Today's headlines_Jan. 2

- President of Samju Co.(former Grace Department Store) Kim Heung-ju is confirmed to have bribed former and incumbent financial officials for easy loans back in 2002.

- Former GNP leader Lee Hoi-chang made it clear that he would not run for the next presidential election saying “I don’t have any plan for joining in the real politics.”

- Local banks will more strongly rein in house-backed loans.

- Finance Minister Kwon O-kye hinted that business deregulatory measures will be released early January in order to attract more foreign investments.

- While young Asians set their eyes on a wider world for fulfilling their business ambitions and do not fear for failure, lots of Korean youngsters tend to be more obsessed with long-term life stability by spending years, sometimes fruitlessly, preparing for national exams to become governmental officials, lawyers etc.

- ‘Imagination is the power’ is the phrase that companies should focus in the new year for success.

- The newspaper poll on 100 economic experts found that a rising won, possible financial crisis arising from unstable property market, and the presidential election will be the three factors that might pose a threat to national economic stability this year. And they say in one voice that presidential hopefuls should put their priority on sweeping deregulations for business in their election pledges.

- Lee Yong-hun, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stressed this morning on earning public trust in a trail, saying the judicial power comes from public trust.

- The number of apartments in the metropolitan area which are subject to property tax levied on houses more than W600 m totals 361,021, a whopping 88.6 per cent up from a year ago due to rising apartment prices last year.

- The Labor Ministry revealed yesterday 563,562 people applied for unemployment benefits in 2006, 8.8 per cent up a year before, marking the biggest number since the system was introduced in 1997. The trend is largely attributed to an increasing number of temporary workers amid sluggish economic performance.

- In the new year’s joint editorial, North Korea revealed its willingness to influence the outcome of the presidential election. It said “with the upcoming South Korea’s presidential election as a momentum, traitorous pro-American conservatives including the GNP should be buried by realizing a grand coalition of anti-conservatism.”

- Kumho Life Insurance scrapped its plan to put a restriction on insurance money for people with bad personal credit history.