The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Friday, October 13, 2017

Your Excellency:

Here are The Korea Post notices and a roundup of important headlines from all major Korean-language dailies, TV and other news media of Korea today:

Very Respectfully Yours

/s/

Lee Kyung-sik

Publisher-Chairman

Korea Post Media

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Invitation to 'Glami Health Kingdom' in Cheorwon and the DMZ

All members of the Family of the Ambassadors are invited on Friday Oct. 20, 2017

Your Excellency:

Here is very good invitation!

This is an invitation for all the Ambassadors, Spouses and their Family in Korea.

Chairman & CEO Nam Jong-hyun of the Glami Co., Ltd. in the Cheorwon City, 46 miles north of Seoul, cordially invites Your Excellency, Madam and all the other members of your Family to the 'Glami Health Kingdom' on Friday Oct. 20, 2017. The travelling time is only one hour, and it is a one day tour, which also includes a rare opportunity to tour the Demilitarized Militarized Zone.

For details on the 'Glami Health Kingdom,' please visit

http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=4556

The tour is organized for the Ambassadors, Madams and all the Family members by The Korea Post media at the invitation of the very diplomat-friendly Chairman Nam Jong-hyun of the Glami Co., Ltd.

The itinerary of the Tour follows:

0830 hours, Friday, 20 Oct. 2017: Meet at the Grand Hyatt Seoul (near the water fountain).

0900-1030 hours: Move to the Cheorwon City by deluxe Limousine buses.

1030-1200 hours: Visit Glami Industrial Plant and watch the production lines of the health beverage, Dawn 808.

1200-1330 hours: Attend Luncheon at the Glami Daepyoung Hall (comparable to a five-star hotel banquet hall).

1330-1500 hours: Tour DMZ (to see if there have been any changes across the DMZ under Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea).

1500-1830 hours: Move back to the Grand Hyatt Seoul.

For inquiries, please call Ms. Kim Sua (English and Korean) at 010-7584-5873 or John Kim at 010-9205-0200.

Other phone numbers are: Ms. Kim Jung-mi (010-3388-1682) and/or Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik (010-5201-1740).

Very Respectfully Yours

/s/

Lee Kyung-sik

Publisher-Chairman

The Korea Post media

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What’s ticking in Korea today? Here is a quick roundup of important news stories from the major Korean news media today:


The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.

Trade minister considering 'all possibilities' before U.S. FTA talks

South Korea's trade minister said Friday that he will consider all possibilities when renegotiating the terms of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, so as to protect the country's interests and not give in to unilateral demands. Last week, the two nations agreed to begin the long-anticipated process of amending the FTA at Washington's request. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed the five-year-old deal for America's growing deficit in goods trade with South Korea. But Seoul has argued the deficit would be larger without the deal and called for a joint review of its impact on the two economies.

S. Korea, Australia voice concerns over N.K. nukes, call for diplomatic efforts

South Korea and Australia voiced their strong concerns Friday over rising tensions prompted by North Korea's continued provocations and emphasized the importance of diplomatic efforts to tackle the current nuclear stalemate.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Defense Minister Song Young-moo met with their Australian counterparts, Julie Bishop and Marise Payne, in Seoul for the third biennial "two-plus-two" talks, which were launched in 2013.

Lotte Mart's sales in China plunge 65 pct amid THAAD row

Sales of Lotte Mart, the discount store chain of South Korean retail giant Lotte, in China dropped nearly 65 percent in the first eight months of this year in the face of Beijing's retaliation over Seoul's installation of a U.S. anti-missile system, data showed Friday. According to the data provided by Lotte to Rep. Kim Su-min for the ongoing parliamentary audit, its sales came to 410 billion won (US$362 million), down 64.7 percent from 1.16 trillion won tallied for January to August of 2016. Lotte recently decided to withdraw its discount store business from the Chinese market, after suffering from punitive measures taken by Beijing over the business group's land-swap deal with the Seoul government to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

Lukewarm private consumption drags down S. Korea's economic recovery

South Korea's economic recovery momentum remains feeble as weak domestic demand such as private consumption offset strong overseas sales, a government report said Friday. "The South Korean economy has been maintaining an upturn pace on the back of brisk exports and recovering global demand, but domestic consumption has remained flaccid as private consumption slowed down again," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report called the "Green Book." The report is based on the latest economic indicators of such key factors as output, exports, consumption and corporate investment, which provide clues as to how the economy has been faring in recent months.

Samsung Electronics predicts record high operating profit for Q3

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that its third-quarter operating profit is expected to have nearly tripled on-year, apparently on the sound returns from its computer chip business. Operating profit was estimated at 14.5 trillion won (US$12.8 billion), compared with 5.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales also probably surged 29.65 percent to 62 trillion won in the July-September period from a year earlier.

The operating profit figure was slightly higher than the market's consensus of 14.3 trillion won, a number compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency, based on 21 local brokerage houses.

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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)

Pres. Office to Request Investigation into Fabricated Documents on Sewol

The presidential office has decided to request an investigation into the alleged fabrication of documents regarding former President Park Geun-hye's activities during the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said on Friday that the top office plans to formally request the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office look into the allegations on Friday after further review in the morning. Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok on Thursday told reporters that documents were found suggesting that the timeline regarding Park's briefings on the day of the disaster were modified to cast the former president in a more favorable light.

Samsung Electronics Predicts Record High Operating Profit for Q3

Samsung Electronics estimated on Friday that its third-quarter operating profit nearly tripled from a year earlier, beating market expectations. Samsung said in a regulatory filing that its July-September operating profit was estimated at a record high 14-point-five trillion won, compared with five-point-two trillion won tallied a year earlier. The figure is larger than the current record of 14-point-07 trillion won set in the previous quarter. Market expectations for the third quarter was 14-point-three trillion won. Samsung said that its sales also probably surged 29-point-seven percent to 62 trillion won in the July-September period from a year earlier.

Trump's Chief Aide: N. Korea Threat is Manageable

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly says that the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons program is manageable for now, stressing diplomacy on the North Korea issue. Kelly made the remark on Thursday during a press briefing at the White House. "The American people should be concerned about a state that has developed a pretty good ICBM capability, and is developing a pretty good nuclear reentry vehicle," he said, adding that the U.S. administration believes the state must not have the ability to reach the homeland. Kelly's call for diplomacy follows strong rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days. Trump had indicated a possible military option against the North with such remarks as “the calm before the storm” and “only one thing will work.”

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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

Samsung Electronics predicts record high operating profit for Q3

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that its third-quarter operating profit is expected to have nearly tripled on-year, apparently on the sound returns from its computer chip business. Operating profit was estimated at 14.5 trillion won (US$12.8 billion), compared with 5.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales also probably surged 29.65 percent to 62 trillion won in the July-September period from a year earlier.The operating profit figure was slightly higher than the market's consensus of 14.3 trillion won, a number compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency, based on 21 local brokerage houses.Samsung did not announce the performance estimates of each business division, although the chip business is anticipated to have played a key role in the record-beating report. The company is set to release its final earnings report later this month.

Court to decide on extension of ex-president's detention

A Seoul court was set to decide Friday whether to extend the detention period of former President Park Geun-hye standing trial in a massive corruption case that toppled her from power early this year. Park was ousted from office and arrested in March on charges of bribery and abuse of power in connection with an influence-peddling scandal. Her six-month arrest warrant expires Monday. An additional warrant by the Seoul Central District Court can place Park under detention for up to another six months in accordance with the local code of criminal procedures. Prosecutors asked the court to extend her detention late last month, saying it won't be able to finish courtroom interrogations of witnesses in the given time. Friday's trial is the 80th session of the court proceedings that began in May. They pointed out that if Park is released, there is a high chance that she will not appear in the trial, which will seriously hinder the progress of the trial at the center of public interest.

Lotte Mart's sales in China plunge 65 pct amid THAAD row

Sales of Lotte Mart, the discount store chain of South Korean retail giant Lotte, in China dropped nearly 65 percent in the first eight months of this year in the face of Beijing's retaliation over Seoul's installation of a U.S. anti-missile system, data showed Friday. According to the data provided by Lotte to Rep. Kim Su-min for the ongoing parliamentary audit, its sales came to 410 billion won (US$362 million), down 64.7 percent from 1.16 trillion won tallied for January to August of 2016.Lotte recently decided to withdraw its discount store business from the Chinese market, after suffering from punitive measures taken by Beijing over the business group's land-swap deal with the Seoul government to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. According to Lotte, 87 out of 99, or 87.9 percent, of Lotte Mart stores in China have suspended operations as of Wednesday.

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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)

Samsung Electronics predicts record high operating profit for Q3

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that its third-quarter operating profit is expected to have nearly tripled on-year, apparently on the sound returns from its computer chip business. Operating profit was estimated at 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion), compared with 5.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales also probably surged 29.65 percent to 62 trillion won in the July-September period from a year earlier.
The operating profit figure was slightly higher than the market's consensus of 14.3 trillion won, a number compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency, based on 21 local brokerage houses.

‘Park’s presidential office doctored Sewol response logs’

Records concerning former President Park Geun-hye’s activities during the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster have been altered, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. In the disaster, the Sewol ferry sank off the country’s southwestern coast, resulting in 295 deaths and nine passengers unaccounted for. Since the wreckage was brought ashore in April this year, the remains of four of the nine missing passengers have been found. According to President Moon Jae-in’s chief of staff Im Jong-seok, documents were found that suggest the timeline of Park being briefed on the day of the disaster have been modified to be favorable to the former president.

Busan Film Fest embarks on 22nd edition with star-studded red carpet

The 22nd Busan International Film Festival officially opened Thursday evening at the Busan Cinema Center, the mood considerably lighter than last year, when political turmoil and a boycott by Korean filmmakers shadowed the event.
Crowds filled the outdoor stage where the opening ceremony took place despite drizzle and wind. The red carpet featured a significantly busier array of celebrities than in 2016, including prominent Korean actors such as Son Ye-jin, Cho Jin-woong and Moon So-ri. K-pop boy band singer-turned-actor Lee Min-ho and actress Yoo In-young were also present. Actress Moon Geun-young arrived with female director Shin Su-won, who helmed this year’s opening film “Glass Garden.”

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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

Samsung quarterly profit hits new high

Samsung Electronics said Friday its preliminary operating profit nearly tripled from a year earlier to a record 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion) for the third quarter, boosted by a stronger demand for semiconductors. It is higher than the market consensus of 14.3 trillion won. Samsung posted 14.07 trillion won in operating profit the previous quarter, following 9.9 trillion won in the January-to-March period. The Korean tech giant expected its quarterly consolidated sales to reach an all-time high of 62 trillion won, up 29.65 percent year-on-year. Samsung issued its quarterly earnings guidance on the day before releasing the finalized earnings report later this month.

Moon Jae-in hesitant to raise voice against Trump

The Moon Jae-in administration is remaining cautious about raising its voice against U.S. President Donald Trump's hinting at military options against North Korea. Moon has repeatedly called for a diplomatic approach to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, but the general consensus here is that his view is being ignored by the Trump administration. On Tuesday, Moon said the current regional situation was "not favorable for us."
"The country has no power to resolve the current crisis or help relevant sides seek an agreement," he noted. On the same day, the U.S. Air Force, for the second time this year, secretly dispatched B-1B strategic bombers to the peninsula at night while Trump was monitoring their flight at the White House and receiving reports accordingly.

Park gov't fabricated documents on Sewol

Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday it found an electronic document showing that the presidential office under former President Park Geun-hye fabricated the time she first received a report on the deadly Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. The presidential office said it also discovered separate documents that contain evidence of the Park government illegally changing the guidelines on dealing with a national crisis after its bungled rescue efforts. Political sources speculated that the changes were an effort to cover up Park's incompetence. The revelation comes amid unresolved questions over the former president's failure to deal with the country's worst maritime disaster on April 16, 2014. Over 300 passengers, mostly high school students on a school trip, were killed.

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DongA Ilbo (http://english.donga.com)

‘Korea needs nuclear power plants,’ says U.S. climate policy expert

"Korea is one of the few countries that have the ability to build cost-effective and safe nuclear power plants. The country needs nuclear power plants so that it can keep its promise of greenhouse gas emissions reductions."Michael Shellenberger, a Time Magazine "Hero of the Environment" and founder of the pro-nuclear NGO "Environmental Progress," had a press conference Thursday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce, and stressed the safety of nuclear power plant. "People fail to see the fact clearly due to excessive fear of nuclear power plants. We need to make judgment on the basis of scientific facts," he said. The environmental policy expert has claimed that Korea needs nuclear power plants, while expressing his opposition to the Korean government's nuclear power phase-out policy. His visit to Korea this time is to appeal to Korean citizens to make an objective judgment at a deliberative opinion poll scheduled to start from Friday.

'Seoul to retain OPCON at early date,' defense minister says

Defense Minister Song Young-moo said Thursday that South Korea will push for an early transfer of the wartime operational control (OPCON) over its troops from the United States. He told a National Assembly session that the OPCON transfer would serve as an opportunity for the South Korean military to secure capabilities for playing a leading role in waging war and for the Seoul-Washington alliance to develop in a mutually complementary manner. In a related move, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the National Assembly that Seoul and Washington will plan to approve a plan, during their annual Security Consultative Meeting to be held in Seoul on October 27 and 28, to create a new combined command.

Kobe Steel withholds faked quality data for 4 months

Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, Kobe Steel, is engulfed in an ever deepening scandal over manipulating the quality of its products. The Japanese company admitted to falsifying data on iron ore powder and alloy products as well as aluminum and copper, and the company also announced that it is investigating suspicious cases in and out of the country. The episode is morphing into an international scandal with the U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford launching internal investigations. During a meeting with journalists in Tokyo on Thursday, Hiroya Kawasaki, the president of Kobe Steel, lowered his head and said the trust in Kobe Steel has dropped to zero. He also suggested the possibility of the scandal being further expanded, adding that the company is investigating suspicious cases in Japan and overseas.

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)

N.Korea Still Selling Seafood to China

North Korea continues to sell seafood to China despite a UN Security Council ban on its seafood exports, CNN reported Wednesday.A CNN team visited a market in the border city of Hunchun in late September. "The ban in August hit hard in places like Hunchun. Large seafood processing centers closed, businesses suffered and some traders staged small protests, local residents said," CNN said. But "North Korean crabs were abundant at markets." One elderly woman showed reporters crabs in a cold tank that had been smuggled from the North the previous night. They were selling at 180 yuan per kg. "It's a bit more expensive now than it used to be," she said. The shopkeeper nearby also showed big hairy crabs that had been shipped from the North about four days earlier.

U.S. Weapons Mass in S.Korea
U.S. B-1B strategic bombers were sent again to skies over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday night, practicing launching a precision strike against the North alongside the South Korean Air Force's F-15K fighter jets. Tuesday was the North Korean Workers Party's founding anniversary, when another widely feared missile launch failed to materialize. Earlier U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed by top defense officials on a "range of options" about how to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat, the White House said. Trump "met with members of his national security team to receive a briefing from Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday. "The briefing and discussion focused on a range of options to respond to any form of North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons."

China Warns S.Koreans of N.Korean Abduction Risk

Chinese police have advised a dozen South Korean missionaries working near the border with North Korea to leave due to fears of abduction or attacks by North Korean agents. Sources in the border city of Dandong and the South Korean Consulate in Shenyang on Wednesday said Chinese police advised the South Korean missionaries to go home earlier this month. One South Korean source in the region said, "We weren't coerced, but they explained that in view of the threat it would be advisable for us to stay out of China until the Communist Party Congress ends." Some South Koreans were summoned to police stations but were not told exactly what threats they faced from North Korea. Dandong is a hotspot for North Korean agents trying to sniff out defectors who have fled across the border, and it is a more or less open secret which hotels they frequent. South Korean missionaries in the area mostly double as helpers for defectors on their arduous trek across China to Southeast Asia.

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)

US B-1B bombers again conduct military exercises over Korean Peninsula

Two US B-1B strategic bombers made sorties over the Korean Peninsula on the evening of Oct. 10 for air-to-surface missile exercises. The exercises came 17 days after a US Air Force B-1B squadron previously crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) to perform flight exercises outside North Korean airspace in the East Sea on the evening of Sept. 23 and early morning of Sept. 24. The US military also belatedly revealed on Oct. 11 that one of its nuclear-powered submarines had put in at Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province.The moves are being interpreted as shows of force aimed at forestalling potential provocations by North Korea. B-1B bombers – the so-called “swans of death” – conducted air-to-surface missile exercises in the absence of any North Korean test launches, nuclear tests, or other provocations risks raising military tensions on the peninsula.

Military advisors brief Trump on options for North Korea

US seen as preparing countermeasures in case of further provocations from Pyongyang With analysts suggesting that North Korea could take action causing tensions to rise even further before the end of the month, the White House announced on Oct. 10 that US President Donald Trump had discussed various options for North Korea that his advisors from the Pentagon had briefed him about.“This morning President Donald J. Trump met with members of his national security team to receive a briefing from Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford,” the White House announced in an official statement released on Oct. 10. “The briefing and discussion focused on a range of options to respond to any form of North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons.” While the statement did not explicitly mention “military options,” the overall context of the statement suggests that military options were discussed as well.

Park government made secret deal to increase cash contributions for USFK facilities in 2014

The South Korean government made a behind-the-scenes deal pledging increased cash contributions on exceptional grounds while signing its Ninth Defense Cost Sharing Special Agreement with the US on support for the stationing of US Forces Korea in early 2014, it was recently discovered. Drawing particular attention is the fact that the actual designation for the additional contributions demanded by USFK was for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) inaccessible to South Korea.The deal’s existence was concealed by the Park Geun-hye administration (2013–16) in its explanation of the implementation arrangement to the relevant National Assembly standing committee, which came when the agreement had already been ratified and entered effect. Implementation arrangements are legally binding, but, unlike the agreement proper, do not require National Assembly ratification.

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JoongAng Ilbo (http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/)

Record-breaking Kospi has many hoping for more

The Korean stock market’s main index reached another all-time high on Thursday, breaking a record set the previous day and raising expectations that the Kospi might surpass the psychologically significant 2,500 level soon. Purchases by foreign investors have driven the record-breaking performance of the past two days, despite continuing concerns about geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula, including the recent flight of U.S. bombers over the peninsula in a second show of force since the same bombers flew north of the demilitarized zone on Sept. 23. The Kospi ended Thursday at 2,474.76, up 16.60 points, or 0.68 percent, from the previous session, when the board also broke a record. It was the first time the Kospi had broken a new record in two months.

Korea, U.S. to realign combined forces command

Seoul and Washington will discuss and approve a revised structure of the Korea-U.S. combined forces command at the upcoming security consultations later this month to prepare for the U.S. handover of the wartime operational control of the Korean troops, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. According to the plan, a Korean general will act as the chief commander of the combined troops and an American general will serve as the deputy commander. In a report to the Defense Committee of the National Assembly for the routine government inspection, the ministry briefed lawmakers about the plan for a future combined forces command structure, which will replace the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command after Korea takes over wartime operational control.

North won’t agree to nuclear deal: Ri Yong-ho

Pyongyang would never agree to any sort of nuclear deal with Washington, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told Russian state-run media Wednesday, so long as the United States keeps applying pressure. He also told Russia’s official Tass news agency that U.S. President Donald Trump has “lit the fuse of war” with his “belligerent and insane statement” at the United Nations General Assembly, referring to Trump’s address on Sept. 19, threatening to “totally destroy North Korea.”Ri, who also spoke at the General Assembly that same week, told reporters in New York that the U.S. president has “declared war on our country,” leading to a war of words between the American leader and Pyongyang over the past month.

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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)

President Moon Stresses Cooperation in Security, But Results Are Doubtful
President Moon Jae-in continues to seek cooperation in security matters after the Chuseok holiday. He may be trying to use the security crisis as an opportunity to unite the nation, but experts argue that there is a clear limit since ruling and opposition parties have different political calculations in mind. At Cheong Wa Dae on the afternoon of October 11, President Moon met with Chung Dong-young (People's Party), Choung Byoung-gug (Bareun Party), Kim Du-kwan (Minjoo Party), and Lee Seok-hyun (Minjoo), lawmakers of the parliamentary Northeast Asia Peace Cooperation, who recently returned from a trip to the U.S., and expressed his gratitude for diplomatic efforts at the parliamentary level, one surpassing the boundaries of political parties.

40 Million Won Worth of Cash and Gold Found in Incheon Airport Duty-Free Zone: How Did It Pass Security?
Customs officials are investigating two backpacks full of cash and gold bars found in a restaurant in the duty-free area of the Incheon International Airport departure terminal over the Chuseok holiday. Passengers boarding and transferring flights can only enter this duty-free zone after a security check, so this also shows that there is a hole in the airport's security system. It's been over a week since the bag was discovered, but no one has stepped up to claim the bag. The Incheon International Airport Corporation and Incheon Main Customs announced on October 11 that security officers at Incheon Airport discovered two backpacks abandoned at a restaurant in the departure terminal's duty-free zone on the third floor of the airport's passenger terminal at around 9 p.m. on October 3.

"Secure the North American Washing Machine Market" Samsung & LG Cooperate Against Trade Pressure
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will work together to guard the North American market, the world's largest market for washing machines. The two companies will work to prevent the Trump administration from issuing a safeguard (emergency import restriction), as the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) judged that South Korean washing machines were causing severe damage to the U.S. industry. Samsung and LG, which have increased their market share in North America with their premium products, are expected to cooperate and develop countermeasures.

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The Korea Economic Daily (http://english.hankyung.com/)

POSCO Completes Steel Wire Service Center in the U.S.

POSCO, Korea's largest steel maker, has completed on September 22 the construction of a steel wire service center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons. The plant will supply steel wire goods to be used for bolts, nuts, and bearings to auto parts companies. Started in April last year, the service center cost the company US$20.9 million to build. The high-quality steel materials produced in the new plant will be supplied to companies like Simplex Korea, Taeyang Metal Industrial, Nissan, and Fontana. Kwon Oh-joon, chairman of POSCO, said in a speech at the service center, "With the completion of the processing center, we will be able to sell our products directly to customers in the world's largest steel wire market. I hope more Korean automotive parts suppliers using our products could move into the U.S. market."

China's ZZQC Int'l Business Group to Move into Korean Market in Earnest

ZZQC International Business Group, China's major investment firm, will likely take part in Cityscape Korea 2017, the nation's largest international real estate trade show, signaling that it is moving into the Korean market in earnest.

According to the secretariat office of Cityscape Korea on August 8, ZZQC will set up a booth in the Korea Economic Daily-sponsored exhibition and send five top executives to meet local developers and public agency officers. During the trade show period, the Chinese company will sign as many contracts as possible with domestic partners as long as conditions permit. Any company wishing to contact ZZQC before the exhibition may call the organizing office for appointment.

Industry Panics over Prospect of Rising Subcontract Worker Disputes

As the government pronounced illegal on the practice of companies relying on subcontract workers for a long time such as the cases in Paris Baguette and Mando-Hella, the whole industry in shock. This is not just restricted to manufacturers but is spread to services and the food franchise industry as well. The corporate sector expected on September 24 that companies like Tous Les Jours, Samsung Electronics service centers, and LG U+ will likely face the same problem any time soon after the Ministry of Employment and Labor made a decision on dispatch workers. An official with a large corporation said that he is worried that the government may pressure his company to hire all dispatch workers as full-time regular employees.

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AJU Business Daily (http://eng.ajunews.com/korea)

KT succeeds in testing of 5G video transmission on high-velocity vehicle

KT, South Korea's largest telecom company, has set a new milestone for next-generation communication by transmitting video images to a car running at high speed in the successful expressway field test of its 5G network for the first time in the world. KT said proudly that its 5G technology using "SLT" (SkyLife LTE TV), a hybrid of satellite and LTE wireless communication, would become a solid base in developing and commercializing autonomous and connected vehicles. SLT uses LTE as a backup signal when satellite signal gets weak in harsh weather conditions or when a vehicle moves through a tunnel. In its test that began in August, the car mounted with an SLT system has successfully received images while traveling at 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles) on an expressway between Seoul and the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang, home to next year's Winter Olympics.

Jailed ex-president accused of manipulating state records

Jailed ex-president Park Geun-hye was accused of manipulating state records to avoid criticism that she neglected her duty to supervise a crucial rescue operation in the sinking of a ferry packed with high-school students in 2014. The office of President Moon Jae-in said it has discovered a manipulated daily journal drafted on April 16, 2014, when the ill-fated Sewol ferry sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014, with the loss of more than 300 lives. The daily record showed the first report was made at 9:30 am (0030 GMT), although the ousted leader insisted in court she received it at 10:15 am. The change was seen as an apparent attempt to narrow the gap between the first report and Park's first order, Im Jong-seok, the presidential chief of staff, told reporters.

President Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump claims she is the first lady, not Melania

Marriage and divorce can be a messy thing for some couples. This proves to be true for the First Family of the U.S. Ivana Trump who was the first wife of President Donald Trump said in an interview Monday with Good Morning America that she was the "first lady". Her comment stirred up a huge controversy. In the interview, Ivana revealed that she has an access to direct lines to Donald Trump and to the White House. However, she would not want to use it "because Melania is there." Ivana continued, "And I don't want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife. Okay?" She added, "I'm first lady." Ivana said she sympathizes with Melania Trump though. "I think for her to be in Washington must be horrible," she explained and added, "It's better her than me. I would hate Washington."

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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)

Hyundai Grandeur regains strength with 100,000 unit sales this year in Korea

Hyundai Motor’s Grandeur mid-sized passenger sedan, also known as Azera in North America, is regaining strength in its home South Korean market, surpassing 100,000 units in sales this year, the first achievement since 2011, when its predecessor fifth-generation models hit 107,584. The country’s largest automaker said on Wednesday Grandeur sales came to 104,246 units for the first nine months this year. No other models in the carmaker’s line-up have touched the 100,000 threshold in Korea this year. The sixth-generation Grandeur sedan was launched in November 2016.

S. Korea’s LS Cable & System installs undersea cable for U.S.’s first offshore wind farm

South Korea’s leading cable maker LS Cable & System Ltd. said on Thursday that it has successfully completed the installation of its underground cables for the first offshore wind farm in the United States. The company hopes that the latest project can allow it to expand presence in the rapidly growing U.S. wind energy market. According to the company, it has recently installed submarine cables for the Block Island Wind Farm - the first commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S. built by National Grid, a local energy company covering the country’s eastern region, and American offshore energy development group Deepwater Wind.

Samsung identifies itself as “data company” at CEO summit in San Francisco

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest smartphone and memory chip maker, has unveiled its bold vision to transform into a “data company” that engages in industries beyond hardware manufacturing and software development in preparation for the fourth industrial revolution. The South Korean tech giant sees data as “new oil” that would become the next driving force behind the upcoming industry revolution, substituting oil that had led the industrial revolution in the 20th century, the company executive said.

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The New York Times www.nytimes.com inytletters@nytimes.com

Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com support@wsj.com,service@wsj-asia.com

Financial Times www.ft.com ean@ft.com

The Times www.thetimes.co.uk help@timesplus.co.uk

The Sun www.thesun.co.uk talkback@the-sun.co.uk

Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cnkf@people.cn

China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn circulation@chinadaily.com.cn

GwangmyeongDaily www.gmw.cn webmaster@gmw.cn

Japan's Yomiuri www.yomiuri.co.jp japannews@yomiuri.com

Asahi www.asahi.com customer-support@asahi.com

Mainichi www.mainichi.jp

Le Monde www.ilemonde.com

Italy LaRepubblica www.quotidiano.repubblica.it vittorio.zucconi@gmail.com

Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de

SüddeutscheZeitung www.sueddeutsche.de forum@sueddeutsche.de

Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Sydney Morning Heraldwww.smh.com.au

Colombia Reports http://colombiareports.com

Bogota Free Planet http://bogotafreeplanet.combfp@bogotafreeplanet.com

El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english

Andes http://www.andes.info.ec/en

Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net

The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com

LSM.lv http://www.lsm.lv/en

The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.comlithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com

El Pais http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html

Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net

Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com

Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu

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The Korea Post is running video clips from the different embassies.

Azerbaijan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR8CBpcQ4WM

Sri Lanka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByX92Y2aGY&t=22s

Morocco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfFmp2sVvSE

And many other countries.

저작권자 © The Korea Post 무단전재 및 재배포 금지