HR DotCom, Korean workers think financial comfort (45.4%) as the most important factor for happiness followed by health, and family while Chinese workers say health is the most crucial followed by family, and social network.

- Vice president of LG Electronics Kim Ssang-soo revealed his expectation on ‘Shine,’ LG Electronics’ ambitious new phone. Through a November CEO message, he said “a product like Shine should take off in the market,” and “Shine is a new conceptual product as a result of LG’s unique creativity and adventurous spirit.”

- The current law provides security guards to offspring of former presidents, but it is said that President Roh asked for review of the law saying it might not be necessary.

local paper headlines_Nov 1

1. Chosun Ilbo

- The Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday North Korea agreed to come back to the six party talks as soon as possible. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said six party chief negotiators of the US, China, and North Korea had an unofficial meeting and agreed to resume the talk at an earliest possible.

- If the suspicion on the Loan Star employees of stock price manipulation proves to be true in a court, Loan Star will be deprived of its qualification as a controlling shareholder of the KEB, thus will be ordered to sell its stake in the bank. An official of Loan Star strongly rejected the claim, saying what the Korean prosecutors say is completely a novel and Loan Star will take as many measures as possible.

- Chang Min-ho, the head of Ilsimhoe, a North Korean spy group, is suspected of receiving at least $19,000 from the North for spying activities in South Korea. The authorities are especially investigating into the source of the money with which Chang established his business back in 1999 and whether he leaked any information on South Korean technology to the North when he worked in the IT sector.

- Kim Woo-joong, the founder of Daewoo Empire, has recently been re-retained because suspension of execution expired.

2. Maeil Business Daily

- National Intelligence Service First Deputy Director Kim Man-bok appears to be the strongest candidate for chief of the NIS and Lee Jae-jeong, senior vice president of the National Unification Advisory Council is likely to be named as the new unification minister. Army Chief of Staff Kim Jang-soo may be appointed as the new defense minister.

- Fair Trade Commission is reportedly investigating into Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital for Hyundai Motor’s unfair business favor. The agency points out that Hyundai Capital virtually monopolizes the business of Hyundai car installment purchase. The motor company provides Hyundai Card with subsidies for discounted prices that a customer can get when they buy a Hyundai car on Hyundai Card.

- Samsung Corporation concluded an investment accord with GE Security to take a 10 per cent stake of logistics security company Commerce Guard, an affiliate of GE Security for $15 m. Through the contract, Samsung Corporation advances into a new field of the security business. “We overcome the business boundary which centered around export, and continue advancing into new promising businesses for stable profit-making,” said the company.

- According to the research by a magazine Monthly CEO, one out of ten CEOs in Korea is a foreigner. There are 19 Japanese CEO, 14 American, 13 German, 9 English, and 5 French.

- The prosecution called in Samsung Group’s vice president Lee Hak-soo on October 31 to investigate on the alleged illegal provision of Everland CB by Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee to his children.