The Korean daily media headlines and humor

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Tuesday, June 5, 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

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.

‘Korea famous for having over 10 times the registered patents than whole subcontinent’

Paraguay has a large tradition of attracting people from all over the world. Koreans are not an exception. More than 5,000 Koreans live in the country. Many of them are completely adapted to the country. An anchorwoman of a private TV company is an example of the melting pot that for a nation of seven million people. They made themselves part of the country. A Korean woman tells news in Guarani (Indian language and Spanish).

Samsung NEXT CEO named Samsung's chief innovation officer

Samsung NEXT, the innovation arm of Samsung Electronics Co., said that its president, David Eun, was recently named Chief Innovation Officer of the global tech giant. David Eun, who has been tapped for the key post in addition to his current duties, said in an interview posted on Samsung Next's website Thursday that he will try to develop a vision for what Samsung Electronics could be five years from now and beyond. "This isn't something that I'll do in a vacuum," Eun said in comments posted on Samsung NEXT website. "I will continue to work closely with other colleagues, developing what that vision could be and then sharing and implementing it internally and externally."

Stock loans rise on retailers' investment expansion

The amount of money borrowed to buy stocks in South Korea has surged this year, data showed Tuesday, as individuals have increased investment amid hope for a boost in inter-Korean economic cooperation.

The so-called margin trading for local stocks stood at 12.49 trillion won (US$11.67 billion) as of the end of last month, up 26 percent from 9.89 trillion won tallied at the beginning of this year, according to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.

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

White House: Trump, Kim Summit Set for 9 a.m. June 12 in Singapore

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's summit has been set for 9 a.m. next Tuesday in Singapore. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders unveiled the time of the meeting during a regular briefing on Monday, adding that logistical preparations are being finalized by an advance team in Singapore. The summit will be held at 10 a.m. Korean time.

Mattis: US Troops in S. Korea Not Going Anywhere

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has dismissed the possibility of the U.S. changing the size of its troop presence in South Korea. Mattis said Sunday that the roughly 28-thousand U.S. troops based in South Korea are “not going anywhere,” stressing that the matter is “not even a subject of the discussions.” He made the remarks to reporters aboard his plane while returning to Washington from the Asia Security Summit in Singapore.

3 Mobile Operators Apply for Frequency for 5G Wireless Network

All three of South Korea's major mobile carriers have applied for frequencies in what will soon be the world's first commercialized 5G wireless network. SK Telecom, KT and LG UPlus sent representatives to the Ministry of Science and ICT to submit bidding documents Monday. The review process is focused on financial ability, technology and feasibility of plans, with all three operators expected to qualify.

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

S. Korea's current account surplus amounts to US$1.77 bln for April

South Korea's current account surplus contracted to a six-year low in April due to a decrease in the goods account and a sharp rise in dividend payouts, but a turnaround in Chinese visitors helped narrow the deficit in the service sector, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's current account surplus came to US$1.77 billion in April, down from a surplus of $3.67 billion a year ago, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

From a month earlier, the April figure also lost ground from $5.18 billion tallied in March.

Trump, Kim set to meet at 9 a.m. June 12

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet at 9 a.m. on June 12 in Singapore, the White House said Monday.

In announcing the time of the historic summit, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said logistical preparations are being finalized by an advance team in Singapore. She also said a separate U.S. delegation led by Amb. Sung Kim has had "very positive" diplomatic negotiations with North Korean officials at the Demilitarized Zone straddling the two Koreas.

Cabinet to endorse revision to minimum wage act despite labor protests

The Cabinet was to endorse a revision to the minimum wage act Tuesday despite strong protests from labor groups that the law offsets the effect of a rise in the legal wage threshold by including bonuses and benefits into its calculation. Labor groups have urged President Moon Jae-in to veto the legislation that passed through the National Assembly last week. But Moon is unlikely to do so as the government has taken no preparatory steps to exercise the veto right ahead of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was to preside over the meeting.

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

Moon's wage hike plan could dampen employment: think tank

A major state-run think tank on Monday warned that the government’s minimum wage hike plan could hinder employment in the upcoming years, underpinning the uneasiness over drastic changes and the consequent impact on the market. The study also laid bare the recently suspected feud between the nation’s top two economic officials -- presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.

Dispute rising over pace, effect of minimum wage hike

The parliamentary move to revise the labor act to expand the scope of the minimum wage marks a rare legislative step that works against the interests of waged workers in the country. Under an agreement reached last week by lawmakers on the parliamentary labor committee, monthly bonuses and lodging and transportation expenses will be gradually incorporated into minimum wage calculations by 2024. Next year, monthly bonuses that exceed 25 percent of the minimum wage and lodging and transportation expenses above 7 percent of it will be counted toward total pay when calculating the minimum owed.

Speculations rise over cost of denuclearization

With the US-North Korea summit set for June 12, questions over who will shoulder the cost of denuclearization are rising. Publicly, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and who will cover it, has yet to be discussed by the concerned countries. According to one estimate, the cost of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program could be at least five times higher than that of Ukraine.

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

38,000 foreigners eligible to vote in Gyeonggi left in dark

With the quadrennial local elections due on June 13, more than 38,000 foreign residents in Gyeonggi Province have little knowledge about the candidates because the region has neglected to inform non-Koreans about them. There are 38,542 foreigners eligible to vote in the province ― those who have lived in the country for three years or longer with permanent residency and are registered at local district offices. The Gyeonggi Province Election Committee introduced voting rights for foreigners in 2005. But the foreigners have no way to know about the candidates because no information material has been translated into other languages.

North Korea 'military reshuffle' raises eyebrows in Seoul

Seoul is monitoring developments in the North's military, it said Monday after reports Pyongyang replaced three of its top military officials ahead of a summit with the United States. President Donald Trump is due to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore with Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal high on the agenda and reports said that the reshuffle could be aimed at taming the military. Late last month the North's state media revealed that Kim Su Gil had been appointed as director of the military's powerful General Political Bureau (GPB), replacing Kim Jong Gak.

President Moon faces pressure to rein in minimum wage hikes

Despite President Moon Jae-in's remarks that the minimum wage hike has had a 90 percent positive effect, the administration is facing mounting pressure to slow down the pace of raising it as studies are pointing to negative impacts on the job market. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) warned Monday that 140,000 jobs will be at stake if the administration keeps to the current pace of hikes. The country saw the hourly minimum wage rise 16.4 percent to 7,530 won ($7) this year, following President Moon's election pledge to make it 10,000 won by 2020.

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

Moon to Vote Early in Local Elections

President Moon Jae-in will cast his vote for the June 13 regional elections early in case he is called to Singapore for discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Cheong Wa Dae on Monday said Moon, his chief of staff Im Jong-seok, National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong and chief policy advisor Jang Ha-sung will all vote early. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters the aim is to "boost voter turnout" and has nothing to do with Moon’s fading hopes that the Trump-Kim summit will broaden to include him for discussions of a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War.

Singapore Willing to Foot Kim Jong-un's Hotel Bills

Singapore will foot North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's astronomical hotel bill when he stays there for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12. The U.S. and North Korea "are believed to have settled on the Capella Hotel" on the resort island of Sentosa for their meetings, the Washington Post said on Sunday quoting sources. The hotel sits in seclusion amid acres of wooded gardens, and the island is connected to the mainland by a single bridge, which will make it easy to provide security.

Manufacturing Jobs Keep Dwindling

The number of employees of Korea's 30 largest companies has increased overall since 2013, but those in manufacturing jobs have dwindled. According to a report released by the Korea Economic Research Institute on Thursday, the number of their workers rose 3.6 percent last year to 1.32 million from 1.28 million in 2013. However, the number of workers in manufacturing stood at 630,000, down 2.9 percent over the same period. They accounted for 47.6 percent of the total number of employees, a drop from 50.8 percent.

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

North Korea and US held third round of working-level talks at Panmunjeom

North Korea and the US reportedly engaged in working-level negotiations on June 2 and again on June 3 with the goal of coordinating the agenda of the North Korea-US summit, scheduled to be held in Singapore on June 12. After North Korean Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and director of the WPK United Front Department, met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York and US President Donald Trump in Washington, the teams of negotiators in Panmunjeom appear to be picking up the pace as well.

Declaring end of Korean War first step toward peace regime

After US President Donald Trump directly mentioned the possibility of officially ending the Korean War before his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, attention is growing about what this declaration might mean. For the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the US to come together to declare that there will be no war on the Korean Peninsula would signify the end of the world’s last remaining conflict of the Cold War and the first step toward a permanent peace regime.

Little changes in Samsung’s anti-union attitude in spite of April pledge

Little appears to have changed from Samsung’s old “no-union” management practices since its April pledge to directly hire Samsung Electronics Service (Samsung SVC) subcontractor employees and recognize union activity. The group continues to show signs of a bad-faith approach to union negotiations and maintain its old “phantom unions.” Four democratic unions with Samsung affiliates – the Samsung SVC and Samsung (C&T) chapters of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, the Samsung Welstory union, and the Samsung S1 union – announced plans to “pursue a joint strike in July if Samsung does not change its attitude.”

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

Kim may meet Xi, Putin ahead of U.S. summit

Ahead of a historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12 in Singapore, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be trying to meet with the presidents of Russia and China, according to various analysts. With the North-U.S. summit one week away, Kim’s activities are being closely monitored. Before previous important meetings, including his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April, Kim has limited his public activities and he is expected to be concentrating on preparations for the U.S. summit.

Beijing investigates chipmakers for collusion

The Chinese government launched a probe into the three largest memory chip producers in the world including Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for allegedly colluding on price hikes, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday. Officials from the Chinese bureau visited each of the three chip producers in Korea and the United States on May 31 for a probe. The bureau, which plays the same role as Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, was launched in March. All three producers said they would sincerely cooperate with the probe.

Minimum wage hikes make state think tank wary

Korea’s leading policy think tank Monday suggested that drastic increases in the minimum wage will eventually take a heavy toll on Korea’s employment numbers, the latest indication of division in the government over the impact of the administration’s minimum wage policy. “If the government continues to raise it at such a fast pace, it would require some adjustments in the economy, which would incur costs and possibly create some side effects,” said Choi Kyung-soo, director and vice president of the department of human resource development policy at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), a Sejong-based research institute under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, in a press briefing at the Sejong government complex.

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

People Baring Skin and People Eyeing Skin: Who Is Responsible for Setting a Standard on Obscenity?

Over the weekend, women protested Facebook's gender-discriminatory regulations by going topless. The police announced that they would review arresting the participants for indecent exposure, only to trigger criticism for failing to understand the purpose of the demonstration and for treating the female body as a sexual object.

Abuse of Power Hidden Behind the Veil of the Law

Things have changed slightly, but a while ago, when I entered the courts, you could often read articles criticizing a prosecutors' investigation, while you hardly found any criticism of a court ruling. I doubt that judges were exemplary people engaged in law, who were more just and who made fewer mistakes than prosecutors. Also, the lack of criticism was not because it was difficult to delve into and find flaws in the elaborate reasoning of the judges, experts of the law familiar with complicated legal provisions and judgments.

Alleged Dealing of Trial Outcomes, an Apology by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Is Not Enough

On May 31, Kim Myeong-su, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, released a public statement and apologized for the alleged dealing of trial outcomes by the National Court Administration when Yang Seung-tae served as chief justice. However, Kim said that a final decision on an investigation of related figures would be made after listening to the opinions from inside and outside the court. A formal apology by the chief justice was a matter of course, but it is regrettable that he failed to clearly state plans on criminal action against the concerned people.

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

Hanjin group chief's wife appears in court for questioning about arrest warrant

The wife of South Korea's Hanjin group chief Cho Yang-ho was questioned by a court Monday over the legality of an arrest warrant requested by state prosecutors as her daughter appeared at the office customs officials over alleged smuggling and tax evasion. TV footages showed Lee Myung-hee making a brief apology when she walked into a court in Seoul. If arrested, she would be the first wife of South Korean conglomerate chiefs for "Gapjil" that means an abuse of power such as mistreatment, arrogant behavior, crude talk, character assassination, and insults.

Samsung SDS reveals blockchain-based financial service platform

Samsung SDS, an information technology wing of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, unveiled a new financial service platform using new technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain that could be used by financial firms to accelerate their digital revolution. "We have created a whole new dimension of a digital finance platform by merging new technologies such as AI and blockchain," Samsung SDS CEO Hong Won-pyo told reporters in a ceremony to launch Nexfinance, a digital financial service platform.

Convenience store chain CU launches online grocery joint venture

BGF, the operator of South Korea's largest convenience store chain CU, joined hands with a unit of top mobile carrier SK Telecom to launch a joint venture in the country's fast-growing online grocery market. BGF said Monday it agreed to buy new stocks of Hello Nature, owned by SK Planet, an internet platform development company, operates a service that delivers organic eco-friendly products to consumers.

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

South Korea’s CJ E&M to go to Hollywood

South Korea’s entertainment conglomerate CJ E&M is moving into Hollywood to make the first Korean attempt to produce and distribute movies in the heart of the motion picture industry. Industry sources said Sunday the company is in talks with a number of American producers to jointly produce about 10 movies targeting the North American market. It plans to start with low-budget films and gradually work its way into mainstream blockbusters.

Samsung Electronics brings world-renowned AI scientists onboard

Samsung Electronics beefed up its artificial intelligence (AI) power by inviting renowned experts Dr. H. Sebastian Seung, the Evnin Professor in the Neuroscience Institute and Department of Computer Science at Princeton University, and Dr. Daniel D. Lee, the UPS Foundation Chair Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, onboard. The two will play a central role in building up fundamental research on next-generation machine learning algorithm, robotics and other AI systems, the company said in a statement.

Hyundai Merchant Marine to place 20 vessel orders to S. Korea’s top 3 shipbuilders

South Korea’s leading container carrier Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) will commission the country’s top three shipbuilders to build 20 mega container vessels at estimated 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in total. HMM said on Monday that it has selected Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME), Samsung Heavy Industries Co., and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. to build 20 mega environmentally-friendly container ships.

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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.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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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.