The Korean daily media headlines and humor

The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Monday, June 18, 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

Two Koreas to discuss sports exchanges at truce village

Sports could work as an important stepping stone to expand inter-Korean exchanges and build peace on the Korean peninsula, the head of a South Korean delegation said Monday as he headed to Panmunjom for sports exchanges talks with North Korea. "We will try to materialize the spirits and principles agreed between high-level officials between South and North Korea, with a belief that sports can act as a guide for better inter-Korean exchanges," Jeon Choong-ryul, secretary general of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, told reporters in Seoul. "As we all witnessed during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, sports gave a chance to initiate better inter-Korean relations," he added.

(For further details, visit: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6934)

S. Korean Ryu So-yeon claims 6th career LPGA win

South Korea's Ryu So-yeon has claimed her sixth career LPGA title and her first of the season. Ryu won the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give by two strokes over Caroline Masson at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sunday (local time). Ryu fired a five-under 67 in the final round for the four-day total of 21-under 267. Ryu is the fifth South Korean champion on the tour this year in 16 tournaments. Ryu made US$300,000 with the victory and reached $576,600 in earnings for the season. The world No. 6 started the day at 16-under, two strokes behind co-leaders, Lee-Anne Pace and Anna Nordqvist. The three played together in the final group.

(For further details, visit: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6937)

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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.

‘Paraguay is a vibrant economy, a most prosperous, fastest-growing in the region’

Ambassador Raúl Silvero of Paraguya in Seoul said: “Today Paraguay is a vibrant democracy and has one of the most prosperous and fastest growing economies in the region. In this context, I can say that my country is living one of those moments in the history of nations that make the difference; and as the writer Stefan Zweig would say, Paraguay is living its Star Moment.”

‘Tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, mining attractive investment areas for Korean companies’

“The Republic of Zambia is an attractive investment destination offering various lucrative investment opportunities in tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and mining,” said Ambassador Wylbur Chisiya Simuusa of Zambia in Seoul at a recent inrterview with The Korea Post media (established in 1985), which now own and operate 3 English and 2 Korean-language news publications.

ASAS donates W30 million to Seung Ga Won Welfare Center

The Ambassadors Spouses Association in Seoul donated 30,000,000 KRW to Seung Ga Won Welfare Center on June 11, 2018. President of the center, Rev. Dong-Joon, welcomed the ASAS members at the welfare center and thanked them for the act of goodwill they are doing towards the people in need and caring about the disabled children and those in need. The Center stated that with the donated money, they bought a car, three wheelchairs with a special design and some other items for use by the children at the Center.

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

Trump Says Suspending War Games was His Idea

U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed that it was his idea to suspend joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. but the drills will immediately start back up if the talks collapse. Trump tweeted on Sunday that "Holding back the "war games" during the negotiations was my request because they are very expensive and set a bad light during a good faith negotiation," calling the drills "quite provocative." However, he added that the drills can start up immediately if talks break down, which he hopes will not happen.

S. Korea's Monthly Job Growth Falls to 9-Year Low

South Korea's monthly job growth fell to a nine-year low to 149-thousand this year. According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the country generated an average of just 149-thousand jobs per month in the first five months of the year, the poorest showing since the global financial crisis in 2009, when 172-thousand jobs were created on average every month. The monthly employment, which stood at 372-thousand in the January-May period last year, more than halved in a year.

Banks Set to Raise Lending Rates after US Rate Hike

South Korean banks are set to raise their lending rates after the key interest rate in the United States reached the two percent range. The Korea Federation of Banks on Saturday announced that COFIX, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, was one-point-82 percent for new loans as of Saturday, up point-03 percentage points from the previous month and the highest level in 18 months. The COFIX rate for outstanding loans also rose point-03 percentage points to one-point-83 percent. In line with the increases, domestic banks also marked up their mortgage loans.

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

S. Korea's military set for Dokdo defense exercise

South Korea's Navy said Monday it will soon kick off a regular exercise on defending the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo amid Japan's continued territorial claim. The two-day training is to start in the afternoon, involving the 3,200-ton Yangmanchun destroyer and five other warships as well as seven aircraft including P-3C maritime surveillance planes, UH-60 Blackhawk choppers, the Air Force's F-15K fighter jets. A unit of marines will also be mobilized for a landing exercise.

N. Korea's Kim walked away with great deal: top Democratic senator

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got a "great deal" out of his historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last week, a top Democratic senator said Sunday, contradicting the president on his purported achievements. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was "preposterous" of Trump to claim that he largely resolved the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs at Tuesday's summit in Singapore.

15 pct of listed firms post record-high share prices this year

Shares for some 15 percent of listed companies hit all-time highs this year, boosted by healthy earnings and renewed foreign interest in South Korean assets, data showed Monday. Of 2,098 companies listed on the benchmark KOSPI and the secondary KOSDAQ markets, 313 firms, or 14.92 percent, saw their stocks soar to new highs as of last Thursday, according to data by the Korea Exchange (KRX). In the main bourse, which had fallen 2.27 percent during the cited period, 11.33 percent out of 882 companies reported setting record prices. The shares of the best performers spiked an average of 48.89 percent, the KRX said.

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

Inter-Korean sports exchanges expected to boost ties

With the two Koreas set to hold talks on sports Monday, expectations are growing that cross-border sports exchanges would lead to improved inter-Korean ties. Plans surrounding the joint entrance and teams for the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in August are expected to be discussed, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to jointly participate in the games during the inter-Korean summit on April 27.

Defense Ministry denies proposing NK withdraw long-range artillery along DMZ

The South Korean government Sunday denied the report that the two Koreas discussed withdrawing North Korea’s long-range artilleries, but speculation persists that the idea would be discussed at future inter-Korean military talks. The Ministry of National Defense said that the idea of pulling back the long-range artillery along the border with North Korea was never brought up during the inter-Korean military talks held on Thursday. “Neither South Korea nor North Korea proposed the idea of pulling back long-range artilleries,” Defense Ministry Spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told The Korea Herald. “The reports that suggest otherwise are wrong.”

Shin Dong-joo to give fifth try to seize Lotte Group, overthrow his brother

Shin Dong-joo, a former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings who was defeated in a management right feud with currently imprisoned younger brother Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is attempting to seize his control over the group once again. According to Lotte Holdings, a Japanese firm which owns major stakes in many Lotte units and thus binds the whole conglomerate, it will hold a general a shareholders meeting on June 29 in Tokyo, upon Dong-joo’s request. If held, it will be Dong-joo’s fifth trial to remove his younger brother Dong-bin from the board of directors. In all of the four previous voting, which were held in August 2015, March 2016, June 2016 and June 2017, Dong-bin has won support from the Japanese management and shareholders.

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

Gov't cracks down on illegal migrant workers

The Korean government is cracking down on undocumented migrant workers across the country. The Ministry of Justice said Friday its main target is foreigners who work here illegally after entering the country through visa-waiver programs ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. According to the ministry, the number of undocumented migrant workers surged to 312,346 in May from 251,041 in December 2017. More than 14,600 undocumented migrant workers have been caught this year, up 7.3 percent from the same period last year; many were Thai women who took advantage of the visa-waiver programs to work at massage parlors and bars here.

POSCO E&C faces probe for deaths of 8 workers

POSCO Engineering & Construction (E&C) has come under scrutiny over a series of worker deaths this year, including an accident that killed four workers and injured four others at a construction site of LCT, a high-rise apartment complex in Haeundae, Busan. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Sunday it will start a month-long inspection today at the builder's head office in Incheon and its 24 construction sites nationwide. Including the LCT accident, POSCO E&C has been involved in five accidents in which eight workers have been killed this year.

Feminist Seoul mayor candidate hopes for gender equality

Not many expected Shin Ji-ye, a 27-year-old Seoul mayoral candidate for the Green Party Korea, to become famous after the June 13 local elections. The youngest-ever candidate for Seoul mayor landed in fourth place with 82,874 votes (1.67 percent) in the elections, following former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (19.5 percent), even beating the candidate from the Justice Party, a well-established minor opposition party. She was the first-ever candidate who presented herself as a "feminist" on campaign posters. Her party is little known to people because of a lack of campaign funds.

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

Filipino Kids of Absent Korean Fathers Seek Compensation

Abandoned children of Korean men in the Philippines are seeking compensation and help finding their fathers. The tagline of a website trying to find Korean fathers who abandoned the children they had with Filipinas reads, "Please contact us if you know a Kopino dad." Kopino or Korinoy is a coined word for children of mixed Korean and Filipino parentage. The website publishes the names of absconding Korean fathers and is operated by a Korean, Koo Bon-chang.

N.Korean Human Rights Center Nipped in the Bud

The government has decided to shut down an office in Seoul just 21 months after it opened in September 2016 to establish a North Korean human rights foundation. The government decided to terminate the lease as a way to cut costs as the opening of the foundation has been long delayed due to squabbling between political parties. After all was set, the Minjoo Party started shilly-shallying and refused to nominate the foundation's board members.

Gov't Workers to Stop Flying Flag Carriers

The government plans to scrap a 38-year-old law requiring civil servants to use flag carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines on official business. The move follows the latest revelations of alleged corruption and abuse of authority by the family that owns Korean Air. Korean Air stands to lose W30-40 billion in revenues that has been generated each year by government workers (US$1=W1,083).

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

Ministry of Environment to investigate German automakers for emissions software tampering

The Ministry of Environment is launching an investigation into imported models from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and other German automakers in connection with revelations of urea injection software tampering. In addition to the imported cars already implicated, the ministry also plans to expand its investigation to include all compact diesel passenger vehicles marketed in South Korea with Euro 6 emissions certification.

Wolsong 1 reactor to be undergo early closure

An early closure is coming for the Wolsong 1 reactor, which began commercial operation in 1983 at the Wolsong nuclear power plant in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. It is to be the second closure of an outdated reactor after the June 2017 shutdown of Kori 1 in Busan. Efforts were also halted on four of the six new reactors that had been scheduled for construction. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced on June 15 that a decision to close Wolsong 1 and halt the Cheonji and Daejin Nuclear Power Plant projects had been made at a board meeting that day at the Grand Hilton Seoul. The decision was a follow-up measure for the administration’s road map for a transition away from nuclear and fossil fuel-based energy.

Court dismisses comfort women’s suit against government for signing 2015 agreement with Japan

A suit filed by Japanese military comfort women survivors to demand damages from the South Korean government for signing a 2015 agreement with Japan was dismissed by the court that received it. The 20th civil division of Seoul Central District Court, presided by the Hon. Judge Mun Hye-jeong, ruled on June 15 to dismiss the plaintiffs’ demand for damages, holding them responsible for all litigation costs.

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

Jobs vanishing among Koreans in their 30s, 40s

Koreans in their 30s and 40s are losing jobs despite being the nation’s driver of economic activities, data released by the national statistics service on Friday showed. The number of Koreans in their 40s with jobs has declined for 31 straight months, the longest period since Statistics Korea first compiled data in its current form in 1982. Even during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, on-year declines lasted just 10 months starting in April 1998. The year-on-year decrease in jobs for people in their 40s peaked at 107,000 in February. Ever since, the monthly falls have been between 80,000 and 100,000.

Seoul wants Pyongyang’s artillery moved back

South Korea is planning to ask North Korea to move 350 artillery pieces along the inter-Korean border aimed at Seoul back from the military demarcation line, a government official said Sunday. The request will likely be made in the two countries’ next military meeting, though a date was not given. The last time the two militaries met was last Thursday, when the countries held their first general-level military talks since December 2007. The meeting ended way short of expectations, and North Korea’s chief negotiator, Lt. Gen. An Ik-san, was quoted by pool reports as saying, “Let’s never meet like this again.”

Samsung loses patent case again

A federal court in Texas ruled Saturday that Samsung Electronics must pay $400 million to a unit of Kaist for infringing a patent, according to Bloomberg. Jurors in the Eastern District of Texas court also concluded that Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries, co-defendants with Samsung in the same case, also violated the technology owned by KIP, a private company belonging to the Daejeon-based Kaist, which is known for developing top-notch technologies. But the jury did not order compensation from those two companies.

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

Wind of Change Among Mayors, County Chiefs, and Local Council Members: Regionalism Falters

The regional and ideological framework that had defined South Korean politics for the past 28 years is shaking from the ground up due to the June 13 local elections. That the ruling Democratic Party of Korea swept the three gubernatorial and mayoral positions in the Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do (PK) region, regarded as the home ground of the Liberty Korea Party, is evidence of this, but signs of groundbreaking changes are more apparent in the election results of the lower-tier local governments, the capillary vessels of local autonomy.

Suspicious Attention to Claims by Lawmakers When National Court Administration Under Yang Seung-tae Promoted the Final Appeals Court

An allegation has been raised claiming that the National Court Administration, when Yang Seung-tae served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court, even drew up reports after reviewing the complaints filed by lawmakers, in the process of promoting a final appeals court. On June 13, several officials in the judiciary said, "The National Court Administration wrote a report after reviewing and summarizing the claims filed by a number of lawyers from the Democratic Party of Korea and the Saenuri Party in 2014-2015." Reportedly, the claims included questions on specific criminal trials and opinions on the relocation of court-related facilities.

Conservatives Fall Before the Ruling Party’s Landslide Victory

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea won a landslide victory in the nationwide local elections and parliamentary by-elections on June 13. The latest election was, in fact, an assessment of the first year of the Moon Jae-in government. So the Democratic Party's apparent victory is expected to boost President Moon Jae-in's handling of state affairs. On the other hand, the Liberty Korea Party, which has shriveled to a "United Liberal Democrats" of the Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do (TK) region after a record-breaking defeat, is expected to be engulfed in internal conflicts over the responsibility of the latest defeat.

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

Three former spy agency chiefs jailed for providing money to ex-president

Three former spy agency chiefs received a jail term of up to three years and six months on charges of causing losses to the state coffers. They were indicted for providing expenses for espionage activity to South Korea's ousted ex-president Park Geun-hye who is on trial for her involvement in a corruption scandal. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Nam Jae-joon Friday to three years in prison for handing 600 million won ($547,540) to Park every month. Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byong-ho, who once headed the National Intelligence Service (NIS), were given a jail term of three and a half years each for handing some 800 million won and 2.1 billion won.

Nuclear power plant operator agrees to shut down old reactor

Bowing to President Moon Jae-in's campaign to replace fossil-fueled power plants with clean and renewable energy sources, the state-run operator of South Korean nuclear power plants agreed Friday to shut down an old nuclear reactor and abandon the planned construction of four new plants. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) CEO Chung Jae-hoon said that the company's board has endorsed the permanent closure of the Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor in Gyeongju, about 280 kilometers (173 miles) southeast of Seoul. The board also scrapped plans to build four new plants in Uljin and Yeongdeok, both on the southeast coast.

S. Korea pledges regular inspection of public toilets to catch hidden camera

To curb sex crimes taking candid photographs with hidden cameras targeting women at public toilets, South Korea will operate special teams armed with surveillance devices to regularly check about 50,000 public toilets. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and police made a joint announcement on Friday that they would operate special teams to conduct a regular inspection of public toilets.

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

S. Korea’s Posco signs cross-licensing agreement with Tata Steel Europe

South Korea’s top steelmaker Posco has agreed to share advanced coating technologies used to enhance automotive steel traits with London-based Tata Steel Europe Ltd. (TSE), a move that is expected to help the Korean steel maker expand its market share in Europe. Posco said on Friday that it signed a cross-licensing agreement with TSE on Wednesday (local time) for steel plating technology in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands. Under the agreement, Posco will allow TSE to access its environmentally-friendly physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology and in exchange gain production to TSE’s patented MagiZinc. The two companies will also work together to develop innovative coating technology for steel products in the future and pioneer new markets.

Ousted brother seeks return to power amid Lotte Group chair’s jailing

With the Lotte Group chairman behind bars, his estranged older brother is once again staging a comeback through a shareholder vote at Lotte Holdings, a move that could open a new front in the bitter sibling dispute over control of South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate. According to industry sources on Sunday, the Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings will hold a shareholder meeting at the end of this month to put to a vote proposals set forth by the elder brother Shin Dong-joo to remove his brother Shin Dong-bin from the board and reinstate himself as a board director.

CJ CGV Vietnam aims to go public on Korean bourse

South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV is aiming to list its Vietnamese entity on the Korean bourse, as it seeks to raise fresh capital to further cement its leadership in the Southeast Asian market. The Korean Exchange said Sunday it received a preliminary application for initial public offering (IPO) from CJ CGV Vietnam Holdings. If approved, CJ CGV would become the fourth Korean company to float its foreign affiliate on the Korean stock market, after LS Cable & System Asia, Hwaseung Enterprise, and Doosan Bobcat.

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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.

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