The Korean daily media headlines and humor

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Monday, October 16, 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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Dean of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps (SDC) Ambassador Alfredo Ungo of El Salvador (former), 7^th from left, second row, is all smiles flanked by Chairman Nam Jong-hyun of Glami Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., on his right and Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post on his left, with many other ambassadors and other members of the SDC years ago. Glami has thence grown by leaps and bounds and expanded the company into a ‘Glami Health Kingdom’ producing the marketking health beverages to all parts of the world as well as in Korea. Chairman Nam invites all the family members of all the ambassadors and other senior diplomats in Korea on the upcoming Ambassaddor Tour on Friday 20 October this year.“We have now a lot more to show this time,” says Chairman Nam. Glami has now grown into a large ‘Health Kingdom’ in Cheorwon, an hour’s run from Seoul.

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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.

Card spending soars 35 pct during Chuseok holidays

Credit and debit card spending in South Korea soared more than 30 percent over the recent extended Chuseok holiday season from a year ago, industry data showed Sunday. A daily average of 191.8 billion won (US$170.1 million) worth of purchases were made through credit and debit cards during the Sept. 30-Oct. 9 holidays, up 35.8 percent from the 141.2 billion won average tallied during the Chuseok holidays last year, which fell mid-September, according to the data compiled by KB Kookmin Card Co. The figures are also 37.5 percent higher than the 139.6 billion won recorded over the Lunar New Year holiday this year.

S. Korean, U.S. financial chiefs discuss North Korea, FTA

The top financial policymakers of South Korea and the United States met Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Washington D.C. Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed pending issues including North Korea, the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and the U.S. report on currency manipulation, according to Seoul officials. They expressed concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations and agreed to enhance policy coordination to cope with risks related to North Korea. Mnuchin recognized the two countries' close cooperation in implementing sanctions against North Korea.

S. Korea struggles to achieve 3 pct growth target amid signs of feeble recovery

South Korea is struggling to achieve its goal of 3 percent growth this year as skepticism grows over sluggish domestic demand and investment. Officials said the government is not considering stimulus measures for now, as it has already injected an extra 11 trillion won ($9.76 billion) into the economy in August. But it may come up with microeconomic measures to support vulnerable sectors if third-quarter growth is less than expected, they said. The data will be released late this month. "The government will not announce comprehensive measures to boost the economy," a Ministry of Strategy and Finance official said Sunday. "But we may release plans to support people's livelihoods if we receive poor third-quarter data."

S. Korea, U.S. start maritime drills against N. Korea

The South Korean and U.S. navies on Monday kicked off massive combined drills off the coast of the peninsula amid heightened tensions. The allies plan to continue the Maritime Counter Special Operations Exercise (MCSOFEX) through Friday in the East Sea and the Yellow Sea, also known as the West Sea. It involves the U.S. 7th Fleet's aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers -- the USS Stethem (DDG-63) and the USS Mustin (DDG-89). The carrier strike group will train with South Korean warships and other defense assets, such as the Sejong the Great Aegis ship and P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft in the East Sea.

U.S. not recertifying Iran deal sends 'perfect message' to N. Korea: Haley

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to recertify a nuclear deal with Iran sends the "perfect message" to North Korea about its own nuclear program, Washington's top envoy to the United Nations said Sunday. Trump announced Friday that he would not recertify the 2015 multilateral deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. He stopped short of withdrawing from the agreement, but critics said the move undermined U.S. credibility in any future negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear program. "It sends the perfect message to North Korea, which is we're not going to engage in a bad deal," Ambassador Nikki Haley said in an interview on ABC News. "Should we ever get into a deal, we're going to hold you accountable. We're not going to look the other way because we think we have made a deal and we're not going to continue to watch it."

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

S. Korea-US Joint Exercise to Begin Monday

South Korea and the U.S. began a joint exercise in the East and West Seas Monday amid heightened tensions over the possibility of a fresh provocation by North Korea. U.S. strategic military assets, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and an attack submarine, have gathered in South Korea for the drill. The U.S. nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) arrived in South Korea on Sunday, carrying 70 aircraft such as FA-18 Super Hornets.
The 333-meter-long, 100-thousand-ton Nimitz-class carrier will take part in the joint drill set for Monday to Friday. The U.S. special operations forces reportedly on board a submarine belonging to the USS Ronald Reagan-led strike group will participate in a simulated counterattack against North Korean soldiers.

Trump Alleges Nuclear Collaboration between N. Korea, Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump has raised suspicions that North Korea and Iran have been collaborating on nuclear development. Trump made the remark at the White House on Friday while announcing that he will decertify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal."There are also many people who believe that Iran is dealing with North Korea. I am going to instruct our intelligence agencies to do a thorough analysis and report back their findings beyond what they have already reviewed."
Addressing the Values Voter Summit earlier in the day, Trump called the North a rogue regime and vowed continued sanctions.

Somalia Truck Bombing Kills 276

A deadly truck bombing has killed 276 people and injured about 300 others in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. A huge explosion from a truck bomb occurred on Saturday afternoon at the center of the city, which was followed by another suicide bomb attack two hours later in another area. The Associated Press said that the bombings killed at least 276 people, but the death toll is expected to rise. Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of national mourning and called for donations of blood and funds to help the victims. Somalia's government is blaming the al-Shabaab extremist group for the attack.

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

S. Korea's unemployment rate rose sharpest in August among OECD countries

South Korea's unemployment rate grew by the biggest margin in August among member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), due chiefly to youth joblessness, the latest data showed Monday. The figures released by the OECD put South Korea's unemployment rate for August at 3.8 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from the previous month. While it was the first increase since June, the rate of increase was the highest, along with Austria, among the 25 OECD members checked. Numbers fell for 10 countries but rose for four. The average unemployment for the member states was 5.8 percent, the same as for May.

Stocks open higher on U.S. gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, taking a cue from a rise in U.S. stocks last week, with market leader Samsung Electronics Co. continuing to increase.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 6.43 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,480.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.41 percent up after it released an upbeat earnings guidance for the third quarter.SK hynix, a major chipmaker, also improved 0.35 percent.In contrast, Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved down 1.29 percent, and Korea Electric Power Corp. shed 1.02 percent The local currency was trading at 1,126.95 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.95 won from the previous session's close.

More teenagers suffering from alcoholism: data

The number of teenagers suffering from alcoholism has been on the rise, with the total receiving treatment hitting 7,800 over the past five years, data showed Monday. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data submitted to the National Assembly, teens categorized as alcoholics increased from 2012 through 2016. The numbers have generally been on a steady ascent from 1,415 in 2012 to 1,304 in 2013, 1,588 in 2014, 1,728 in 2015 and 1,767 in 2016, the data showed. The data showed that 29.2 percent of such alcoholic adolescents were considered at high risk. High risk is viewed as a person drinking more than 8.8 shots of the Korean distilled liquor soju in one sitting for males and 5.9 for female. The latest findings also showed that the number of female teenagers suffering from alcoholism jumped from 590 in 2012 to 716 in 2016, while that for males increased from 825 to 1,006 during the cited period.

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

Trump wants diplomatic solution to NK crisis: Tillerson

US President Donald Trump wants a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with North Korea and will continue to work on it "until the first bomb drops," his top diplomat said Sunday. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the remark in an interview on CNN as tensions have heightened over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "He has made it clear to me to continue my diplomatic efforts," Tillerson said. "Those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops." Trump appeared to undercut his top diplomat on Twitter early this month, saying Tillerson is "wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," a reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" he added.

Samsung CEO’s sudden departure signals change, challenge

A surprise farewell announcement by a Samsung Electronics chief executive officer on the day the tech giant paraded another record-quarterly profit last week signals a generational shift within the tech giant leadership and also a change into a technology-focused, business-to-business company from a copycat appliance maker, experts in Seoul said Sunday. Kwon Oh-hyun, who led Samsung Electronics’ thriving chip business and has recently emerged as the public face of the tech giant, said Friday that he will voluntarily step down from the post and would not retain his job as the head of board room that expires in March. In his emotionally charged letter to Samsung employees, he felt that the timing is right for him to leave now, considering the nature of the fast-evolving IT industry. The leaders of Samsung‘s global partners nowadays are “young,” he said.

Death toll from blast in Somalia's capital rises to 189

The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia's capital rose to 189 with more than 200 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa nation, police and hospital sources said Sunday.
Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burnt beyond recognition. Officials feared the toll would continue to climb from Saturday's truck bomb that targeted a busy street near key ministries. Sources for the death toll spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Ambulance sirens still echoed across the city as bewildered families wandered in the rubble of buildings, looking for missing relatives. "In our 10 year experience as the first responder in (hash)Mogadishu, we haven't seen anything like this,'' the Aamin Ambulance service tweeted.

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

US strategic military assets will gather in South Korea this week

U.S. strategic military assets, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and an attack submarine, will gather in South Korea this week, military officials here said Sunday.This may increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid growing signs North Korea is preparing to conduct another missile test soon. Some weapons will join the Seoul-Washington joint maritime drill scheduled from Monday to Friday while others will be featured at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX), an annual air show due Tuesday to Sunday. The gathering of the cutting-edge U.S. weapons here will take place amid signs of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) provocation possibly this week.

Park Geun-hye faces ouster from her party

The largest conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) plans to ask former President Park Geun-hye to leave the party "voluntarily" this week, party officials said Sunday. If Park rejects their request, the party can expel Park in 10 days under the LKP's membership rules. Depriving Park of party membership is in line with the party's plan to merge with the minor conservative Bareun Party. Some members of the Bareun Party have vowed to rejoin the LKP if the party expels Park and her loyalists. Last December, anti-Park lawmakers in the Saenuri Party broke away from the party and founded the Bareun Party, and the Saenuri Party became the LKP.

How long will it take to evacuate from Korea's tallest building?

The evacuation time for Korea's tallest building in case of fire was estimated to be over an hour. Data from the National Fire Agency revealed it takes up to 63 minutes to evacuate the 123-floor-high, 555-meter-tall Lotte World Tower in case of fire, according to Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Sunday. As skyscrapers increasingly crowd major Korean cities, adequate evacuation guidelines are in dire need, the lawmaker said in a press statement. In a training session the agency conducted jointly with citizens, it took up to 63 minutes to evacuate everyone using the emergency elevator and 60 minutes by stairs.

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

Trump to promise nuclear umbrella during his visit to S. Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump who will visit Korea early next month will demand North Korea to fully abandon its nuclear and missile development, while promising to provide a nuclear umbrella to South Korea and Japan, and stressing that Washington is mulling all possible options for Pyongyang including military actions, according to Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun’s Sunday report. Yomiuri quoted Washington that President Trump will announce the issue of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats as the most important task of his administration and deliver measures to strengthen pressure on North Korea.

LG Corp. ranks 10th place in 'World’s Best Employers 2017'

LG Corp. took 10th place in Forbes’ list of “World’s Best Employers,” ranking the top among domestic corporations. According to the results by Forbes, which ranked 500 companies, 18 Korean firms including four and five affiliates of LG and Samsung, respectively, were among the 500. The first place was granted to “Alphabet,” the parent company of Google.On Sunday (local time), Forbes announced top 500 best employers of the world, which targeted global corporations. This list was based on Forbes’ 2017 Global 2000 rankings that considered each company’s sales, profit, asset and total market value. More than 36,000 surveys based on 2,000 corporations were analyzed by Statista, a German market survey organization, and singled out 500 companies. The survey asked employees to rate their own employer, recommend other employers they admired, and the likelihood they would recommend the company to a friend or family member. The specific contents, method of assessment and its scope were not made public.

Korea-France friendship concert celebrates 10th anniversary

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, a long line was formed in front of Madeleine Church in Paris, France. There was more than thirty minutes before the concert started, but the church was crowded with Koreans and French to watch the “Korea-France Friendship Concert,” which marks the 10th anniversary. The person behind this event, which became an official event for the two countries with the support of the French Ministry of the Interior, was Lee Mia (age 49), president of Echos de la Corée (the Echo of Korea). In 2013, her work was recognized and received the “Cheval‎ier,” which is a medal for culture and art.

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

Latin Is Latest Fad at Gangnam Crammers

One crammer offers a course from beginner to advanced consisting of two-hour classes once a week for a hefty W500,000 a month (US$1=W1,130). "The class costs twice as much as an English conversation class, but all 30 seats usually sell out almost instantly," a staffer said. Most of the students who applied for the classes were preparing for the SAT, the American college-entrance test. About a dozen crammers in Gangnam and Seocho teach Latin.

Smaller Households Boost Demand for Smaller Homes

Singles or couples without kids will account for the vast majority of households by 2045, according to a projection, driving up demand for smaller apartments across Korea.

The Construction Economy Research Institute of Korea said analysis of Statistics Korea data shows the total number of households in Korea rising from 19.5 million in 2017 to a peak of 22.34 million in 2043.

And households will get smaller. The number of single or two-person households is expected to account for 71.3 percent by 2045, with single households making up the bigger share at 36.3 percent or 8.1 million people. This year they already account for 55.4 percent of total households.

Trump Keeps Talking Tough Ahead of S.Korea Visit
Amid increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, U.S. President Donald Trump will come to South Korea in early November, where he is expected to discuss whatever hardline measures against the renegade country he envisages at the time. Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday announced President Moon Jae-in and Trump will meet in Seoul in early November but added no exact date has been decided. Trump also visits Japan and China.

The U.S. leader has been engaged in an increasingly heated war of words with North Korea.

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

Former US Congressman awarded honorary doctorate from Cheongju University

Mike Honda, a former US Congressman who spearheaded the passage of a resolution to address the Korean comfort women issue while serving in the House of Representatives, received an honorary doctoral degree in political science from Cheongju University on Oct. 13. “Former Rep. Mike Honda showed courage in calling for an apology and compensation from Japan on the comfort women issue, even amid social prejudice in his [family’s] home country,” Cheongju University president Jeong Seong-bong said. “He is an example of living conscience who has paid four visits to the comfort women survivors’ home at the House of Sharing to offer condolences. We congratulate him and are proud of him for promoting friendship between South Korea and the US and becoming a Cheongju University alumnus,” Jeong continued.

Brookings Institution’s Pak: Chances of war with North Korea “almost zero”

Jung H. Pak, who was appointed early last month as SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution, said that despite rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, there is almost no possibility of war. “Nobody wants war,” Pak stressed in a talk with South Korean correspondents at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, on Oct. 12.“There may be a 1% chance that anything could happen, but the possibility of war within the next few months, or even the next year, is almost zero,” she added. Pak previously served as deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and portfolio manager for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) East Asia & Pacific Mission Center. Pak also noted that China and Russia “have made it clear they will not tolerate instability, while senior officials in the US administration have said they want a peaceful resolution to the North Korea issue.”

North Korea using small hydroelectric plant to power Kaesong Complex factories

Amid controversy over North Korea’s resumption of operations at some textile factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myung-gyon said on Oct. 13 that the supply of electricity to the complex is coming from a small hydroelectric power plant in the area that North Korea has apparently activated. That was the response that Cho provided during the parliamentary audit at the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee to Lee Ju-yeong, a lawmaker with the Korea Liberty Party, who asked how the Kaesong Complex could be reactivated when its electricity supply had been cut from a substation in the South Korean city of Paju. Cho said that the South Korean government assumes the complex is being powered by a “hydroelectric plant on the Yeseong River” in North Hwanghae Province.

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

Joint drills will be show of force

The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will kick off a five-day training exercise with South Korea today in the East and Yellow Seas, in what local military officials said was a demonstration of force against North Korea that any provocation would face fierce retaliation. It wasn’t clear as of press time Sunday whether Reagan and the rest of its strike group had already arrived in South Korean waters. Military officials did not say, due to the confidentiality of the information, while some sources only said on the condition of anonymity that they were expected to arrive some time on Sunday. The American aircraft carrier, along with the South Korean Navy, will chiefly practice infiltrating North Korea from the sea, a drill known as the Maritime Counter Special Operations Force, or MCSOF. At 1,092 feet long, the Nimitz-class Ronald Reagan has a waterline beam of 134 feet, a flight deck 252 feet wide, and can normally carry 60 aircraft as well as some 5,000 crew members.

Justice Ministry details investigation authority

The Ministry of Justice announced Sunday its proposal for a new investigative authority to probe crimes of senior public officials, largely curtailing the organization’s manpower from the initial plan. The new investigative authority devoted to combating corruption among senior public servants will be an independent agency that will not belong to the administration, legislature and judiciary in order to protect its political integrity, the ministry said. It will be given the right to investigate, indict and maintain indictment just like the prosecution. Its jurisdiction will cover top members of public offices including the incumbent president. The ministry said it had formed a task force to draft the plan shortly after an in-house reform committee of the Justice Ministry and prosecution made a recommendation to create an agency stronger than the prosecution and police. The team reviewed various proposals including the plan and bills pending at the National Assembly and created the ministry’s bill.

Hyundai’s market share in U.S. hits 8-year low

Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Motors are suffering in the United States, a market that the Korean carmakers initially struggled to enter three decades ago and where they have since had to overcome a range of issues including a quality control problem. The two automakers’ market share in the United States, their second biggest market after China, hit an eight-year low in the first nine months of this year, according to a sales report. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold an accumulated 969,670 cars between January and September this year, a 10.2 percent year-on-year drop. Hyundai Motor sold 587,688 cars, 12.9 percent less than the same period last year, and Kia Motors sold 457,930 cars, a 6.9 percent drop.

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

Fabricated 30 Minutes After the Sewol: The Story Had to Say that Park Geun-hye Found out Late
A document was discovered showing that Cheong Wa Dae under former President Park Geun-hye altered an official document by delaying the time of the initial report of the Sewol accident to the former president by thirty minutes. Experts believe the change was made for former President Park to avoid the criticism that she missed the “golden opportunity” to save lives with her late response to the accident. It is unfortunate, for if Park had ordered an active rescue immediately after receiving the report on the disaster, she might have been able to minimize the number of victims.

Women Account for Over 40% of the Student Population, But Only 15% of the Faculty
Women account for only 15% of the tenured faculty at Seoul National University (SNU), a figure showing serious gender disparity at the school. Female professors only held 13.3% of the major positions at the school, far below 40%, the minimum for female participation presented by the Framework Act on Gender Equality. Among the Korean faculty members, Seoul National University graduates accounted for 80.4%, and an overwhelming 47.7% of the professors obtained their highest degree in the United States.

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.

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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.

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.

Gov't Decides to Give $8 Mil. Aid to North Korea...Timing to Be Announced Later

The government has decided to give support to North Korea worth US$8 million in programs helping its vulnerable people including children and pregnant women indirectly through international organizations. It, however, has not decided when to start sending money and exactly how. This is interpreted as a choice to deflect criticism that it is undertaking an aid project at a time when North Korea is causing an international storm by launching a series of missile tests.

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

S. Korea hails extended currency swap deal with China

South Korea's financial community heaved a sigh of relief after China agreed to extend a currency swap deal which has been seen as a symbol of economic cooperation between Asia's two major economies. The deal worth 56 billion US dollars was extended for three years after it expired on Tuesday, said Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon who were in Washington to attend the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and the annual IMF conference. The extended arrangement took effect on Wednesday, Lee said. It came ahead of China's 19th party congress which will begin on October 18.

Mobile carrier LG U+ faces criticism for communication blackout

LG U+, South Korea's third-largest mobile carrier, came under a barrage of criticism by angry consumers after its mobile data communication network experienced a blackout over the weekend. Mobile networks provided by LG U+ in Daegu, the country's fourth-largest city some 238 kilometers (147 miles) south of Seoul, went dark for several hours at about 1:00 am (1600GMT) Sunday. Some users in cities near Seoul, including Ansan and Suwon, also reported communication failure. The users were able to make phone calls and send text messages but they could not use mobile internet and other features. Other networks used for business purposes such as credit card transactions went off.

Samsung's interim head resigns amid jitters about prolonged power vacuum

Kwon Oh-hyun, who has played a crucial role in South Korea's semiconductor industry, announced his sudden resignation as interim head of Samsung Electronics, fueling concerns about a prolonged power vacuum in the world's largest producer of smartphones and computer chips. Kwon, 64, said he would step down from all his positions without extending his current tenure in office which expires in March 2018. He has led the group on behalf of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, who is on trial for bribery and other charges after being linked to a scandal that led to the ouster of ex-president Park Geun-hye. The son of Samsung's bed-ridden group head Lee Kun-hee was given a five-year prison sentence in August.

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

S. Korean economic recovery slows down on fall in domestic spending, investment

Despite a run of strong growth in exports this year, South Korea’s overall economic recovery has recently shown signs of slowdown due to a contraction in domestic spending and investment, government report showed on Friday.
As the slowdown comes at a time when the U.S. is threatening to withdraw from the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement (FTA) and geopolitical risk on the Korean peninsula is escalating following a series of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea, the South Korean finance ministry said it is time to not only energize the domestic economy but also keep in check external risks including trade issues.

S. Korea’s tax revenue for first 8 mos up $15 billion on year

South Korea’s tax revenue in the first eight months of this year has grown more than 17 trillion won ($15.06 billion) from the same period last year on solid export growth, already surpassing the government’s earlier projection for additional tax income for this year, government data showed on Friday. According to a monthly report published by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Friday, the government has collected 189.5 trillion won in taxes in the January-August period, up 17.1 trillion won from the same period last year.

Samsung Elec hits another record-high OP of $12.8bn in Q3

Samsung Electronics Co. achieved another record-high quarterly performance in the July-September period, as its operating profit nearly tripled on-year to 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion) driven by a huge boom in the global semiconductor market and brisk sales from its Galaxy series smartphones. Revenue jumped nearly 30 percent to 62 trillion won in the period, the company announced in a preliminary regulatory filing on Friday.

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