- Samsung workers had a press briefing yesterday in front of the Labor Ministry to call on the ministry to launch an investigation into an increasing number of cases of leukemia among employees of Samsung Semiconductor. They argued “the company and the government do not conduct a proper research into the case and have only been trying to cover it up.”

- The Commerce Ministry announced the plan for natural resources development in North Korea this morning. The development in Dancheon area will be led by the government while that in the ‘west coast belt’ connecting Haeju and Nampo will be led by the private sector.

- President-elect LMB is to review his main election promises in order to double-check the feasibility of his main pledges and minimize possible confusion the new government might cause after taking power. Lee asked his aides to refrain from talking in public about the pledges because they might cause confusion or unnecessarily high expectations among people.

- People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy has taken the initiative in protesting against Woori Bank for its alleged roles in helping Samsung Group amass slush funds. The civic group receives online complaints from people and will relay them to the bank. The bank says it can’t issue any public apology until the prosecution ends its probe.

- Green Korea United, an environment group, says half of volunteers who worked in Taean to clean up oil-spilt areas suffer from nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and difficult breathing. 97.6 per cent of them worked without prior safety education and 72.5 per cent say they don’t have any idea what the exposure to the chemical substances might cause to their health.

- Domestic flights’ air fares will increase from next year due to rising fuel surcharge. The industry sources advise customers to buy tickets within December.

- 'UCC Room’ opened in Kangnam where customers make UCCs, and edit or composite them with whatever pictures or backgrounds they like. The UCCs can be copied to CD or sent to a specific website or mobile phone.

Bizarre candidate attracts 96,756 votes

Hur Kyung-young came in first among four minor candidates with 96,756 votes or 0.4 per cent of support rate. He ran in three previous presidential elections, but couldn’t attract a teeny attention.

Many people couldn’t decide whom to vote for until very last minute, however, he managed to succeed in, at least, letting people recognize his name, with outrageous and quirky election pledges.

His main promises were moving the UN headquarters to the DMZ area, reducing the number of representatives to 100, giving W100m to newly-married couple, W30m to woman who gives birth, scrapping political party system, monthly doling out W700,000 to old people aged more than 60.

Among 5,974 election-related UCCs posted on Freechal, from Nov 27 to Dec 19, UCCs about Mr. Hur were replayed 336,952 times, more than Lee Myung-bak’s 329,606, which shows netizens’ interest in his bizarre claims and attitudes.

He claims that he was sent from Heaven and former president Park Jung-hee specially scouted him to work for Park because he has an IQ of 430. He also said “politics by people with an IQ of 100 is just like kid’s playing games.”

President-elect LMB Press Briefing this morning(Q&A)

Q. Many people think, now that conservative Lee is elected there will be huge changes in North Korean policy. You said before that you would open a new inter-Korean cooperative era, and could you tell me what North Korean policy will you pursue and if your government still aid North Korea even before the complete destroy of NK nuclear programs?

A. I will pursue a practical diplomacy, transcending both progressiveness and conservativeness. The same can be said to the inter-Korean cooperation matters. The most important issue in the inter-Korean relations right now is to discard North Korea’s nuclear programs. I think inter-Korean economic exchange can really start in earnest by removing NK nuclear, so I will try to persuade the North to believe getting rid of nuclear will help sustain its regime and be more helpful for their citizens. I know persuasion is not an easy task. But we need to persuade in strong and reliable manner, and for that matter, I think we should actively cooperate with the international society through the six party talks. And the government should help, among other things, the NK-US talks go smoothly.

Q. Could you tell us about specifically how you are going to save the economy?

A. It is true that people have various and complex requests for me. But I know for sure after primary and final elections that majority of people want, more than other things, the economic revival. I think reviving the economy means increased investment by companies. I am positive about how to encourage companies to invest. Of course, there will be many ways to do that, certainly deregulation will be the one. But who would become president, in itself, makes the investment atmosphere to be wholly different. For the last 10 years, business has been reluctant to invest due to anti-market and anti-business environment, even when regulations, in fact, have not actually increased. I believe, with Lee Myung-bak becoming president, the economic environment will totally change.

When the transition committee is up and running, we will meet, first of all, mid-size firms and various business people face to face to explain them how we are going to change investment plans and environment. So even before the new government takes office, we will spur companies to plan for a new investment. And to boost foreign investment, we are going to found a special department within the transition committee. I will start contacting foreign investors, explaining them Korea is an investor-friendly country.

[interview] polling survey

1. Male, Business owner, mid-50

I voted for LMB because there is no alternative. That we have to change is obvious, but there seems nobody appropriate. I think he will be good at handling the economy, but I don’t know about politics. I am worried about the BBK scandal. I hope the next leader to be honest.

2. Male, business owner, 63

I voted for LMB. Because the economy will be better. For the last 10 years, the economy was miserable, but it will improve(should LMB be elected president).

3. Eun Hee-mok (male), Visa agency, 67

President is not an honorary job, he should be a worker. And we need to elect a good worker, not anyone who only talks. And there is only one person who can work well with international business experiences. (If Lee was elected) the economy will be definitely rescued and the overall atmosphere will be good. The BBK scandal doesn’t matter much. If you look closely into other candidates’ morality, it will come out that they are just the same as LMB. Everyone has their weak side. That(his moral problems) will not make any problem for LMB to work.

4. Lee Joo-young, business owner, 54

You should vote for a person who can save this country, and you shouldn’t vote for a scrub. Only crazy people vote for LMB. The economy is not the problem. You should save the country. Lee Hoi-chang has been working so hard for this country and he is the one who can get this troubled country through all the difficulties. If LMB was elected, political scuffles only increase.

5. Male, an optician, in his 60s

The BBK video footage is nothing. All other candidates have been focusing only on killing LMB during the whole election campaign period. But he has nothing to be ashamed of. There is no candidate as competent as LMB. Look at what he has done while he was Seoul Mayor. He knows how to enhance the economy. A president should be business-minded and lead the country like a CEO.

Funny remarks by candidates

1. By Chung dong-young

Voting for LMB is backpass, for Lee Hoi-chang is an own goal, and voting for me is going to the future (Dec 1)

His late father(Chung Joo-young) must click his tongue, tut-tut, underground. (for Chung Mong-joon’s support for LMB) (Dec 3)

People want not his wealth, but his return of truth and confession (Dec 7)

The recent oil-spill accident is really catastrophic disaster but we might have a second oil ship crash in a week (Dec 12)

2. By LMB

There are chicken houses called BBQ and I heard they have recently sold really well (Dec 4)

Who appointed prosecutors? The government of Chung Dong-young, and Roh Moo-hyun did. You don’t believe them( prosecutors), then would you believe North Korean prosecutors? (Dec 6)

I can’ verbally beat other candidates in the debate. All candidates don’t say things they would do for the country, but they are always engaged in personal attacks (Dec 12)

As soon as the election is over, the atmosphere will totally change and not even before the new government takes office, you can see the effects. You can call that ‘Lee Myung-bak effect.’ (Dec 14)

The result will be the same whatever, other than special investigation, is done. You can’t force others to believe a deer is a horse. (Dec 17)

3. by Lee Hoi-chang

I become prettier after the egg massage in Daegu (someone threw him a egg while he was doing the electioneering). I, Lee Hoi-chang, am not afraid of egg massage or even a rock because I don’t act cowardly in front of justice ( Dec 8)

what's happening on election day

- In Suwon, a thirty-something man was caught taking photo of the polling paper in the polling booth with his mobile phone. Polling control people heard the sound and immediately stopped him and he hurriedly removed the photo. The man said “I promised my colleague to bring vidence of my voting and that is the only reason.” Officials say “his behavior is problematic but his voting paper was not revealed to any other person, so his polling is valid.”

- A polling center in Incheon, the announcement poster to inform voters of two drop-out candidates, Shim Dae-pyung and Lee Soo-seong, mistakenly included Lee In-je, causing voters confusion. The poster was taken out at 7:30 in the morning after a voter reported it to the police. Democratic Party is fuming over the mistake, saying “how come election commission say the candidate who is obviously running dropped out?? We are considering filing a lawsuit for annulling the whole election.”

- President Roh Moo-hyun is registered as “000001” and First Lady as “000002” in the voter’s list.

- A sixty-five year old man suddenly collapsed during voting in Pocheon, Kyungki region. He was immediately taken to the hospital but dead. His death cause is not immediately known.

- LMB supporters and party members threw a surprise party for LMB and his wife for his birthday, and wedding anniversary and went to vote around 7 am at Jaedong elementary school. After polling he said “The government change should be done by people’s power and people’ hand. In order to do that all people should participate in polling. Please participate!.”

- A match-maker company, Sunwoo, invites its members who finished voting to a café in Daehakro(대학로) and arranges a blind meeting for them. On the café wall is hung up a poster saying “Whoever voted today is the best spouse.”

polling infomation

Polling Time : 6am-18pm

Electioneering is allowed until the day before the election day, so no electioneering on polling day
Vote is carried out by election districts.

Election districts are 13,178 nationwide, and vote counting centers are 249 nationwide

Vote is not electronic, and voters mark on the empty box next to the candidate they would vote for, using a marking pen which is provided to voters

The exit poll will be reported by each broadcasting station as soon as the polling ends, so it is not clear when exactly the exit poll result come out. But YTN says they will announce the first exit poll result around 6pm. From seven in the evening, National Election Commission will report real-time the vote counting process on its website

The final result will be known around 9pm

Presidential election and blogosphere

Ppopular blogs opened up a special page dedicated to the presidential election where people can update their opinions on candidate, election pledges, or campaign and so forth.

One of the biggest blogs is Allblog, which has recently opened the election page (http://ch.allblog.net/politics/election2007/#candidate10). On the site, you can read bloggers’ opinions on presidential candidates. The site automatically scraps famous postings from various blog sites, as its name ‘all blog’ implies.

On Dec 17, Grand National Party attacked the site for slandering its candidate because anti-LMB articles are posted on the front page. But in it official announcement regarding the matter, the site said the arrangement is not on purpose but the system automatically arranges which postings appear on the front page.

Chung Dong-young, on Nov 13, has actually given out ‘press card’ to a few famous bloggers to allow them to officially report him. They can attend press briefing at UNDP’s headquarters, and are entitled to the same treatment just as other reporters.

LMB also opened a blog (http://www.nmaru.com/front/index.jsp), but it is just one tool of his election campaign activities, so is full of articles saying why it should be LMB, not Chung Dong-young.

On the main blogs, there aren’t many articles as to why LMB should be elected or supportive writings about him and his allegations related to the BBK scandal. The general idea is it should be LMB because there is no alternative, or he seems to be the only one who is competent enough to ‘save the economy.’

Here are some examples from hit postings

ID: MATIO?
I don’t want a criminal president who betrays and lies to people. I don’t want a Korea where innocent people get punished and honest people get ill-treated.

ID: Look into the world
This year-end is really irritating and depressing. It is just one day ahead of the election but there is no ‘chap’ to vote for..I am really torn between vote or not vote. But I know I should not give up. That is the only means I have to punish them.

ID: Tistory Studio
If you do support Chung Dong-young, go for it. But if you don’t support him but vote for him just because of ‘some other reasons,’ you have to stand Chung’s boasting of his support ratings after the election. You will only give the acquittal to Chung and UNDP who don’t reflect on their past errors. Do you want that?

ID: 복분자주
Why am I saying that LMB will definitely become the president? That is because people who speaks badly about him and dislike him say they won’t vote at all. They say even if they vote, the consequence is the same: Lee becomes president, so why bother? I think even if your vote becomes useless, shouldn’t we vote? If you are not going to vote, don’t even try to say how rotten Korean politics is, or thing like that.

ID: windi
I hate Chung Dong-young. First, he doesn’t prove his quality and capability to lead this country as a leader.. Second, he looks funny for not taking responsibility and being opportunistic.. Third, he is arrogant and seems to only think of none but himself.

ID: Backstreet internet world
What do LMB, prosecutors, and psychopath have in common? That’s they lie all the time and don’t feel guilty about it.

ID: Road begins where it ends
LMB is not an economic expert but a fraud expert. But what’s more shocking is his fraud is helped by faithful prosecutors, old-style press, and some established interested in this society.

ID: Lefinion Post
Why people support for LMB is obvious. It is because people just follow the general trend.

- By 9 pm tomorrow night, it will be possible to know who becomes the next president. Vote counting will be done by 20,000 people as well as 1,377 machines (each machine can count 240-280 votes per minute) and will take approximately 4.5 hours.

Vote counting will be first done by machines which divides votes by candidates and counted by hands twice in order to ensure accuracy and fairness.

- In a press briefing yesterday, LMB appealed to the public to give him overwhelming supports for stable management of the government. He said he wanted to be elected by a sweeping majority of votes.

- The government passed a revised copyright law under which copyright protection period will be extended from 50 to 70 years.

- 57.3 per cent of 1,274 respondents aged from 20-50 say they feel stressed because of various election campaign related activities, reveals a poll by a career portal site (www.career.co.kr). Most of them say they are irritated by campaign noise (75.5%), followed by TV debates full of personal attacks (68.1%), and ridiculous election pledges (45.6%). 62.9 per cent say the stress will have some influence on their vote.

- The first-ever negotiation between the government and the group of 10 labor unions of public servants reached an agreement after 5-month-long bargaining.

- All major candidates put the finishing touches to their 22-day-long campaign activities today and they all stay in Seoul to meet as many voters face to face as possible.

- National Election Commission advised UNDP not to play in public the controversial video footage of LMB. It says it is against the election law to air in public rival candidates’ speeches or activities.

election-related updates

- In the 17th presidential election, internet seems to play much less role than expected and Blogs and UCCs have been used as just one of tools for campaigning. ‘Internet politics’ and public opinions on the internet do not emerge as a powerful force.

One thing that is new in this election campaign is video footages posted by ‘tagalong blogers’ who follow after candidates on the campaign tour, recording vivid campaigning activities and posting them on their blogs.

Famous such blogs are ‘flytothemoon.kr’ for Moon Kuk-hyun, ‘dyrang.net’ for Chung Dong-yong, ‘bluedream.tistory.com’ for LMB, and ‘www.beautifulroad.kr’ for Kwon Young-kil.

- Chung Dong-young this morning asked for other candidates excluding LMB to join his plan to make the next government, if elected, into an ‘anti-corruption joint government.’ To public, he appealed to people against LMB to vote for him, saying that there are far more people who are against LMB, but ‘split votes’ are useless and LMB will get elected when people’s vote is split.

- Capitalizing on the LMB’s video footage made public yesterday in which he said he founded BBK, UNDP runs a campaign advertisement on major newspapers that says LBM should take the responsibility and resign as candidate. The advertisement says “we are concerned about the country. We can’t have the presidential election twice. Truth should defeat lie.

Meanwhile GNP counteracted by running a countering ad in newspapers in which LMB says “I don’t have nothing to feel ashamed of in front of people, and truth is only one. And truth does not change. Please stay with me for the government change. ”

- LMB had an emergency press briefing at the GNP headquarters and said he decided to allow ‘BBK special investigation’ to take place. He said “I didn’t oppose to a special investigation because I feared. I opposed (to it) because it was (politically) motivated. But I will accept it.”

- In the last round of TV debate, LMB was harshly attacked by all other candidates regarding the video clip in 2000. Audience rating was less than the last one, with around 10 per cent.

- National Election Commission plans to dispatch 189,000 people to each voting center for smooth running of voting.

- Lee Hoi-Chang argued LMB should resign as presidential candidate, mentioning the ‘BBK video footage,’ in which LMB said “I founded an asset management firm called BBK in January this year. I also obtained preliminary approval from the government for the establishment of a cyber securities firm to carry out work needed for the company.”

- Koh Hyun-Chul, Chairperson of National Election Commission, is to make a public announcement at 9:30 tomorrow morning to appeal for public participation in the vote. It will be nationally televised.

- Groups of 5.18 democratization movement related people announced their support for LMB on Dec 13.

- Oil-spill-struck areas are worried over a possible lack of volunteers on the Election Day. In Taean, 300 out or 650 public servants should supervise the election on the day. And 20,000 daily volunteers from nationwide might not come on that day.

- The ministry of Justice decided not to exert the right to direct prosecutors to reopen the investigation, citing an impending the independent investigation into the case.

- Korea’s asset management firms are trying to export overseas locally-made fund products. Hana Daetoo, Samsung, and Mirae Asset securities have all launched funds aimed at selling in foreign countries. Cosmo Asset Co. has been running various funds for foreign investors since three years ago and it invests W1.2 trillion in overseas funds. Hana Daetoo securities introduced HFG Korea Fund Ltd on Dec 3 for overseas investors.

- The government breaks down business barriers between banks, insurance companies, and securities firms in the run up to the capital market integration act slated to take effect in 2009. The Finance Ministry issued an advance notice for the revised securities transaction laws, under which securities firms can sell, for example, gift certificates which have been available only in banks and insurance companies. The revised law changes the current ‘positive rules’ to ‘negative rules,’ which means securities firms can sell whatever items, except for things that is specified as not-to-sell-products.

- Middle school students rush to hakwon in flocks to prepare for ‘special-purposed’ high schools. An average competition ratio for 51 such schools this year was 4.46 to 1. A research reveals that 83 per cent of students in the metropolitan area who are preparing for the entrance exams either go to hagwon of which monthly fee amounts to W500,000-W600,000 or receive private teachers’ education. The market is believed to amount to at least W5 trillion. Big hagwons even succeeded to get investment from foreign private equity funds. For example, Topia Academy attracted W18 bn in investment from Carlyle Group.

- The overall domestic fund market grew by 30 per cent, recently passing W300 trillion. And the stock fund market exploded, with 130 per cent growth rate year-on-year.

- SK Group is found to acquire the most affiliates this year with 9 new subsidiaries, followed by Hanaro Telecom with 8 new ones, said the Fair Trade Commission.

- Vote turnout in the presidential election is expected to be very low as an increasing number of voters say they would travel overseas or go skiing, instead of casting their ballot. According to travel agencies, overseas travel packages are booked like in peak seasons as lots of people take Thursday and Friday off for the travel. National Election Commission revealed on Dec 12 that only 67 per cent of 1,500 voters said they would definitely vote, far lower that 80.5 per cent vote turnout in 2002.

- The construction ministry said it reached an agreement with the US on BASA (Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement), which enables Korea to export 150 aviation-related products including plane tires, black box, and air-data computers that have not been allowed to export. The US has such agreement with only 14 countries in the world.

Quirky stories about presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak

LMB’s profile

- 1941. 12. 19 born in Osaka, Japan
- 1965 enter Hyundai Construction
- 1970. 12. 19 married Kim Yoon-ok
- 1977-88 President of Hyundai Construction
- 1978 CEO of Incheon Steel (later Incheon steel merged into Hyundai Steel Co.)
- 1988-92 CEO of Hyundai Construction
- 1992-95 Representative in the 14th national assembly
- 1996-1998 Representative in the 15th national assembly
- 2002-2006 Seoul City mayor

This below information is from Chsoun Ilbo interview with LMB

Nickname : Comdozer (Computer + Bulldozer)
Alcohol : One bottle of beer
Family : wife, one son, three daughters
person whom he respects: Ahn Chang-ho (independent fighter against the Japanese colonial rule), Gandhi
personal motto : always do my best
favorite foods: 순두부, 비빔밥, spaghetti
how to get rid of stress : exercising, chatting with friends on the phone
most embarrassing moment : when I was selling popping rice in front of girl’s high school (I was a high school student at that time)
my fashion style : wear whatever my wife tells me to wear for the sake of peace at home
my childhood dream : teacher, fire fighter
most regrettable thing in my life : couldn’t buy my mother a single new clothes while she was alive
three most amazing incidents in my life : having such a good mother, my middle school teacher’s encouraging me to advance to high school, meeting Chung Joo-young


Two TV dramas depicting LMB’s life

- In 1989, KBS ‘Time of Ambition’
- In July 2004-March 2005, MBC ‘Time of Heroes’: The drama was about Korea’s industrialization process in the 1970s-80s and supposed to run until June 2005, but no obvious reason, it abruptly ended in February. Rumor has it that MBC and involved people were under huge political pressure not to beautify Park Jung-hee and LMB.

The writer of the drama said in an interview “before the drama was aired, I had got a few phone calls from a former high-ranking ruling party lawmaker, warning me that I would be in big trouble unless I was very careful in depicting the rising political force.”

His childhood

He was born Dec 19, 1941 in Osaka. When she was pregnant with him, his mother dreamed about a full moon coming to her and she hugged it with her skirt. He was the third son and fifth child, with three brothers and three sisters. (his elder sister and youngest brother died during the Korean war from injures inflicted when a US combat plane dropped off bombs in his village to kill North Korean soldiers believed to have sneaked into the village.)

When his family lived in Japan, life hadn’t been that hard, but his family lost all of their family fortune when the ship in which his family boarded for Korea went down. Severe poverty continued more than 20 years until LMB turned 20. When his brother Lee Sang-duk entered Seoul National University, he had to earn money as well to support his brother. His parents didn’t allow LMB to go to high school but he managed to go to a night-time high school which gave him scholarship.

Episode 1

Chung Joo-young asked LMB in the company interview,
Chung : “what do you thing construction is?”
LMB : “It is creation.”
Chung : “Why is that?”
LMB: “It is because it creates something out of nothing.”
Chung : “You are at least a good speaker.”

Episode 2

In the welcoming party for new employees, LMB and Chung Joo-young were the last two persons to survive when all others went dead drunk. Chung liked LMB’s pluckiness and confidence.

Episode 3

When he was promoted to president of Hyundai Construction, Chung said to him “you know how to deal with people, and I hope you take charge not for me but for the company.” Chung was said to have deeper trust in Lee than in his sons.

Episode 4

When Hyundai was constructing the Seoul-Pusan highway, he (then he was the field supervisor) complained of dust and particulates coming from the aggregates plant next to the construction site. The company promised him to take measures to stop particulates from disrupting highway construction site. But it didn’t deliver what it promised, counting on the connection to Cheong Wa Dae. LMB became angry and drove a bulldozer to dig up the earth on the main road to the plant. Even Cheong Wa Dae pressed LMB to stop making a fuss but he insisted Cheong Wa Dae had nothing to do with the issue. The aggregates plant finally gave in to his demand to build a protection facility against dust. This incident shows why his nickname is bulldozer.

Episode 5

Chung Joo-young asked LMB to join his newly-formed party but Lee declined the offer by saying “I don’t want to do politics and have no reason to jump into the politics.” But a few months later he ran for the National Assembly and succeeded to become a representative of Kim Young-sam’s Democracy and Freedom Party, which was a rival party of Chung’s Unification People’s Party. “I came to think I have to do something after I watched what changes could be brought to the world by just one person called Gorbachev,” he later said of the reason to enter the politics.

Episode 6

When serving as Seoul mayor, he was lambasted because of his lecture to young Christians in which he said he would dedicate Seoul City to God. In “the letter to God” he read out loud during the lecture was there his signature of “Seoul City Mayor and presbyter Lee Myung Bak,” and on the cover of the letter printed the Seoul City official emblem.

Episode 7

In 2002, he brought his son and son-in-law to the official event to give Guus Hiddink, then national soccer team coach, honorary citizenship. LMB made them take picture with Mr. Hiddink. Photo session was supposed to take place after Q & A session by reporters, but he abruptly changed the schedule to have the photo session happen first. The first one who could take pictures with the then-hero was Lee’s family members.

Episode 8 (verbal mistakes)

In 2003, “the reason for the miserable education system is because people in charge of education policies all come from rural areas.”

In 2005, “I really want to stop the construction of administration complex towns, even by mobilizing military, if necessary.”

Criminal records
(on the National Election Commission, only his arrest related to student movement instigation is made public)

- He instigated student movements against Park Jung-hee dictatorship and unfair Korea-Japan relations normalization summit in 1964, and he surrendered himself to the police after one month of run-away. He was sentenced two years in prison and three years in stay of execution. During the court trial, he said “student movements should be about raising problems based on pure passion, and when we try to solve the problem, it will cause another problem.” “You shouldn’t choose student activism as your profession.”

- In 1996 he was ousted from the National Assembly for violating election law by spending much more during election campaign than permitted by law. He was fined W4m.

- Korea rank the last in the surveyed 16 countries including Japan, China, America, Israel, Germany, and France, in negotiation skills, a study by KOTRA revealed.

- In the second round of TV debate of presidential candidates yesterday, the word ‘BBK,’ unlike the first debate, didn’t come out at all. It seems that candidates think seemingly endless attacks on the frontrunner don’t help them gain voters’ hearts and minds.

- One in five Japanese company voices concern over possible bubble burst in the Korean economy, a KORCHAM survey on 340 Japanese companies based in Korea shows. Unstable labor-management relations, high salary, and rising won are all pointed out as a factor challenging the Korean economy.

- For the last six days before the election day, opinion poll results can’t be made public by election law.

- As of March this year, 31.9 per cent or 2,928 elementary schools closed due to diminishing number of children. Which translates into that one in three elementary school disappeared.

- The court ruled that Psy (싸이), a singer and producer, should rejoin the army. He worked in an IT company on an alternative military duty, but later was revealed that he didn’t properly worked there and instead continued singing career and had concerts.

- Actor Bae Yong-jun will donate W320 m to Taean, the oil-spill-stricken area, said his management company.

- Kim Yoon-kyu, vice CEO of Acheon Global Corporation and former vice CEO of Hyundai Asan, has embarked on an aggressive inter-Korean business. After his visit to Pyongyang on December 5-8 by road, he told reporters he had expansive talks with North Koreans about international funds, businesses, and infrastructure construction. Acheon is currently working on logistics center construction near Kaesung, inter-Korean construction committee foundation, North Korea mining business, and North Korean labor export business.

- The Gun and ammunition stolen from soldiers in Kanghwa were found under a bridge near Paekyang temple in Jellanamdo.

- New York Philharmonic is to have a concert in Pyongyang on February 26 next year, on request by the communist country.

- Inter-Korean train runs again today on Kyung-eui railway, 56 years after the Korean War broke out. Cargo trains are being loaded with raw materials and finished goods, running to and from Kaesung Industrial Complex, which is expected to save transport time and cost will be reduced by more than 30 per cent compared to shipping via road.

- An employer can be sentenced up to 2 years in prison or W10 m in fine if he or she refuses to allow an employee time to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

- Google Korea announced hottest search entry in 8 sectors this year. The result is Shin Jung-ah in People category, Samsung Electronics in Stock, Mirae Asset in Investment, Net Marble in Game, Job Korea in Job Searching, Yonsei University in University, Kookmin Bank in Bank, and Hyundai Motor in Automobile.

- Kyungsangbukdo said yesterday it will build ‘Korea Santa Village’ in Bonghwa-kun by 2010 with a budget of W50 bn to make it a world tourist spot. The project will benchmark Finland’s Rovaniemi village with a bit of ‘Korean touch.’

- LG’s high-end mobile product Viewty was introduced today with a price tag of W737,000. Market watchers say the phone might help LG establish high-end image but will not sell very much due to the price. But the company is confident that the phone will be the next ‘Chocolate Phone,’ the mega hit phone, saying it sold more than 200,000 units in the European market for the space of just three weeks after the launch.

Eugene to take over Hi Mart

Eugene Group is to take over Hi Mart, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, for W1.95 trillion.

In a public statement to confirm the buy-out today, the company said“this takeover of Hi Mart will not only promote the brand image of Eugene Group, but it also offers an opportunity for us to let our management capability be clearly recognized in the market.”

As for the reason to be chosen as a undertaker,“not only price, but also our management ability to grow Hi Mart in a stable manner and promise to secure employment are largely considered ," said the company.

Hi Mart takes up 17 per cent in the consumer electronics retailing market and expects to achieve more than W2 trillion in sales and W185 bn in EBITDA(Earning Before Interest Tax Depreciation Amortization) this year.

- Chung Dong-young said in an interview with the paper, “if elected, I will definitely make US-NK diplomatic relations normalized within Mr. Bush’s term.”

- Nine banks which own 36 per cent of Hynix shares decided not to sell shares until the Hynix sales process is completed to prevent share price from falling. Originally they were not going to sell shares by the end of this year.

- The government declares the oil-affected west-sea areas as a disaster zone.

- All of the recent opinion polls point that Chung Dong-young slightly leads Lee Hoi-chang by a few points.

Separately they all show people’s distrust in the prosecutor’s investigation results on the BBK scandal. MBC poll found out 51.7 per cent of respondents say they don’t trust the investigation results and Kookmin Ilbo research also showed 56 per cent said prosecutors made a ‘political decision.’ 55.2 per cent of respondents didn’t think prosecutor’s probe properly clarified allegations surrounding LMB, according to Hankyoreh poll.

- Eugene Group is chosen as a preferred bidder for the takeover of Hi Mart, the nation’s biggest consumer electronics retailer. The company offered W1.95 trillion, lower than W2 trillion offered by GS group, but to let the current management continue managing the company, minimize restructuring and increase investment.

- Local banks seem to focus more on sustainability rather than growth and competition next year. In order to cut unnecessary spending, Kookmin Bank starts PPR (Paperless Process Reconstruction) project from January next year, which is expected to save billions of wons and increase work efficiency, and halve the ad budget to W30 bn from the current W60 bn. Shinhan Bank continues its branch restructuring programs into next year by removing or merging them. Woori and Hana banks also plans to reduce unnecessary spending next year.

- Chung Dong-yong and Moon Kuk-hyun’s plan to forge an alliance seems to practically fall flat.

- Lee Hoi-chang said he will create a new party next year, hinting that he sees beyond the presidential election and sets his eye on increasing political influence in the next year’s general election.

- The government is said to be working on holding working-level talks on economic and energy assistance for NK in Beijing possibly on 11th or 12th this week.

- Amid increasing number of Asian women coming to Korea to go under plastic surgery, the Seoul City Government plans to set up a support center next year which connect overseas patients with hospitals. The center will provide various services including interpretation. It expects Chinese customers to surge after the Beijing Olympics.

- Foreign minister Song Min-soon voiced concern over NK’s report on nuclear programs in a stalemate, saying “right now, the nuclear issue is at the crossroads whether it will go into the stabilizing phase or it will suffer from creaking instability.” But “the government tries to solve it in a stable matter no matter how long it will take,” he said.

- Park Yeon-cha, CEO of Taekwang Ind Co. and President Roh’s close friend, issued a public apology on the company website for making an ugly scene inside a plane on Dec 3. He was under the influence when he picked a fight with flight attendants, thereby delaying the plane by 1 hour and being kicked out of the plane.

- Erica Kim, the sister of Kim Kyung-joon, canceled a press briefing aimed at countering prosecutor’s yesterday investigation results, just one and half hour before the expected briefing. The reason for the cancellation is not immediately known.

- After the prosecutor’s announcement on the BBK investigation, LMB’s approval rating soared to 45.3 per cent, up 6.1 per cent from a week earlier, cementing his status as the frontrunner, according to the poll by CBS and a survey company, Real Meter. But Lee Hoi-chang slid to the third spot with 13.1 per cent allowing Chung Dong-young to climb up to the second post with 18.5 per cent.

- Four major telecom companies, LG Telecom, KTF, LG Dacom, and LG Powercom, called on the government to intervene in the possible problems arising from SK Telecom’s expected takeover of Hanaro Telecom. They argued SK Telecom would distort the market using its monopolistic status and huge capital.

- 'Brand Call-taxi’ will be up and running from Dec 10 in Seoul. Customers can get a taxi within five minutes and the Seoul City government has chosen three taxi companies to do the service. Payment will be available by credit card and female drivers are available upon request.

- Democratic Labor Party will charge Seoul mayor O Seo-hoon of damaging cultural heritage. The party said the Seoul City seriously damaged Koeui water purification plant, a registered cultural treasure, in the process of building a baseball field on that site and ignored warnings from Cultural Heritage Administration.

- Samsung Electronics lost an appeal cast it filed against Intergigital, the US IT company, and has to pay it $134 m in royalty. The court ruled that Samsung Electronics infringed the 2G terminal equipment patent.

- The Cabinet approved a parliamentary proposal for an independent probe into Samsung’s slush fund case. The investigation is expected to begin late this month or early January. Prosecutors are tracking down suspicious 120 bank accounts which seem to have been used to channel secret money.

- The Unification Ministry is reported to have agreed with the North to pay them $1000 for every video letter by a separate family member. Technological equipment is also provided by the South.

- Seoul High Court ruled yesterday it was legitimate that Kangnam-gu Office levied registration taxes on Lone Star for buying out Star Tower Building in 2001.

- Hite-Jinro vice CEO Lee Jang-kyu said the company is looking for ways to strike a M&A with companies in Russia, South East Asia, and the US. And he made it clear not to sell out Jinro Japan because it has established brand power in Japan.

- SK Telecom is to advance into internet shopping business from January next year.

- Korea ranks sixth in IT-related export volumes in the world, according to a WTO report.

- German’s Munich Re Insurance Company, which is in talks with online Daum Direct insurance company for takeover, says it will enter into Korea’s insurance industry.

- BOK predicts the economy will post a similar growth rate to this year’s 4.8 per cent, with 4.7 per cent.

- Banks, including SC Korea First, Hana, and Shinhan Banks, are having difficulty to reach an agreement with its labor union on salary increase, irregular workers, and early retirement. SC Korea First Bank’s labor union has asked National Labor Relations Commission yesterday to intervene in their disputes with the management.

- Korean companies suffer losses from fake products ranging from fake luxury to car parts made in China, and the loss is expected to amount to W14.9 trillion, which is up to 6 per cent in the total expo

Moon Kook-hyun officially proposes to Chung Dong-young this morning either one of them should run in the presidential election. He said “either I or Chung Dong-young should make ‘a decision of sacrifice’ by 16th after going under evaluation by people regarding who should lead a new Korea.”

Chung’s party immediately welcomed the proposal but said the timing should be advanced.

Mr. Moon suggests having one-on-one debate with Chung to show people “who is really capable of making a ‘real economy,’ which is centered around people, by reviving our economy and mid-sized companies, creating good jobs and slashing the number of irregular works.”

He said “I am not saying to form an alliance but either one of us should make a tough decision.”

- Household debt passed W600 trillion for the first time as of the end of September, which means an average of W38.19 m debt per household, according to BOK.

- Institute of Global Management polled 100 CEOs in the manufacturing, service, and finance, IT, and telecommunication to find out that 45 per cent of respondents had positive attitudes towards hostile M&A. 63 per cent said hostile M&As have positive influence on the Korean economy.

- Convenient store Family Mart says Bingre’s Banana milk overtakes Chamesuel(참이슬) as the best seller this year. Banana milk has been the second-best selling product since 1999.

- Household spending overseas hit a record high in the third and fourth quarters due to surging overseas travel, taking up to 5 percent in the total household spending, according to BOK.

- Absentee vote for the upcoming presidential election is to take place in Dokdo on Dec 13 for the first time. A bout 100 including security guards and residents will cast their vote.

- In Royal Drury Lane in London, North Korean flag, not South Korean’s, is displayed next to the statement warning Korean visitors of not taking pictures inside and phone-talking.

- There is speculation that more whistleblowers from Samsung Group provide prosecutors with important information. Meanwhile Hwang Young-ki, former CEO of Samsung Securities, denied the allegation that he is directly involved in the slush fund.

- Democratic Labor Party Rep. Shim Sang-jeong argued based on the document submitted from the FSS that at least W2 trillion was poured into 19 local banks to make up for losses arising from their accounting fraud before and after the Asian Financial Crisis.

- Prosecutors secured a list of 100 former Samsung executives under whose name a secret bank account was open, and Samsung’s internal document detailing how to react prosecutor’s probe. They also seized emails to Samsung’s strategic management department from a former Samsung Securities employee who blackmailed the company to disclose secret bank accounts.

- Korea’s obesity rate as of 2005 is found to be the lowest among OECD countries, with 3.5 per cent compared to the OECD average of 14.6 per cent. However male smoking rate is reported to be 46.6 per cent, the highest among OECD members.

- Pusan International Air Co. is to increase capital to W24.5bn from W6.4 bn by Dec.17 to earn a transport business license. The company was established last September by businessmen based on Pusan and the City of Pusan, aiming at starting its service from June 2009.

- A court ruled that the government is not responsible for the death of Kim Sun-il who was kidnapped by a group of Iraqi militia and murdered in 2004. The family of Kim had filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to protect its citizen.

- The prosecution is in the final phase of investigation into BBK stock manipulation case. A senior prosecutor said “the probe is completed about 80-90 per cent and we are currently doing the last part of investigation as well as drawing up a public announcement on the investigation result.” The result will be announced by as late as Dec 5. It is believed that LMB will be cleared of being involved in the stock manipulation.

- Baek Jong-chun, national security adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun, visits the US for three days from today to discuss with his US counterpart the NK nuclear dismantlement process, peace on the Korean peninsula, and a declaration on the formal end to Korean war.

- Independet lawmaker Chung Mong-jun visited the GNP office and declared his support for LMB this morning.

- Domestic fund account number is reported to account to 21.2m as of October, which translates into more than one fund account per household. The average subscription period is 341 days.

- Prosecutors secured a list of 100 former Samsung executives under whose name a secret bank account was open, and Samsung’s internal document detailing how to react prosecutor’s probe. They also seized emails to Samsung’s strategic management department from a former Samsung Securities employee who blackmailed the company to disclose secret bank accounts.

- Korea’s obesity rate as of 2005 is found to be the lowest among OECD countries, with 3.5 per cent compared to the OECD average of 14.6 per cent. However male smoking rate is reported to be 46.6 per cent, the highest among OECD members.

- Pusan International Air Co. is to increase capital to W24.5bn from W6.4 bn by Dec.17 to earn a transport business license. The company was established last September by businessmen based on Pusan and the City of Pusan, aiming at starting its service from June 2009.

- A court ruled that the government is not responsible for the death of Kim Sun-il who was kidnapped by a group of Iraqi militia and murdered in 2004. The family of Kim had filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to protect its citizen.

- The prosecution is in the final phase of investigation into BBK stock manipulation case. A senior prosecutor said “the probe is completed about 80-90 per cent and we are currently doing the last part of investigation as well as drawing up a public announcement on the investigation result.” The result will be announced by as late as Dec 5. It is believed that LMB will be cleared of being involved in the stock manipulation.

- Baek Jong-chun, national security adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun, visits the US for three days from today to discuss with his US counterpart the NK nuclear dismantlement process, peace on the Korean peninsula, and a declaration on the formal end to Korean war.

- Independet lawmaker Chung Mong-jun visited the GNP office and declared his support for LMB this morning.

- Domestic fund account number is reported to account to 21.2m as of October, which translates into more than one fund account per household. The average subscription period is 341 days.

- Prosecutors secured a list of 100 former Samsung executives under whose name a secret bank account was open, and Samsung’s internal document detailing how to react prosecutor’s probe. They also seized emails to Samsung’s strategic management department from a former Samsung Securities employee who blackmailed the company to disclose secret bank accounts.

- Korea’s obesity rate as of 2005 is found to be the lowest among OECD countries, with 3.5 per cent compared to the OECD average of 14.6 per cent. However male smoking rate is reported to be 46.6 per cent, the highest among OECD members.

- Pusan International Air Co. is to increase capital to W24.5bn from W6.4 bn by Dec.17 to earn a transport business license. The company was established last September by businessmen based on Pusan and the City of Pusan, aiming at starting its service from June 2009.

- A court ruled that the government is not responsible for the death of Kim Sun-il who was kidnapped by a group of Iraqi militia and murdered in 2004. The family of Kim had filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to protect its citizen.

- The prosecution is in the final phase of investigation into BBK stock manipulation case. A senior prosecutor said “the probe is completed about 80-90 per cent and we are currently doing the last part of investigation as well as drawing up a public announcement on the investigation result.” The result will be announced by as late as Dec 5. It is believed that LMB will be cleared of being involved in the stock manipulation.

- Baek Jong-chun, national security adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun, visits the US for three days from today to discuss with his US counterpart the NK nuclear dismantlement process, peace on the Korean peninsula, and a declaration on the formal end to Korean war.

- Independet lawmaker Chung Mong-jun visited the GNP office and declared his support for LMB this morning.

- Domestic fund account number is reported to account to 21.2m as of October, which translates into more than one fund account per household. The average subscription period is 341 days.