(ATTN: CHANGES slug; RECASTS lead, headline; UPDATES with chief auditor's press conference in paras 4, 5; RESTRUCTURES and TRIMS)
By Shin Hae-in

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government said Wednesday that it
found minute traces of the industrial chemical melamine in five products

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Pusan Bank, a South Korean regional lender, said
Wednesday its third-quarter earnings increased 2.2 percent thanks to increased
fee income.

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The sluggish global economy is expected to cause a downturn in South Korean exports in the first half of 2009, a senior government policymaker said Wednesday.

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- A quarter of Korean teenagers say they can overlook
irregularities of leaders who make the nation richer, and 20 percent of them

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Samsung SDI Co. said Wednesday that it swung back to
the black in the third quarter on increased sales of rechargeable batteries and

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea currently faces more difficult times than
it suffered a decade ago, considering worsening external economic conditions,

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Answers to the main question in an escalating
corruption scandal -- which and how many ranking officials illegally pocketed

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Sweeping measures taken by the South Korean government
recently will ease jitters and reduce volatility in the currency and financial

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's currency tumbled against the U.S. dollar
on Wednesday as investor sentiment was hurt by plunging stocks and continued