- 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.