Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Round-up of important news from major Korean, international dailies, other news sources today:
The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.
Take an urban break At Millennium Seoul Hilton
Millennium Seoul Hilton is offering special room packages for Seoul urbanites looking for a nice respite without having to leave the city! Pamper yourself with a luxurious stay at Millennium Seoul Hilton! The packages are offered from now until September 2nd. The two packages offered are Deluxe Urban Break package (starting at KW240,000) and Executive Urban Break package (starting at KW280,000).
ROK Air Force planes land in Pyongyang with basketball players
The South Korean government used two ROK Air Force transport planes to carry its basket ball team members to Pyongyang on July 4, 2018 3, 2018 to avoid United Nations sanctions against North Korea. This was reported by Korean-language daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, this morning (July 4).
Samsung SDS unveils IoT-powered door lock
Samsung SDS Co. said Wednesday it released a new door lock equipped with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology for both the domestic and overseas markets, which can be activated remotely via smartphones. The IT arm of South Korean conglomerate Samsung said the IoT smart door lock, named the SHP-DR900, comes with a power-efficient Wi-Fi chip, delivering the status of doors to users on a real-time basis.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
US State Department Declines to Specify Timeline for N. Korea's Denuclearization
The U.S. State Department has declined to specify a deadline for North Korea's denuclearization ahead of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip to Pyongyang for nuclear talks. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday that while some individuals had given timelines on the North’s denuclearization, the State Department was not going to do so.
Two Koreas to Discuss Cooperation in Forestry Sector
South and North Korea will hold working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjeon on Wednesday to discuss cooperation in the forestry sector. The Unification Ministry said that South Korea will send a three-member delegation led by Ryu Kwang-soo, vice minister of the Korea Forest Service. North Korea will be represented by Kim Song-jun, a senior official at the ministry of environmental protection.
Gov't: Treatment of Yemeni Asylum-Seekers Should Be in Line with Laws
The South Korean government says Yemeni asylum-seekers should be treated in line with domestic and international laws concerning the human rights of refugees. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Noh Kyu-duk relayed Seoul’s basic stance on Yemeni refugees in a regular media briefing on Tuesday. He noted that the government's treatment of the Yemenis should correspond with obligations as dictated by local laws and international human rights laws on refugees, including the principle of prohibiting forced expatriation.
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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
S. Korea's FX reserves top $400 bln in June
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves surpassed the US$400 billion mark for the first time in June on a steady increase in gains from investment in overseas assets, the central bank said Wednesday. The total value of the country's foreign exchange reserves came to a record $400.3 billion last month, up $1.32 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). South Korean foreign exchange reserves reached $300 billion in April 2011, $200 billion in February 2005 and $100 billion in September 2001.
9 in 10 public firms adopt flexible hours before new workweek system
Nearly 9 in 10 public institutions in South Korea have already introduced flexible working hours well before the country's introduction of a new workweek system, government data showed Wednesday. The new workweek system went into effect this month, requiring both private and public companies with 300 or more employees to reduce the maximum working hours to 52 hours per week from 68 hours.
Trump says talks with N. Korea going well
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that talks with North Korea are going well following his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Many good conversations with North Korea -- it is going well!" he tweeted without elaborating on the talks' substance. Trump and Kim met in Singapore last month and agreed that North Korea would work towards "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the United States.
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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)
Pompeo to travel to N. Korea Thursday: White House
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head to North Korea this week to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discuss detailed steps for North Korea’s denuclearization, three weeks after the historic US-North Korea summit, the White House said. Pompeo will fly to North Korea on Thursday “to continue consultations and implement the forward progress” made by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their Singapore meeting, the State Department added in a statement.
CEO of in-flight meal supplier for Asiana found dead: report
The CEO of a subcontractor of a small in-flight meal supplier for Asiana Airlines reportedly took his own life Monday morning, after criticisms mounted from angry passengers who were served no meal on Asiana flights. He was found dead at his house, according to local media reports. Asiana recently terminated a 15-year-old deal with LSG Sky Chefs, a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa, and inked a contract with Gate Gourmet Korea, an in-flight catering service firm Asiana jointly set up with China’s HNA Group. Starting from July, Asiana was to receive GGK in-flight meals for the next 30 years.
Korean women boycott spending on first Sunday of every month to expel ‘pink tax’
A group of Korean women have decided to stop spending money on the first Sunday of every month, in a move to protest against gender discrimination. The campaign, started by a Facebook group called “Female Expenditure Strike” (direct translation of the Korean title), hopes to raise awareness of the damage done by advertisements that objectify women, gender discrimination and the “pink tax,” which refers to the extra amount that women often pay for goods and services compared to men.
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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
Korea faces uphill battle in winning Saudi nuclear deal
Korea is seeking cooperation with the United States and the United Arab Emirates to secure a nuclear power plant deal in Saudi Arabia. However, it is expected to face an uphill battle as the Middle Eastern kingdom included all five bidders in its shortlist; and the Moon Jae-in administration's shift from nuclear to renewable energy will work against Korea. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a strategic meeting for exporting nuclear reactors, Monday, with representatives from the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and other nuclear-related businesses.
Two Koreas to jointly celebrate 100th year of independence movement
South Korea will invite North Korea to jointly commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement and the establishment of Korea's provisional government in Shanghai in 1919 during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, President Moon Jae-in said, Tuesday. He disclosed the plan in a launch ceremony of a presidential committee to prepare commemorative events for the 100th anniversary next year.
Shipbuilders to dismiss 5,000 workers
Shipbuilders are set to dismiss 5,000 workers by the end of the year as they ran out of work after having failed to win new orders amid the global industry downturn. Over the past few years, Korea's top three shipbuilders ― Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries ― have laid off tens of thousands of workers to cope with declining shipbuilding orders. But thousands more will likely lose their jobs as their employers continue to struggle to get back on track.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
Kim Jong-un Harangues Factory Workers
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week harangued factory workers in the border town of Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province in a rare outburst that belies the cuddly image he has lately been projecting to the world. According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Monday, Kim told workers in a chemical fiber factory, "You are trying to start trial production by putting valuable equipment in a decrepit building that looks like a stable. The building has been repaired haphazardly, and everything is being done recklessly without relying on intelligent modernization methods and technical manuals."
N.Korea Suspected of Expanding Missile Plant
North Korea is suspected of expanding a major missile manufacturing facility even as it pursues dialogue with the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Based on recent satellite imagery from Planet Labs, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S. discovered that the North was completing a major expansion of a missile plant in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province in the run-up to the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore last month, the daily reported.
UN Rapporteur on N.Korean Human Rights Visits Seoul
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea visited South Korea on Monday and urged Seoul to press Pyongyang on human rights issues. Tomás Ojea Quintana asked Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun what the South Korean government's strategy is in discussing human rights issues with North Korea. Seoul has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers for failing to address North Korea's egregious human rights violations in cross-border talks.
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
Kim Jong-un Harangues Factory Workers
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week harangued factory workers in the border town of Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province in a rare outburst that belies the cuddly image he has lately been projecting to the world. According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Monday, Kim told workers in a chemical fiber factory, "You are trying to start trial production by putting valuable equipment in a decrepit building that looks like a stable. The building has been repaired haphazardly, and everything is being done recklessly without relying on intelligent modernization methods and technical manuals."
N.Korea Suspected of Expanding Missile Plant
North Korea is suspected of expanding a major missile manufacturing facility even as it pursues dialogue with the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Based on recent satellite imagery from Planet Labs, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S. discovered that the North was completing a major expansion of a missile plant in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province in the run-up to the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore last month, the daily reported.
UN Rapporteur on N.Korean Human Rights Visits Seoul
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea visited South Korea on Monday and urged Seoul to press Pyongyang on human rights issues. Tomás Ojea Quintana asked Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun what the South Korean government's strategy is in discussing human rights issues with North Korea. Seoul has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers for failing to address North Korea's egregious human rights violations in cross-border talks.
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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Washington focuses on ‘thorough verification’ by seeking FFVD over CVID
New term “FFVD” has emerged just ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s third visit to Pyongyang. This refers to “final, fully verified denuclearization,” which the State Department used when publicizing Secretary Pompeo’s schedule and agenda for his Pyongyang visit on Monday.
Pres. Moon Jae-in stresses communication with businesses
President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday called for active communication with businesses for the sake of job creation and regulatory reform. This is in a line with his sudden cancellation of the regulatory reform review meeting Last Tuesday at the last minute due to lack of preparations. Critics say his remark suggests a shift in policy direction to put an emphasis on collaboration with large corporates, which was considered a target of reform.
Samsung, LG to diversify their portfolio of smartphones
LG Electronics will release its new flagship smartphone “LG V35 ThinQ” on Friday. It was expected that “LG V40 ThinQ” would hit the shelves following “LG V30,” which was unveiled in September of last year, but it looks like V35 would arrive before V40. LG has launched a total of four premium smartphone models this year, including “V40 ThinQ,” which will be released in the latter half of this year.
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JoongAng Ilbo (http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/)
Basketball diplomacy resumes
A delegation of South Korean basketball players, government officials and journalists arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday for friendly basketball games with North Korea in the latest show of sports diplomacy between the two countries. Some 101 South Koreans led by Cho Myoung-gyon, minister of unification, who oversees relations with the North, took two South Korean Air Force cargo planes from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, south of Seoul, at 10 a.m. and landed at Pyongyang International Airport 70 minutes later, using an air route over the Yellow Sea. The athletes are mostly from South Korea’s men’s and women’s national basketball teams.
Asiana offers chicken, beef - or nothing at all
The 56-year-old CEO of a subcontractor of Asiana Airlines’ in-flight meal supplier was found dead by apparent suicide at his home in Incheon on Monday. Though no suicide note was found, family members told police that he was under a lot of pressure trying to produce a higher-than-usual number of in-flight meals. Sharp DO & CO, the catering firm that hired his company, had signed up to supply in-flight meals for Asiana Airlines from July 1.
Is North Korea sitting on a pile of rare-earth minerals?
The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, a state-run research institute, held a symposium on June 14 where experts in geology and natural resources gathered to talk about how they could further their research on the natural resources in North Korea. The symposium took place amid growing interest from South Korea and abroad on the potential of the mineral deposits buried in the North.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Supreme Court Justice Candidates: A Lawyer and Two Judges Including a Woman
Attorney Kim Seon-soo (57, 17th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute); Lee Dong-won (55, 17th class), chief judge of the Jeju District Court; and Noh Jeong-hee (54, 19th class), director of the Court Library have been recommended as candidates to replace Supreme Court justices Ko Young-han, Kim Chang-suk and Kim Shin, who will retire on August 2. Kim is a labor and human rights lawyer who had kept away from public office, and Lee and Noh are judges who did not graduate from Seoul National University and who have no experience of working at the National Court Administration.
Current 9th Graders Can Apply to Both Autonomous Private High Schools and General High Schools
The Constitutional Court accepted the request for a provisional injunction to suspend the enforcement of the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was amended to have students choose and apply to either an autonomous private high school or a general high school. Therefore, students currently in the ninth grade will probably be able to apply to both autonomous private schools and general schools in the late admissions process. In this case, confusion can occur when a student is accepted by both an autonomous private high school and a general high school, so it is likely for the government to return to the existing method of having students first apply to an autonomous high school in the early admissions process.
Constitutional Court Opens Door to Alternative Service for Conscientious Objectors
The Constitutional Court ruled that an article in the Military Service Act, which does not stipulate alternative services as a kind of military service for conscientious objectors--people who refuse to serve in the military on grounds of religion or nonviolent or pacifist beliefs--did not conform to the Constitution. The National Assembly must revise this article to introduce alternative services by December 31, 2019.
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AJU Business Daily (http://eng.ajunews.com/korea)
S. Korea's Hankook Tire acquires Germany retailer Reifen-Müller
Hankook Tire, a major South Korean tire maker, has acquired Reifen-Müller, a German tire retailer, in an effort to build an integrated distribution system in Europe, company officials said. Reifen-Müller with 44 stores in Germany will be Hankook Tire's wholly-owned subsidiary that will help the world's seventh largest tire company expand its distribution system throughout Europe.
U.S. fund seeks compensation for losses in 2015 investment in Samsung
A second U.S. activist hedge fund has sought more than $175 in compensation for losses caused by unlawful government intervention in the 2015 merger of two Samsung units, according to a document released by the justice ministry on Tuesday. The ministry disclosed a notice of intent sent by Mason Capital Management on June 8 to seek a settlement over damages incurred from its investment in Samsung C&T. The fund held a 2.18 percent stake in the Samsung group unit when it was merged with Cheil Industries.
Hyundai invests in Israel's Autotalks to develop connected car chipset
As part of efforts to gain next-generation technologies, Hyundai Motor, a leading South Korean carmaker, made a strategic investment in Autotalks, a global leader in vehicle to vehicle communications in autonomous driving, to cooperate in developing chipsets for connected cars. Without disclosing financial terms, Hyundai said Tuesday that its capital injection was made in the form of equity investment. Like other carmakers, Hyundai has tried to develop an operating system and a service platform for connected cars.
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Maeil Business News Korea (http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Hanwha Investment sets up big data analysis company
South Korea’s Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. has invested 10 billion won ($8.96 million) to set up a subsidiary that specializes in big data analysis to bolster its digital finance capability. Hanwha Investment & Securities on Tuesday held an opening ceremony of Data Analytics Lab, a big data analysis company it has invested 10 billion won to set up. The brokerage house has become the country’s first financial investment company to have a separate big data analysis unit.
FTC mulls revamp in holding entity act, citing concerns of abuse by chaebols
More than half of revenue at holding entities of South Korean household corporate names hinge on inside trade, suggesting the holding structure may be serving to safeguard the owner family’s hold over the business and fatten their riches, according to the antitrust authority. According to a study by the Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday, 55.4 percent of income at holding companies of large business groups cane from intra-group dealings with subsidiaries last year.
LS Cable & System seals 5-year contract with Western Power in Australia
South Korea’s leading power cable manufacturer LS Cable & System Ltd. said on Tuesday it has signed a five-year contract to provide power cables to Western Power Corporation, a power supplier owned by the Western Australian Government. The value of the contract was not disclosed. The contract gives supply priority to the Korean company for about 60 percent of low and mid-voltage cables ordered by Western Power until June 2023.
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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.cn kf@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 Herald www.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.com lithuania@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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