Today's headlines_Dec 11

- Chosun Sinbo, Japanese pro-North Korean newspaper, reported Kim Jong-il made an unusual visit to the regime’s one of the biggest rice fields in Hwanghae-bukdo, saying it shows Kim’s willingness to emphasize on economic development and enhancement of lives of ordinary people.

- President Roh is expected to officially appoint today Lee Jae-joung and Lee Yong-seop as Unification Minister and Construction Minister, respectively.

- CNN argued in is special FTA report program that a Korea-US FTA would cost millions of jobs in the US.

- North Korean experts estimate North Korea’s per capita income would be only about $250, far less than the 2004 prediction by Bank of Korea of $900.

- The head of ‘Changsarang,’ a group of supporters for former GNP leader Lee Hoe-chang, said the group will stage an outdoor gathering next January or February to urge Lee to run in the next presidential election. An aide to Lee said “the planned gathering is organized by the group and has nothing to do with Lee.”

- Amid domestic securities firms’ rosy expectation for the stock market next year, some foreign-based firms put out more cautious prediction citing a rising won against dollar and economic slowdown.

- Meeting with Korean immigrants in Oakland, New Zealand, President Roh said “it is South Korean government’s important strategy to let North Korea have some room for breath and not let it starve to death,” suggesting a possibility to soon resume the food aid stalled since the regime’s nuclear tests.