The Korean daily media headlines and humor

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Your Excellency:

What’s ticking in Korea and around the world today?

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

The Korea Post media

P.S.: If the Headlines are no longer desired, please advise us at: edt@koreapost.com or pub@koreapost.com.

Moon may travel to Singapore for three-way summit to declare end of Korean War

South Korean President Moon Jae-in may travel to Singapore next month to hold a three-way summit with his U.S. and North Korean counterparts, Seoul officials noted Thursday, possibly suggesting that Washington and Pyongyang may currently be considering a formal end to the Korean War as an incentive to the North for its denuclearization.An official from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said nothing has yet been decided when asked if President Moon planned to visit Singapore for a three-way summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who are expected to hold a bilateral summit there on June 12.However, the official said the president will make a trip if there is an invitation from the U.S. and North Korea."We plan to make preparations (for a trip) when there is an invitation though we still do not know whether there will be one," the official told reporters while speaking on condition of anonymity.The official denied any ongoing preparations, saying, "We have no plans to prepare for a three-way summit in advance."

Still, another Cheong Wa Dae official has said Moon's trip depends on the outcome of ongoing discussions between the U.S. and North Korea.The pre-summit talks between Washington and Pyongyang were resumed shortly after Trump called off his meeting with Kim, meaning the talks are aimed at deciding the very fate of the scheduled summit, which, in turn, apparently suggests they may also include discussions on whether Moon's presence will be needed.Cheong Wa Dae officials have said Moon's trip to Singapore, if made, will be aimed at formally ending the Korean War in a three-way summit with the U.S. and North Korean leaders.The U.S. and North Korea concluded their working-level discussions Wednesday.Possibly signaling an amicable outcome of the talks, Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, arrived in New York on Wednesday for high-level talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the U.S. since 2000.

(For further details, visit: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6824)

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N. Korean official arrives in U.S. to prepare for summit

A senior North Korean official arrived in New York Wednesday to salvage a highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, arrived at JFK International Airport, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean to visit the U.S. since 2000.He is due to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to finalize the details of what is expected to be a June 12 summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program.The former spy chief was escorted out of the airport by U.S. State Department officials, according to a North Korean official who spoke to reporters waiting for his arrival. He was not seen at the arrivals hall.

This photo shows Kim Yong-chol (in front of woman), vice chairman of the central committee of North Korea's Workers' Party, entering the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza hotel in New York on May 30, 2018. (Yonhap)

(For further details, visit: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6825)

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Round-up of important news stories from major Korean dailies today:

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

‘$10 bil. earmarked for mining, energy, sanitation, health, transport, more’

Ambassador Daul Matutute-Mejia of the Republic of Peru in Seoul said, “The project portfolio promoted in the latest Investment Road Show comprises more than 50 projects with a value that exceeds US$10 billion in investment, in sectors such as mining, energy, sanitation, health, transportation, among others.”Speaking at a recent exclusive interview with The Korea Post media, publisher 3 English and 2 Korean media for the past 33 years, Ambassador Matutute-Mejia stated that mining projects include “Colca” and “Jalaoca”, which offer investment opportunities on exploration activities and that among the interesting project are the improvement of the “Longitudinal de la Sierra” highway and the comprehensive rehabilitation of the “Huancayo-Huancavelica” railway.

N. Korean official arrives in U.S. to prepare for summit

Moon may travel to Singapore for three-way summit to declare end of Korean War

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

Top N. Korean Official, Pompeo Begin Working Dinner

A senior North Korean official and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have sat down for talks in New York. The working dinner came hours after Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee and a member of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s inner circle, arrived at JFK International Airport at around 2 p.m. Wednesday local time. The dinner meeting is expected to focus on the final coordination of the agenda for the highly anticipated U.S.-North Korea summit, including details related to the North's denuclearization and U.S. security assurances. There is speculation that if the meeting ends successfully, the North Korean official may pay a visit to U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington as a special envoy and deliver a letter from Kim. Earlier in the day, the U.S. State Department had said that Pompeo will have a working dinner with Kim at 7 p.m. Wednesday in New York before holding official talks on Thursday to coordinate the agenda for the summit between their leaders.

Seoul Arranging Moon's Possible Visit to Singapore

South Korea's presidential office has dispatched personnel to Singapore to lay the groundwork for a possible visit by President Moon Jae-in himself.The prospective visit would be in the context of the increasingly likely summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.A diplomatic source says the administrative personnel sent to Singapore has an initial assignment of arranging hotel accommodations and setting up a press center.The trip is fueling speculation that President Moon may be included in a trilateral summit involving the two Koreas and the U.S. possibly for a three-way formal declaration of an end to the Korean War. Moon’s office says any visit by the president to Singapore would depend first on the success of the U.S.-North Korea summit.

US, N. Korea Wrap up Panmunjeom Talks

United States and North Korean delegates have concluded talks at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom.The talks were held in Tongilgak, the North's complex on its side of the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas, and were aimed at establishing an agenda for the prospective June 12th summit in Singapore.The U.S. team returned to South Korea at around 2:50 p.m. via the Unification Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Two main themes reportedly dominated the discussions: defining and setting a timetable for the North's denuclearization and laying a framework for the U.S. to offer security assurances to Pyongyang.

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

Banks plan financial aid for GM contractors

South Korean banks plan to provide financial assistance for contractors of GM Korea Co. that may suffer hardships due to the shutdown of its plant on the west coast, sources said Thursday.GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., closed its factory in Gunsan, 274 km south of Seoul, the same day as part of a restructuring plan aimed at keeping the struggling unit afloat.According to the sources, Shinhan Bank has decided to roll over their loans that will mature until the end of this year, and to reduce interest rates by a maximum one percentage point.The lender will also contribute 2 billion won (US$1.85 million) to the Incheon Credit Guarantee Foundation to help GM contractors in Incheon, west of Seoul, take out special guaranteed loans to tide over their financial straits.GM Korea operates a plant in the Bupyeong Ward of Incheon. It operates another factory in Changwon on the south coast.

Samsung, LG named among top 10 brands in Africa: Brand Africa

South Korea's major tech giants, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., were named as two of the most admired brands in Africa this year, an industry tracker said Thursday.According to the latest "Most Admired Brand in Africa" report released by Brand Africa, Samsung Electronics took the No. 2 spot in terms of popularity. It marked a notch down from a year earlier, paving the way for U.S. apparel firm Nike Inc. to become the top player.Samsung, however, still maintained its lead against U.S. archrival Apple Inc., which came in fifth, Brand Africa said.The report also showed Samsung took the No. 1 spot in eight of the 23 African countries surveyed.

S. Korean manufacturers' outlook drops for June

South Korean manufacturing companies expect their business conditions to worsen slightly next month due largely to rising uncertainties over U.S. import tariffs on steel products, central bank data showed Thursday.The business survey index (BSI) of local manufacturers came to 80 for June, down from 81 in the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).A reading below 100 means the number of companies forecasting worse business in the coming month is larger than the number expecting better times.The slight dip comes after the May index ended four straight months of decline.Metal manufacturing sentiment dropped sharply to 65 for next month from 89, as companies worry that U.S. duties on imported steel and aluminum products will reduce their exports to the world's largest economy.

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

Pompeo, Kim Yong-chol to meet in NY to put final touches on summit

North Korea’s Kim Yong-chol and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are to set to meet in New York, adding to speculation that arrangements for the US-North Korea summit may be in their final stages. On Wednesday, Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee and director of the committee’s United Front Department, left for New York aboard a China Air flight from Beijing. The flight is scheduled to arrive at the John F. Kennedy International Airport at 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday.According to the US Department of State, Kim Yong-chol and Pompeo will meet later this week to discuss the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

S. Korea seeks to hold summit with Singapore in July: Cheong Wa Dae

The presidential office is pushing to hold a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in July, it said Wednesday. “Cheong Wa Dae has sent an official to Singapore on a survey mission to prepare for the South Korea-Singapore summit slated to be held in July,” the presidential office said in a released statement.The statement came after a news media outlet earlier reported that the presidential office had sent an official to Singapore to find a venue to serve as a press center in case Moon gets invited to the country in time for a potential North Korea-US summit there.

US-NK talks resume at Panmunjeom

Working-level talks between officials from North Korea and the US resumed Wednesday at the border village of Panmunjeom, amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts to prepare for a potential North Korea-US summit next month.A team of US diplomats was seen going through security checks at the military guard point leading to Panmunjeom around 9 a.m. to hold preparatory discussions with North Korean officials for the June 12 summit in Singapore. They were seen coming back to Seoul in the afternoon.Led by Sung Kim, the US ambassador to the Philippines and former US ambassador to Seoul, the US officials first met their counterparts including Choe Son-hui, North Korea’s vice foreign minister, on Sunday. The meetings did not take place on Monday and Tuesday, local media reported.

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

White House to 'shoot for' North Korea summit on June 12

A senior North Korean official arrived in New York on Wednesday in the highest-level official visit to the United States in 18 years, as President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un sought to salvage prospects for a high-stakes nuclear summit.
Kim Yong-chol, the former military intelligence chief and one of the North Korean leader's closest aides, landed mid-afternoon on an Air China flight from Beijing. Associated Press journalists saw the plane taxi down the tarmac before the North's delegation disembarked at JFK International Airport.During his unusual visit, Kim Yong-chol was to have dinner Wednesday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who traveled from Washington to see him. The two planned a ''day full of meetings'' on Thursday, the White House said. Their talks will be aimed at determining whether a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un, originally scheduled for June 12 but later canceled by Trump, can be restored, U.S. officials have said.

Trump or Kim: who is more strategic?

It has become a tricky strategy game between the two most unpredictable leaders in the world.Ahead of the upcoming Singapore summit possibly on June 12, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are playing their own games to look less eager to secure negotiation leverage.Both parties have flip-flopped on their stance toward the historic meeting over the past week but it seems that they will highly likely meet in Singapore as scheduled.In a dramatic diplomatic turn, Trump called off next month's summit, May 24, citing Pyongyang's open hostility as the key reason for the cancellation.However, after Pyongyang showed a submissive attitude following Trump's cancellation letter, he left open the possibility of the Singapore summit.

Google accused of not filtering obscene photos

Internet giant Google is facing criticism here for not taking technical measures to prevent minors and teenagers from being exposed to obscene material such as intrusive pictures of body parts.When the words "surreptitious street snapshots" written in Korean is searched on Google, a number of pictures of women's body parts, apparently taken illicitly by hidden cameras, appear in the results. A user does not need to go through an age confirmation process to access such information.This is in contrast to what Korean portals Naver and Daum are doing. When a user attempts to search for "surreptitious street snapshots" there, the portals automatically exclude information unsuitable for minors and teenagers from the search results until a user confirms their age.

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

N.Korean Denuclearization 'Could Take up to 15 Years'
A prominent nuclear expert has warned that North Korea's denuclearization could take up to 15 years. The New York Times on Monday said Siegfried Hecker revealed a roadmap for denuclearization after dividing the process of dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons into three stages.They are a "halt of military, industrial and personnel operations," followed by a "winding down of sites, facilities and weapons" and "the elimination or limiting of factories and programs." The first stage is expected to take a year, the second between two and five years and the third six to 10 years, according to Hecker. "Dr. Hecker's time frame stands in stark contrast with what the United States initially demanded, on what could be a key sticking point in any summit meeting between President [Donald] Trump and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader," the NYT said.

Chinese Media Insist Beijing Has a Role on Korean Peninsula
Chinese state media are stressing the importance of Beijing's role on the Korean Peninsula amid fears that North Korea's sole ally could be frozen out of a peace process. So far all the initiative bringing about a summit between the U.S. and North Korea has come from the two Koreas and Washington. China has twice welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to summits, but there have been no attempts to include it in talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.In an editorial on Tuesday, the official Global Times slammed "arguments about limiting China's influence on the peninsula" as "ridiculous."

Head Lice Make a Comeback in Korean Schools
Head lice are back in Korean schools after being thought a relic of the unhygienic struggle of the 1960 and 70s. Counterintuitively, they are more rampant in the upscale districts of Gangnam and Mok-dong, which are home to a lot of crammers, as many children fall asleep without properly drying their hair and spending more time together with their peers there than in their proper schools. One 38-year-old housewife was shocked when she received a newsletter from her daughter's elementary school recently saying head lice were found several children in the school. "I thought head lice were a thing of the past when the country was poor, so that was a surprise," she said.

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

Japan desperate to add hardline agenda to North Korea-US summit

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is arranging a visit to Singapore early next month. Furthermore, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reached an agreement in a phone call with US President Donald Trump to hold a US-Japan summit before the North Korea-US summit is held. The Japanese government appears bent on achieving as much of its hardline agenda toward North Korea as possible before the North Korea-US summit, which is scheduled for June 12.On May 29, Kyodo News reported that Kono is adjusting his schedule so that he can visit Singapore on June 9, following a trip to Malaysia on June 8. The news service said that the objective of Kono’s visit to Singapore is to meet key officials in the city-state and ask them to provide information about the North Korea-US summit. The Yomiuri Shimbun also reported that, if plans for the North Korea-US summit are finalized for June 12 in Singapore, Kono may look into the option of extending his stay and meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who will accompany Trump to the summit.

Success of Kim Yong-chol’s meeting may determine that of North Korea-US summit

Following the announcement that North Korean Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and director of the WPK United Front Department, will be visiting New York on May 30, attention is growing about whether he and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will manage to finalize the agenda of the North Korea-US summit. Depending on the success of the meeting, Kim might even meet with US President Donald Trump.Kim Yong-chol’s visit to the US comes as a response to Pompeo’s two visits to the North. Pompeo visited Pyongyang and discussed the summit with Kim from Mar. 31 to Apr. 1, while Pompeo was director of the CIA, and on May 9, shortly after he became Secretary of State. Presuming that the two men needed an additional meeting, it is fair to say that it was Kim’s turn to visit the US.

World-renowned nuclear physicist asserts stepwise denuclearization could take as long as 15 years

Stanford University professor and world-renowned nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker asserted that a stepwise denuclearization process was the “solution” for North Korea, indicating that the denuclearization could take as long as 15 years to complete.Coming amid the Donald Trump administration’s calls for North Korea to carry out “complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement” (CVID) as swiftly as possible, the argument from one of the field’s top authorities suggests that would be unrealistic. A former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Hecker personally viewed North Korea’s uranium enrichment facilities during four visits between 2004 and 2010.

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

Serious summit talks start in NY

Kim Yong-chol, the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years, was set to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York, their third meeting in two months, to finalize a first summit between the two countries.Pompeo was scheduled to be in New York Wednesday and Thursday, according to the U.S. State Department, to meet with Kim, a vice chairman of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, and prepare for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to be held on June 12. In a dizzying turnaround less than a week after Trump announced the cancellation of the summit, Kim, the director of North Korea’s United Front Department, which is responsible for inter-Korean relations, departed for New York from Beijing Wednesday.

Some of Joseon era’s soldiers were into leather

A leather armor from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), a rarity in Korea, was returned to Korea from a museum in Germany and shown to the media at the National Palace Museum of Korea in central Seoul on Wednesday.“The Mission Museum of the St. Ottilien Archabbey returned the armor to Korea in January,” the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation said in a statement Wednesday. “It is a leather armor that was worn by a soldier in the Joseon Dynasty, which makes it a rare relic both in and out of Korea.”The cotton exterior of the armor, which opens in the front, is 50.5 centimeters (1.65 feet) from shoulder to hem with a 99 centimeter shoulder width. The protection comes from thick overlapping squares of leather that hang in rows from the cloth and protect the soldier’s chest and back.

‘Korea discount’ could be at end: FSC head

Thawing relations between the two Koreas following two historic meetings between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will boost the value of South Korean companies and reduce the perennial undervaluation of the local stock market - the so-called Korea discount - according to the country’s top financial policymaker.“The Korea discount has existed in the South Korean market, partially due to the obscure corporate governance structure of the local companies but more importantly because of the geopolitical risk,” said Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), on Wednesday at the Korea JoongAng Daily’s 2018 Korea Economic Forum at the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul. “With denuclearization of the peninsula underway, it’s clear that this geopolitical risk will be mitigated by a great deal.”

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

Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su Should Request Investigation of Yang Seung-tae
Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words. A picture of Kim Seung-ha, head of the KTX train services branch of the Korean Railway Workers' Union letting out a cry at the Supreme Court on May 29 was one such picture. Kim and the workers laid off by KTX rushed into the courtroom this day and demanded the arrest and investigation of the former chief justice of the Supreme Court, Yang Seung-tae and asked to see Kim Myeong-su, the incumbent chief justice of the Supreme Court. Previously, a report by the special investigation team on the Supreme Court's alleged abuse of authority over court administration revealed circumstantial evidence that suggested that the National Court Administration tried to strike a deal with Cheong Wa Dae under Park Geun-hye with the trial outcome of the case on the KTX crew when Yang served as the chief justice. The KTX crew who were fired in 2006 filed a lawsuit to have their status recognized as workers in 2008. The courts in the first and second trials sided with the workers, but in 2015, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling. After the Supreme Court ruling, one of the crew committed suicide. We would like to ask Chief Justice Kim whether he has seen this picture, and if he has, what came to his mind.

Liberty Korea Party Interferes with Parliamentary Support of the Panmunjom Declaration
A parliamentary resolution supporting the Panmunjom Declaration signed at the April 27 inter-Korean summit has failed to pass in the National Assembly. The ruling and opposition parties agreed to restore the operation of the National Assembly on May 18. In doing so, they agreed to postpone the ratification of the Panmunjom Declaration until after the summit between North Korea and the United States, while voting on a resolution supporting the declaration during a session on May 28. However, the lawmakers failed to narrow their differences. The blame for failing to adopt the resolution lies solely with the Liberty Korea Party. The key point of the resolution was to welcome the Panmunjom Declaration and cooperate at the parliamentary levelomething that the ruling and opposition party floor leaders had agreed to in writing. Nevertheless, the Liberty Korea Party deleted the "support for the Panmunjom Declaration" and distorted this into a resolution calling for the North's dismantlement of nuclear weapons. The act can only be seen as one taken with the intent to dismiss the resolution. The Liberty Korea Party has constantly disparaged and opposed the inter-Korean talks, which resumed this year. The party's leader, Hong Joon-pyo referred to the second inter-Korean summit as a "show for the local elections."

Supreme Court to Review Criminal Charges Against Yang Seung-tae for Trading "Trial Outcomes"
Allegations that the National Court Administration tried to strike a deal with Cheong Wa Dae during the Park Geun-hye government and secretly investigated the philosophy and tendencies of the judges when Yang Seung-tae (70) served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court are stirring controversy and a prosecutor's investigation of relevant figures including Yang and Im Jong-heon, former deputy director of the National Court Administration, appears likely. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kim Myeong-su announced that he would review making a personal request to the Prosecution Service for an investigation into the allegations. On his way to work on the morning of May 28 at the Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, Chief Justice Kim told reporters, "I sincerely apologize for causing concern and disappointing the people for the latest incident. I also have been greatly disappointed." When a journalist asked if he planned to request a prosecutor's investigation, Kim said, "We will consider everything, including that."

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

Young woman given suspended jail sentence for in-flight drunken rampage

A 25-year-old female soaker received a suspended jail sentence Tuesday for assaulting a stewardess of South Korean budget carrier Eastar Jet in an onboard drunken rampage that began when she was barred from smoking in a toilet.A court in the western city of Incheon sentenced the woman to four months in prison and a fine of one million won ($929), but her sentence was suspended for one year. She was found guilty of smoking and beating a female cabin attendant during her flight from an airport west of Seoul to Vietnam in August last year.The woman, who was drunk at the time, went rampage when the stewardess stopped her from smoking in a toliet and tried to film the scene using her smartphone to take evidence. The stewardess was kicked in the stomach and fell to the floor. The court said it handed down a relatively light sentence because the defendant suffering from depression acted under the influence of alcohol.

Senior N. Korean official appears in New York: Yonhap

A senior North Korean official arrived in New York to salvage a highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, arrived at JFK International Airport, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean to visit the U.S. since 2000. He is due to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to finalize the details of what is expected to be a June 12 summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program.'The former spy chief was escorted out of the airport by U.S. State Department officials, according to a North Korean official who spoke to reporters waiting for his arrival. He was not seen at the arrivals hall. A convoy of cars later pulled up in front of the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza hotel. The vice chairman emerged but did not answer questions from the media as he entered the building.

S. Korea favors simultaneous settlement of denuclearization and regime security

With North Korea and the United States locking their horns to fix an agenda for a summit between their leaders, a senior South Korean official proposed a simultaneous settlement Wednesday of two contentious issues: denuclearization and safety of the communist regime.Both sides have been locked in tough negotiations this week in the truce village of Panmunjom which sits across the inter-Korean border to prepare for the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore.Kim Yong-chol, one of the North Korean leader's confidants, is on his way to New York for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, raising hopes that Washington and Pyongyang may try and seek a big deal.

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

LG Elec to buy 20% stake in robotics maker Robostar for $50 mn

LG Electronics Inc., eager in reinforcing computing electronics and robotics through its own technology and outsourcing, will buy a 20 percent stake in Kosdaq-listed industrial robotics maker Robostar Co. The Korean tech giant said Tuesday it will buy 1.95 million common shares in Robostar for 53.6 billion won ($49.5 million) in rights placement in July. It will purchase additional holdings from managerial individuals to command a 33.4 percent stake by the end of 2019, the company added. Robostar in a disclosure revealed it signed a deal with LG Electronics to sell the holdings of its major shareholders, including Kim Jung-ho, chief executive of Robostar.

Shinhan Financial withdraws from takeover bid for ING Life Insurance

The sale of ING Life Insurance fell through after South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group Co. withdrew from talks to buy the insurer from its major shareholder MBK Partners due to differences over sales terms and price. According to multiple sources from the investment bank industry on Wednesday, Shinhan Financial Group that had been in negotiations to buy ING Life Insurance from its largest shareholder MBK Partners with a 59.19 percent stake has decided to suspend the talks under mutual agreement.

Hanwha Q CELLS to build solar module plant in Georgia

Hanwha Q CELLS Korea said on Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Whitfield County, Georgia to build what would be the largest solar module factory in the U.S. in a move to avoid safeguard duties. Construction will begin this year and is scheduled for commercial production next year. The planned capacity is 1.6GW which is equivalent to electricity used by about 2.5 million people a year. Detailed investment will be determined upon an additional review of local market and product strategies. The local government and the county agreed to provide free land and tax benefits worth $30 million in total. “The local factory aims to maintain a market share in the U.S. and to overcome safeguard challenges. In addition, we will expand the sales network in Europe and Japan and actively explore new markets in Latin America and the Middle East,” a company official said.

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What’s ticking around the world at this second?

See what the world media around the world have to report:

USA Today www.usatoday.com aallman@gannett.com

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.com bfp@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.

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The publisher-chairman of The Korea Post media is serving the Diplomatic Community for more than 40 years, 32 years with The Korea Post and 10 years with The Korea Herald as the Cultural Editor who covered the Diplomatic Community.

For quick response, call Chairman Lee directly at 010-5201-1740 or reporters at 010-3388-1682 or 010-7584-5873.

Lee Kyung-sik edt@koreapost.com