Headlines, September 3, 2018

Monday, September 3, 2018

Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies today

And from international media:

The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.
Moon names chief security adviser as special envoy to N. Korea
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday named his top security adviser as a special envoy to North Korea.
Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, will head a five-member delegation to the communist state that is set to leave for Pyongyang on Wednesday.

Parliament set to open its regular session
The National Assembly is set to open its regular session Monday with key bills aimed at propping up the slowing economy and promoting business regulation pending.
Rival parties failed last week to narrow their differences about proposals easing Internet-only banks' ownership cap and other key deregulation measures, and agreed to discuss them at the regular session.

Gov't, ruling party stick to 'income-driven' growth policy
The South Korean government and the nation's ruling party agreed Saturday to maintain the policy of boosting economic growth with a focus on expanding the income of ordinary people.
The decision was made in spite of growing criticism of the signature policy of the left-leaning Moon Jae-in administration amid slower-than-expected job creation.
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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)
Top Security Adviser to Head Moon's Delegation to N. Korea
President Moon Jae-in's top security adviser Chung Eui-yong will visit North Korea on Wednesday leading a five-member delegation.
Presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeon announced on Sunday that the delegation includes National Intelligence Service(NIS) chief Suh Hoon,Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, NIS deputy chief Kim Sang-gyun and presidential secretary for state affairs Yun Kun-young.

'US Special Envoy for N. Korea to Visit Northeast Asia Soon'
U.S. new special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun will reportedly embark on a Northeast Asia tour soon, which will include visits to South Korea and Japan.
Biegun, who was serving as vice president of U.S. automaker Ford, was named the U.S. State Department's special representative for North Korea late last month.

Sohn Hak-kyu Elected New Leader of Bareunmirae Party
Veteran politician Sohn Hak-kyu has been elected the new chief of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party.
The party elected its new leadership at a national convention at the National Assembly on Sunday.
The 71-year-old politician garnered 27 percent of votes to become the party's new chairman, while Ha Tae-keung, Kwon Eun-hee and Lee Jun-seok were elected as supreme council members.

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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Parliament set to open its regular session
The National Assembly is set to open its regular session Monday with key bills aimed at propping up the slowing economy and promoting business regulation pending.
Rival parties failed last week to narrow their differences about proposals easing Internet-only banks' ownership cap and other key deregulation measures, and agreed to discuss them at the regular session.
The unicameral parliament opens its regular session every September for 100 days. Plenary sessions to handle the passage of those bills are slated for Sept. 14 and Sept. 21.

Moon names chief security adviser as special envoy to N. Korea
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday named his top security adviser as a special envoy to North Korea.
Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, will head a five-member delegation to the communist state that is set to leave for Pyongyang on Wednesday.
The delegation includes Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS); Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung; Yun Kun-young, presidential secretary for state affairs; and Kim Sang-gyun, a senior NIS official.

Non-banks' corporate loans grow fast in H1
Non-bank financial institutions' corporate loans rose at a fast pace in the first half of the year as they pushed to lend more to one-man operations amid regulatory control on household lending, central bank data showed Monday.
Such loans by non-bank depository institutions came to 147.73 trillion won (US$132 billion) as of the end of June, up 16.32 trillion won from the end of last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.
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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)
Top security adviser to head Moon’s delegation to Pyongyang
South Korean President Moon Jae-in named his national security adviser Chung Eui-yong as a special envoy to lead a delegation on a one-day trip to North Korea on Wednesday, the presidential office said Sunday.
The delegation’s visit to Pyongyang comes as Moon is set to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this month amid a deadlock in denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US.

LG Electronics CEO seeks tie-up with Nvidia for self-driving applications
Jo Seong-jin, vice chairman and CEO of LG Electronics, hinted Friday that the South Korean home appliance manufacturer wanted to forge a partnership with Nvidia to develop applications for autonomous driving.
The LG CEO told The Korea Herald on the first day of the IFA 2018 in Berlin that the company could join hands with leading autonomous driving solution companies like Nvidia as part of efforts to expand its vehicle component business.

Income statistics dispute extends to credibility of govt data
Following the recent replacement of the statistics office chief, the ongoing dispute concerning the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth initiative has now expanded into an argument on the credibility of key economic indicators here.
While the presidential office and the ruling party held the statistics office liable for a sampling flaw, the opposition camp claimed that the administration was deceiptfully trying to cover up its thwarted economic strategies.

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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
Abortion crackdown leaves women on edge
Women's health is being placed at greater risk in the recent row between the government and OB-GYN doctors over a new regulation that suspends medical licenses for performing abortions — explicitly branding the procedure as "immoral."
On Aug. 17, some 2,500 OB-GYN doctors in the country announced they would boycott all abortions, signaling a new low point in the growing discontent at the nation's 65-year-old abortion ban.

Korean firms eyeing global procurement market
The global procurement market with an estimated value of $6 trillion can open up new opportunities for exporters. Korea has many competitive companies as an industrial powerhouse, but they often have trouble advancing into overseas procurement markets due to barriers.
Public Procurement Service (PPS) Administrator Park Chun-sup said that the overseas procurement market will help the country overcome its unemployment problem.

Inter-Korean liaison office to open this week
A joint liaison office will open "early this month" in Gaeseong, North Korea, as agreed upon by the two Koreas, according to National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong.
The planned establishment of the liaison office is in line with a joint declaration jointly by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their first summit at Panmunjeom, April 27.
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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)
U.S. Cites Diesel Supply in Blocking Cross-Border Rail Plans
The U.S. cited a quantity of diesel fuel that would be carried on a South Korean train running on North Korean railway tracks to block a plan by the two Koreas to survey a cross-border railway.

Working Mothers Often Quit Jobs Once Kids Start Schooling
Working mothers tend to quit their jobs when their children start schooling, according to a recent survey by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education.

Poor Harvest Bodes Ill for Chuseok Tables
Unusually low temperatures this spring followed by record heat and drought this summer have caused produce prices to soar. That is bad news for Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, when fruit and vegetables play an important part in traditional ceremonies.
Jang Geun-shik, a farmer in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, said, "I've been growing apples for 20 years, but this is the worst weather I've seen."
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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)
South and North Red Cross discuss having 500 South Koreans visit NK to hold their ancestral rites
On Aug. 31, Park Kyung-seo, head of the South Korean Red Cross, said that officials from the South and North Korean Red Cross had discussed having 500 South Korean members of families divided by the Korean War visit Mt. Kumgang this coming November to hold their ancestral rites. “If this event goes well, we’re planning to look into holding the ceremony in Pyongyang next year,” Park added.

Moon’s approval ratings fall below mid-50 percentage
President Moon Jae-in’s governance approval rating has fallen below the mid-50 percent range, a recent survey shows.
A survey of 1,000 adult South Koreans nationwide by the specialist polling organization Gallup Korea on Aug. 28–30 (margin of error ±3.1 percentage points, 95 percent confidence level) showed 53 percent of respondents rating President Moon’s governance performance positively during the fifth week of August.

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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)
Mass outcry after Moroccan teenager ‘gang raped and tattooed’
A public outcry has arisen about alleged inhumane crimes against a Moroccan girl. The latest revelation was made only a year after a video of a young woman being sexually assaulted by a gang of teenage boys on a bus sparked outrage and led to a mass protest of thousands of women.
The girl, identified only as Khadija, was allegedly abducted from outside a relative’s house during the month of Ramadan. She was then held hostage for two months where other men would brutally torture her in exchange for money or drugs.

Pres. Moon to send special envoy team to N. Korea Wednesday
South Korean President Moon Jae-in decided to send a special envoy team on a one-day visit to North Korea this Wednesday, led by Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, including National Intelligence Service chief Seo Hoon and other three officials. With Washington’s concerns over dispatching special envoys to the North, President Moon intends to send working-level officials who can coordinate preparations for the upcoming inter-Korean summit and mediate negotiations for denuclearization.

Tax benefits for housing rental businesses to be reduced back
The government has decided to reduce tax and financial incentives for property rent businesses, which were offered around one year ago to encourage those with multiple houses to register as a housing rental business operator.
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JoongAng Ilbo (http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/)
Top adviser named special envoy
Chung Eui-yong, the Blue House’s national security adviser, will be President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy to North Korea, the Blue House announced on Sunday.
As part of the role, Chung will travel to Pyongyang on Wednesday to plan a summit between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set to take place later this month.

August exports reach record, pass $50 billion
Korea exported more than $50 billion of goods in August despite fears of a global trade war, but experts continue to worry about the overreliance on a handful of popular products.
According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy released over the weekend, Korea Inc. shipped out $51.2 billion worth of goods in August this year, up 8.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Martial law plan foresaw North Korean collapse
A military unit under fire for drafting martial law plans during last year’s impeachment crisis made similar plans in October 2016 in case the North Korean government collapsed, a team investigating the unit exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday.
The so-called Hope Plan was drawn up by officials in the military and Park Geun-hye government in case an “unexpected accident” happened to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un or a coup overthrew his regime, according to the investigative team. Under such circumstances, the South Korean military would take control of the entire peninsula.
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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)
Moon Jae-in's First Cabinet Reshuffle: Expectations for a New Wind in State Administration
On August 30, President Moon Jae-in reshuffled his cabinet for the first time since the launch of the incumbent government. Five members of the cabinet--deputy prime minister cum minister of education; minister of national defense; minister of trade, industry and energy; minister of employment and labor; and minister of gender equality and family--were replaced, so the latest reshuffle was not a small scale event. The president maintained the gender ratio within his cabinet, but the number of lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea increased from six to seven.

Did President Trump Promise to Sign a Declaration Ending the Korean War?
A U.S. media outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had promised Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, to sign a declaration ending the Korean War at the June 12 summit in Singapore, but later changed his mind. On August 29 (local time), VOX, an American online media outlet published that President Trump promised to "sign a declaration to end the Korean War soon after their meeting (summit)." However, the Trump administration changed their mind after the summit and demanded that North Korea first dismantle its nuclear weapons before the signing of the declaration, causing the current deadlock in negotiations between North Korea and the United States. This is shocking. If the report is true, it finally explains why the follow-up negotiations between the two countries have remained at a standstill despite the summit in Singapore. This is like finding a missing piece of the puzzle.

Claim for Damages in Ssangyong Motor Case Could Be Another Act of Violence by the State
A police investigation committee on human rights infringements, which had been investigating excessive actions by the police when suppressing the Ssangyong Motor union in 2009, released the results of its six-month investigation on August 28 and officially recognized that the police had exercised public authority that exceeded the legal boundary. The result came nine years after the strike, after thirty dismissed workers and their families, including the late union member Kim Ju-jung, who took his own life in June, had tragically turned their backs on this world.
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AJU Business Daily (http://eng.ajunews.com/korea)
S. Korean toddler song jumps into British music chart
It was not from albums released by BTS or any other South Korean bands with global recognition but a catchy cartoon song for toddlers that gained an unexpected spot in Britain's professional music chart. "Baby Shark", a YouTube song created by South Korea's education and entertainment startup, SMART STUDY, took the 65th place in the single chart operated by Britain's Official Charts Company for the last week of August.

Big sinkhole forces evacuation of apartment residents in Seoul
A big sinkhole forced a pre-dawn evacuation of hundreds of frightened citizens in a residential area in southwestern Seoul amid fears that their apartment building could be toppled over to its side.
The sinkhole, about 30 meters (98 feet) wide and six meters deep, was created between an apartment complex and a construction site in Gasan-dong at about 4:30 a.m. (1930 GMT) on Friday. The area has been battered by torrential rains for five days. In urban areas, heavy rainfalls sometimes cause sinkholes under the ground covered by asphalt or concrete.

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Maeil Business News Korea ( http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)
Daewoo-Doosan to join state-led bid for nuclear projects in Czech, Poland
South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. will take part in a bid led by state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. to pursue new nuclear power plant projects in the Czech Republic and Poland, Daewoo E&C said Friday.

Hyundai Rotem’s driverless train boasts nearly 0% erroneous operation
Hyundai Rotem Co., the locomotive and rolling stock unit of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, said on Friday that its first autonomous train in Korea that began operations in 2011 has been providing stable services for about seven years with almost perfect operation.

Messaging app Line to issue own cryptocurrency in Sept
Line Corp., the Japanese subsidiary of South Korea’s internet giant Naver Corp., said Friday it will launch its own cryptocurrency Link in September, embracing the latest fintech technology to further grow its popular messaging platform.
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Lee Kyung-sik edt@koreapost.com