The Korean daily media headlines and humor

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Tuesday, June 7, 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

U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong-un, Trump set for showdown on CVID, CVIG

After months of a fragile mood of peace, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump will hold high-stakes talks in Singapore next week that could transform the regional and global security landscape. Two acronyms sum up their goals -- CVID and CVIG. The U.S. has sought the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the communist nation, but the North wants a guarantee of security so as to avoid the fate of the former regimes of Libya and Iraq.

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This image depicts South Korea's defense reform plan. (Yonhap)

Talk of peace stalls S. Korea's defense reform drive When the leaders of North Korea and the United States meet in Singapore next week for a historic summit, people around the world will hold their breath in hopes of a peace deal to end a decades-old global security threat. For young men in South Korea, there's another reason, associated with their careers and personal lives, to wish for the success of the meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump: conscription. A chatting app message spread recently that read, "We'd better wait until the reunification (of the Koreas). We may not need to join the military."

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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.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visits E-Mart

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday visited the headquarters of E-Mart Inc., South Korea's largest discount hypermarket chain, the retailer said. The chief executive attended a Philippine food festival and looked around Philippine fruits and other products at the E-Mart store in Seoul, an E-Mart official said. Earlier in the day, E-Mart signed a letter of intent with the Philippine Department of Agriculture to expand sales of agricultural products from the Philippines in South Korea.

KEPCO wins US$5.34 mln deal in Myanmar

The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Thursday that it has secured a $5.34 million service support contract from Myanmar's Ministry of Electricity and Energy. South Korea's state utility company said it will provide consulting to Myanmar as it builds an electricity distribution network and sets standards in designing the distribution network over the next four years.

Seoul asks Beijing for fair investigation into Korean chipmakers

South Korea's industry minister called on China to fairly conduct an antitrust probe into two Korean chipmakers as regulators are reportedly looking into their alleged price fixing, his office said Tuesday.Paik Un-gyu, South Korean minister of trade, industry and energy, made the request during a meeting with China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan in Beijing in which they discussed ways to expand economic cooperation and investment between the two nations.

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

38 North: N. Korea Destroyed Key Missile Test Facility

A U.S. Web site monitoring North Korea says that the country destroyed some key facilities used for testing ballistic missiles last month after declaring it was suspending nuclear tests and missile launches. According to 38 North on Wednesday, a stand used for missile ejection tests was demolished at the Iha-ri missile test site in Kusong City in the country's northwest.

White House: Trump-Kim Summit to be Held at Capella Hotel

The historic summit between North Korea and the U.S. will take place on June 12th at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced in a tweet on Tuesday that the meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be held at the luxury resort. She also thanked their Singaporean hosts for their hospitality.

Singapore Top Diplomat to Visit Pyongyang ahead of US-N. Korea Summit

The top diplomat of Singapore will visit North Korea this week ahead of the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Singapore government on Wednesday said in a statement that its Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will visit Pyongyang Thursday and Friday, days before Singapore plays host to the North Korea-U.S. summit.

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

Talk of peace stalls S. Korea's defense reform drive

When the leaders of North Korea and the United States meet in Singapore next week for a historic summit, people around the world will hold their breath in hopes of a peace deal to end a decades-old global security threat. For young men in South Korea, there's another reason, associated with their careers and personal lives, to wish for the success of the meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump: conscription.

Bolton to be in Singapore for U.S.-N. Korea summit

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton will be in Singapore for next week's highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a White House official said Wednesday. Bolton has been a target of North Korean anger since he called for applying a so-called Libya model to the dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. That means removing all nuclear weapons and related facilities from the North before rewarding the regime with economic benefits.

S. Korea will begin 2-day early voting for local elections Friday

South Korea will hold two-day early voting for the June 13 local elections and parliamentary by-elections this week, the election watchdog said Thursday. Eligible voters can cast ballots at 3,512 polling stations nationwide from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. starting Friday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). The local elections will determine 4,016 administrative, legislative and educational posts, including 17 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors. The by-elections will be held to fill 12 vacant seats in the National Assembly.

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

Kim begged for summit on hands and knees: Trump attorney

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got on his hands and knees to beg for the reinstatement of a meeting with US President Donald Trump, the latter's attorney said Wednesday. Rudy Giuliani made the remark at a business conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, with six days to go before the highly anticipated summit in Singapore. "Kim Jong-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in," Giuliani said, according to an AP transcript.

How bad will it get for Korean Air?

Following a string of incidents involving the misconduct of members of Korean Air’s owner family, employees from the country’s largest air carrier are unable to mask their cynicism. “This too shall pass -- somehow -- is what we all think,” a Korean Air flight attendant told The Korea Herald, referring to the latest allegations surrounding Lee Myung-hee, wife of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, and their two daughters Cho Hyun-ah and Cho Hyun-min. Hanjin is the holding company of Korean Air and Hanjin Shipping.

'For Kim Jong-un to cheat, risk is too high'

Previous attempts to denuclearize North Korea have ended with failure. From the Agreed Framework in 1994 and Leap Day deal of 2012, the past negotiations were bedeviled by mistrust and eventually allowed Pyongyang to declare itself a full-fledged nuclear power. Such skepticism is still rampant over the first-ever US-North Korea summit to be held in Singapore on Tuesday. Despite the historic significance, doubts persist over whether North Korea would give away the nuclear weapons that it sees as an ultimate guarantor of the regime’s survival.

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

Kim Jong-un 'begged for summit on hands and knees': Giuliani

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got on his hands and knees to beg for the reinstatement of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, the latter's attorney said Wednesday. Rudy Giuliani made the remark at a business conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, with six days to go before the highly anticipated summit in Singapore. "Kim Jong-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in," Giuliani said, according to an AP transcript.

Bolton to be in Singapore for US-North Korea summit

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton will be in Singapore for next week's highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a White House official said Wednesday. Bolton has been a target of North Korean anger since he called for applying a so-called Libya model to the dismantlement of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. That means removing all nuclear weapons and related facilities from the North before rewarding the regime with economic benefits.

China blocks online searches insulting Kim Jong-un

China has completely blocked Internet searches for words and articles that could be used to insult North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, sources here said Thursday, reflecting warming bilateral relations between the two countries. Besides the alleged online censorship, Beijing's authorities have also been prodding state-controlled Chinese media to run as many articles favorable to the North and Kim as possible, said the sources.

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

N.Korea's State Media Go Quiet About Summit with U.S.

North Korea's state media kept quiet in the last couple of days about the time and date of the June 12 summit with the U.S. Instead, they claimed that South Koreans are hailing their leader Kim Jong-un as "a leader worthy of praise as the pride of all the Korean people." The Rodong Sinmun and other state media made no mention of the summit, a visit to the U.S. by Kim’s right-hand man Kim Yong-chol, or preparatory talks in Singapore and the border truce village of Panmunjom.

Most Elderly People Don't Want to Live with Their Children

The vast majority of elderly Koreans do not want to live with their children as traditional family ties erode. According to a survey released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last week, the proportion of senior citizens who favor the traditional arrangement of moving in with their children dropped from 32.5 percent in 2008 to just 15.2 percent last year. The ministry has conducted the survey of about 10,000 elderly people every three years since 2008.

Melania Trump to Miss U.S.-N.Korea Summit

U.S. President Donald Trump's wife Melania is withdrawing further and further from her first-lady role and will not be accompanying her husband to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12.

Melania will also miss the G7 summit in Quebec, ABC News reported on Sunday.

She left hospital on May 19 after a kidney operation, when her husband famously misspelled her name in a tweet, and has not been seen in public yet.

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

Historical summit finalized for June 12 at 10 am at Singapore’s Capella Hotel

The historic first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be taking place at 10 am South Korea time on June 12 at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. “The venue for the Singapore summit between @POTUS and Leader Kim Jong Un will be the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island,” White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted on June 5.

IAEA could start inspections of North Korea nuclear shutdown within weeks of agreement

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it could begin inspections of North Korea’s nuclear shutdown within a matter of weeks once the relevant countries reach an agreement. Speaking at an IAEA board of governors’ meeting in Vienna on June 4, director general Yukiya Amano said, “The Agency is closely following developments [including the North Korea-US summit discussion process] related to the nuclear program of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.”

South Korean press takes steps to revive inter-Korean exchange

The South Korean press is taking active steps to revive exchange with North Korean media as the climate of reconciliation in inter-Korean relations gathers momentum. Observers are calling for regular meetings and the assignment of local journalists as measures to prevent distorted and mistaken reporting on North Korea. Yonhap News and KBS have led the way in promoting inter-Korean press interchange. In 2002, they established separate cooperation contracts with the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Korean Central Television (KCTV) to engage in content exchange and co-production.”

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

Security to be ultra-tight for Trump-Kim summit

The Capella Hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa was named the venue for next week’s historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by the White House on Wednesday. The much-anticipated summit is scheduled for 9 a.m. local time on June 12, and the announcement of the venue comes after U.S. and North Korean logistics teams scoured the Southeast Asian city-state last week for an optimal location.

Moon pays tribute to Korea’s fallen

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday promised to recover remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War from the demilitarized zone if inter-Korean relations improve to allow such an undertaking. In a Memorial Day speech before relatives of fallen soldiers at the Daejeon National Cemetery, Moon, who served in a special forces unit in his 20s, said he would make the recovery of soldiers’ remains from the DMZ “a priority.”

Science Ministry to reveal cost of 4G to telecoms

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to unveil the expenses behind Korean telecommunication companies’ 4G LTE networks as early as the end of this month.

Sources from the telecommunications industry said on Tuesday that four people last month submitted information disclosure requests to the Science Ministry over the costs incurred in developing and running LTE networks. The costs in question are those spent on developing and establishing the network, as well as marketing and operational costs. The request demanded that the ministry release all its financial and operational data related to LTE services offered by local mobile carriers.

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

Declaration of the End of War Can Give North Korea a Cause to Abandon Nuclear Weapons and Trigger Economic Development

On June 1 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned that he discussed ending the war with North Korea after meeting Kim Yong-chol, director of the United Front Department cum vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea overseeing South Korean affairs. This has increased the possibility of a declaration of the end of war within this year, as the two Koreas had agreed in the Panmunjom Declaration.

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.

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)

Court refuses to issue arrest warrant for Hanjin group chief's wife

The wife of Hanjin group chief Cho Yang-ho who controls Korean Air was released from temporary custody at a police station after a court refused to issue an arrest warrant, citing no possibility of running away or destroying evidence. Lee Myung-hee, 69, went home shortly before midnight Monday after she was locked up at a police station in central Seoul. She has been widely criticized as a typical example of "Gapjil" that means an abuse of power such as mistreatment, arrogant behavior, crude talk, character assassination, and insults.

French 'Spiderman' gets arrested after scaling walls of 555m tall Lotte Tower in Seoul

French urban climber Alain Robert, known as "Spider-Man" for his daredevil acts of scaling global high-rise landmarks barehanded, was arrested this week for his illegal challenge to scale South Korea's tallest 555-meter-tall skyscraper. Alain Robert, 55, started to climb the exterior walls of the Lotte World Tower, a 123-story landmark building in southern Seoul, with no safety gear at 7:50 a.m. (2250 GMT) Wednesday. He made his way up to the tower as teammates averted the eyes of security guards by making a distractive noise.

N. Korea appears to have razed crucial test stand for ballistic missiles: 38 North

North Korea appears to be razing a crucial test stand built for medium-range ballistic missiles after leader Kim Jong-un announced a decision in April to suspend missile and nuclear tests, according to 38 North, the website of a U.S. research institute. The test stand at the Iha-ri base near the northwestern city of Kusong has been well maintained and ready for tests since the North test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile called "Pukguksong-2 (KN-15)" on February 12 last year.

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

NPS to become more vocal shareholder in scandal-ridden Hanjin Group

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) expressed its intention to actively exercise its shareholder rights over Hanjin Group as the owner family’s string of power abuse scandals have tarnished the corporate name and taken a heavy toll on its market value. In a rare public reprimand against a specific company, the expert committee of NPS said Tuesday “the disruptive acts of the owner family of Korean Air Lines and Hanjin Kal could heighten business risks and unpredictability, which could hurt the fund’s long-term profitability” and urged the group to “come up with effective measures to improve corporate management.”

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.

Doosan Bobcat opens backhoe loader plant in India

Doosan Bobcat Inc., a South Korean compact construction equipment maker, has opened a backhoe loader plant in India in a move to gain ground in this rapidly burgeoning market. The Korean company said Tuesday its newly acquired plant in Chennai, one of the biggest economic centers in South India, would start operation from the latter half of 2019. The 15,000 square-meter factory is capable of producing about 8,000 backhoe loaders a year, the company 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.combfp@bogotafreeplanet.com

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

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

Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net

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

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

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

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

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

Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com

Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu

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

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

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

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

And many other countries.

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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.