- Current account deficit in January hit a record high in 11 years with $2.6 bn, according to the data released by Bank of Korea today. An official of the bank warned “if oil prices continue to rise and service account deficit deepens, the current account deficit might grow further.”

- Foreign investors are found to have taken their investment worth $10.68 bn out of the Korean stock market in January, the biggest volume in history, according to the Bank of Korea.

- Kim Sung-ho, former justice minister, is expected to be announced as the NIS head as early as today. President Lee has put this appointment on hold due to consideration for ‘balanced regionalism.’ With this choice, the heads of NIS, Prosecution, Police, and tax agencies are all from the Kyungsang-do region.

- Seoul Police Station raided Hanro Telecom in an allegation that the company leaked customers’ personal information

- National Tax Service held a meeting with 108 tax officials from foreign firms in which it explained them the revised corporate tax laws. From now on, any foreign firms who failed to report corporate taxes or underreport them are subject to the payment of a 40 per cent charge in fine.

- Former Daewoo Chairman Kim Woo-joong is reported to have been offered by Pyongyang to lead a special economic zone of Nampo last October, but politely refused the offer.

- Financial Supervisory Commission says it will cooperate in the investigation into the Samsung slush funds case if necessary. The special prosecutor team sent an official request for the financial watchdog’s help on the matter, saying it was suspected some bank accounts were opened in Samsung Securities under the false names for amassing secret money.

- Kang Man-soo, finance minister appointee, backed down from the six-percent-economic-growth-rate for this year, conceding the government would “do its best to achieve a 6 per cent growth rate, rather than sticking to the position.” The remark came after a few downward readjustments from an ambitious 7 per cent growth rate. He attributed the downward adjustment mainly to the difficult world economic conditions. But he maintained the government would not pursue artificial pump-priming measures.

- LG Electronics is to exchange free of charge its problematic battery for the Z-series notebook which has recently invoked two incidents. “We are investigating into the reason for the incident,’ the company said.

- All sixteen ‘English Towns’ nationwide, run by either the local governments or the education ministry, are reported in the red, despite more than 1 M visitors by the end of last year. Kyungki-do has recently decided to hand the English towns in Yangpyong and Ansan to a private hand due to snowballing budget deficits. However eleven more such towns nationwide are due to open by next year.

- Samsung Group is to appeal against the ruling that the group has to pay back W2.3 trillion to the creditors of Samsung car unit. Meanwhile, fourteen Samsung car creditors are about to also appeal against the court ruling to call on Samsung Group to pay back immediately in cash. The court ruled the group to sell the shares of Samsung Life Insurance owned by the creditors and returned the money.

- The Finance Ministry will comp up with measures for rising prices after watching the February price index which will be out early March.

- Korea’s two biggest portal sites, Daum and Naver, in hands with the cultural ministry, are to open a conference for bloggers on March 16 in order to enhance offline networks between bloggers and help them share various skills and know-how in running a blog. About 2,400 bloggers are expected to participate in the event.

- ‘Made in Korea’ products have been losing its share in the US market for a third consecutive year to 2.43 per cent in 2007, from 2.47 per cent in 2006 and 2.62 per cent in 2005, according to a report by the Korea International Trade Association. Electronic device has seen the biggest drop in the US market with 3.98 percentage points, followed by clothes with 3.78 points for the last three years.

- Korea’s 17th president Lee Myung Bak is going to receive W163 m in a yearly salary, half of what US president Bush gets for his job of W446m and three times what Russian president Putin gets of W73 m.

- Japanese newspapers reported that Sony is set to change its LCD supply channel from Samsung to Sharp, a decision that is likely to strike a blow to an already domestically-troubled Samsung. Samsung and Sony have co- established a joint venture ‘S-LCD’ in 2003 and maintained a close business relations since then. Experts believe the move signals a step by Sony to ditch the five-year-long joint venture.

- Samsung Group is to appeal against the ruling that the group has to pay back W2.3 trillion to the creditors of Samsung car unit. Meanwhile, fourteen Samsung car creditors are about to also appeal against the court ruling to call on Samsung Group to pay back immediately in cash. The court ruled the group to sell the shares of Samsung Life Insurance owned by the creditors and returned the money.

- The Finance Ministry will comp up with measures for rising prices after watching the February price index which will be out early March.

- Korea’s two biggest portal sites, Daum and Naver, in hands with the cultural ministry, are to open a conference for bloggers on March 16 in order to enhance offline networks between bloggers and help them share various skills and know-how in running a blog. About 2,400 bloggers are expected to participate in the event.

- ‘Made in Korea’ products have been losing its share in the US market for a third consecutive year to 2.43 per cent in 2007, from 2.47 per cent in 2006 and 2.62 per cent in 2005, according to a report by the Korea International Trade Association. Electronic device has seen the biggest drop in the US market with 3.98 point per cent, followed by clothes with 3.78 point for the last three years.

- Korea’s 17th president Lee Myung Bak is going to receive W163 m in a yearly salary, half of what US president Bush gets for his job of W446m and three times what Russian president Putin gets of W73 m.

- Fair Trade Commission fined W11.5 bn on Samsung Electronics for its unfair business practices with part suppliers and ordered the company to correct the practices. The company is said to have urged its suppliers to reduce prices for parts and unfairly interfered with management of some companies.

- Shim Sang-jeong and Roh Hui-chan, who offered to break away from the troubled Labor Democratic Party, plan to establish a new ‘progressive party’ on March 16.

- The Ministry of Government Administration Home Affairs said the fire broke this morning didn’t destroy any important government document.

- Joo Ho-young said of the special investigation team’s result that it was a relief that all allegations were cleared once again to allow the new government to start afresh. Lee Dong-kwan, the spokesman of the transition team, said “truth will prevail in the end(사필귀정).”

- The Ministry of Construction and Transportation revealed a revised aviation law which takes effect in May. Under the law, a foreign airline should fly more than 20,000 domestic flights for two years without any accident to get permission for international flight, just like domestic airlines. But 49 foreign airlines, already flying to Korea, are not subject to the new rule.

- The Construction Ministry drew up a revised construction law under which a ‘PC Room’ is permitted to operate when it is adjacent to a road of more than 12 M in width. Online game companies and PC Rooms nationwide lambasted the new law for ignoring a reality, saying 20,000 or more than 80 per cent of PC rooms would be closed down by the rule.

- Kim Jung-il is said not to stay through the concert by NY Phil Harmonic orchestra but appear during recess between the performances, said North Korean sources in Beijing. If he doesn’t show during the recess, he is expected to visit a dinner in Yanggakdo Hotel.

- The compromised government slim-down plan will reduce the number of public servant by 3,700, not 6,900 according to the original plan.

- United Democratic Party and Grand National Party made concessions today to agree keeping Ministry of Gender Equality and Family intact and scrapping Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

- Christopher Hill was awarded this morning the Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service from the government for his efforts in solving North Korea’s nuclear problems and contribution to better relations between Seoul and Washington.

- Consumers stocked up heavily with instant noodles on the news that some snack companies raise noodle prices as much as W100. Big marts like EMart and Home Plus have seen their noodles sold out. An official at Lotte Mart says Shinramyeon(신라면) would be out of stock in ten days.

- PM nominee Han Seung-soo said, attending his confirmation hearing this morning, he would do his best in ‘resource diplomacy’ if officially appointed. “Securing resources is not the matter of today or tomorrow but the problem that we have to solve in consideration of the future of our economy.

- Twenty-five per cent of 350 Korean companies working in China are found to have seriously considered withdrawing from the country and 3.1 per cent is currently preparing for leaving China, according to a research by Korea Chamber of Commerce. 85.8 per cent think business environment in China will deteriorate, compared to only 3.9 per cent which paints a rosy picture. Labor management is the biggest challenge facing Korean companies doing business in China with 43.1 per cent, followed by constant changes in laws and regulations (21.4 per cent), and difficulty in adapting to the local market (13.3 per cent.)

- Special inquiry team is investigating into the claim by a former SDS employee that Samsung SDS has amassed tens of billions of won in secret money in the name of ‘managing computer system’ for the last five years.

- The incoming government released the list of government cabinet nominees last night. LMB made last-minute change and named Kim Doh-yeon, not Euh Yoon-dae, as education minister. Other nominees are all the same as the list released to the public before.

- The number of unsold apartment nationwide reached a record high with over 120,783. The number is the highest in the Kyunggi province with 20,170, followed by Daegu with 17,295, and Pusan with 12,170.

- The economic team of the incoming government consists of officials who think of economic growth first, among other things. The LMB government puts priority on growth by reinvigorating investment through deregulation and tax cut.

- North Korea’s weekly magazine Tongil Shinbo lambasted, for the first time since LMB was elected, the remarks made by the president-elect when he said in his new year press briefing that the new government would implement the agreements between the two Koreas after considering feasibility, budget conditions, and public sentiment. The North seems to believe LMB intends to review the October 4 agreement.

- National Human Rights Commission includes improving North Korean human rights conditions in its list of six main projects this year in its firs move to be more aggressive in tackling human rights abuse in the North. The commission has been under fire for its lack of attention on the issue since its inception.

- National Tax Service ordered Hana Bank to pay tax of more than W1 trillion for breaking law when Hana bank took over Seoul Bank in 1998. The agency found out the problem in its regular audit last year that Hana Bank forged a document in order to evade paying tax.

- Special investigation team said they are thoroughly reviewing the tax history of Lee kun-hee family received from NTS.

- Special prosecutors’ investigation on LMB is in the final phase and the result announcement draft is being drawn up, which will be made public on 22 or 23. Having visited LMB for investigation for three hours on Sunday, the team is said to clear him of any wrongdoing related to various suspicions surrounding the BBK scandal.

- Samsung investigation team hinted at summoning an ‘important figure’ this week from the company. Speculation swirls that Lee Kun-hee might be called into the prosecutor’s office.

- Public feeling toward business turned sourer compared to previous years. A poll on 2,035 adults conducted by Korea Chamber of Commerce and Hyundai Research Institute shows friendly feelings toward business in 2007 slid to 46.6 from slightly over 50 in 2006 and 48.5 in 2004. ‘Unethical management’ is the biggest reason for unfavorable feelings toward business.

- North Korea will lift a public ban on mobile phone use in Pyongyang in April, Tokyo Newspaper quoted a North Korean official in Beijing as saying. The North regime has imposed the ban since April in 2004 after an explosion in Yongcheon. It is reported the North soon expand the lift to other cities.

- The incoming government will strengthen information gathering missions of National Intelligence Service by putting more personnel and bigger budget in the mission, in order to better understand North Korea’s internal situation. It will also put more focus on nailing North Korean spies, which has been very sluggish during the two ‘pro-North’ governments.

- Nongshim, Korea’s one of the biggest snack companies, raises snack prices by 11.3 per cent, or an average W100, due to surging international wheat flour and palm oil prices.

- Seoul’s rice aid to the North is reported to have been used in the NK army, according to a government source. The source said rice shipment from Korea was spotted being unloaded from a truck in the North Korean army bases near DMZ area by Korean soldiers near the border. Many North Korean defectors testified to the fact before but it was the first time to be witnessed and confirmed by Seoul.

- Former dean of Korea University Uh Yoon-dae is likely to be appointed as Minister of Education and Science, actor Yoo In-chon as Minister of Culture, former finance vice-minister Kang Man-soo as Minister of Planning and Budget, and Ambassador to Japan Yoo Myung-hwan as Foreign Minister.

- Food shipment the government sent to the North since 1995 amounts to 2.55 M tons of rice and 0.2 M tons of corn, which translates into more than W1 trillion. The vast part of the shipment was done during the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments. But how the shipment is distributed is practically out of Korean government’s control. The government is supposed to monitor the distribution but the monitoring is too restricted to properly check the distribution system. One NK defector testified last year more than 90 per cent of rice shipments went directly to army bases.

- The special investigation team today raided Samsung Electronics headquarters in Suwon.

- Last month’s Producer Price Index jumped 5.9 per cent compared to a year ago due to rising oil and fodder prices, which rose 28 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively, compared to last December. The overall PPI hit a three-year high since November 2004 of 6.8 per cent.

- LMB is said to like to communicate with other people on the phone, rather than talking face-to-face whenever the situation is awkward or difficult to solve because he thinks phone-conversation is more practical and convenient. His most frequent saying during the day is “please put me through to…” and he talks on the phone about 70 times a day.

- Samsung Electronics’ 15,000 part suppliers are struggling with business uncertainty as the company practically suspended investment plans and deferred infrastructure expansion amid the on-going prosecutors’ investigation.

- The special investigation team is said to request a search warrant for the National Tax Agency to secure documents related to the slush funds. The team previously asked the agency information on 1,000 Samsung executives’ wealth and stock exchange activities but the agency rejected.

- Korea University might return the government the permission for establishing a law school because the number of enrollment is too small to properly run the law school.

- Kyunju city is planning to build Sea World, a luxurious resort with an underwater hotel modeled after Hydropolis of Dubai. If things are going according to the schedule, the construction is expected to be completed by 2015.

- Korea-US FTA bills are finally brought up for discussion before the standing committee in charge of the agreement.

- Korea Chamber of Commerce data shows 71.5 per cent of 520 manufacturing companies have investment plans for this year and the scale of planned investment increased by 14.6 per cent from last year. Investment growth will be biggest among ship manufacturing companies with 29.5 per cent, followed by machine producing companies with 19.5 per cent and textile manufacturers with 17.1 per cent. The biggest hurdle for bigger investment is raising raw material prices (49.4 per cent), followed by a rising won (16.5 per cent) and sluggish economy of the developed countries (11.0 per cent).

- Solidarity for Economic Reform, a civic group, today charged 33 former and sitting Samsung executives who received investigation from the prosecutors as witnesses with obstruction of justice, violation of law, and concealment of offenders.

The arson suspect nailed

The president-elect suggests getting donations from the public for restoring the burnt-down national treasure. “I have thought that it would be more meaningful to restore it with donations from people rather than the government budget because it might give more comfort to people,” he said, visiting the office of transition team.

The suspect of the arson attack is found to be discontented with what he thought the lack of compensation for land he used to live in Ilsan which was demolished and reconstructed. In April, 2006, he set Munjungjeon of Changkyunggung ablaze and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months with the stay of execution for two years. He is reported to have considered terror attacks on public transportations but gave up because of possible, huge casualties.

Meanwhile, Yoo Hong-jun, the head of Cultural Heritage Administration, offered to resign today over the fire on the historic relic.

Namdaemun burned down

The National Tresure No. 1 Soongraymoon (Namdaemun) totally burned down yesterday in what is believed to be an incendiary fire by an unidentified middle-aged man who disappeared after the fire.

Namdaemun was more than 600-year-old and the oldest wooden building in Seoul. Cultural Heritage Administration said the restoration process will take as long as three years and cost W20bn.

People were dumbstruck by the fact that the 600-year-old historic building was totally ruined overnight and there were no protective measures in place. The bulletin board of the Cultural Heritage Administration was filled with angry voices, lambasting the agency not to do their job properly to protect the most proud and precious national treasure. The site is currently down due to flux of users.