ID :
23524
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 17:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23524
The shortlink copeid
Yonhap News Summary
The following is the summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Thursday.
-----------------
(LEAD) Seoul shares end higher on rate cuts
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished slightly higher in seesaw trading Thursday
as financial authorities around the world slashed borrowing rates to rein in
market turmoil, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 8.2 points, or
0.64 percent, to 1,294.89. Volume was heavy at 445.13 million shares worth 5.54
trillion won (US$4.02 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 414 to 406.
-----------------
(2nd LD) S. Korean central bank cuts key rate for October
SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank slashed its key interest rate by 0.25
percentage point Thursday in a concerted effort to soothe global financial
turmoil and stem the drastic slowdown of the local economy.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Seong-tae and his six fellow policymakers cut the
benchmark 7-day repurchase agreement rate to 5 percent for October, the first
rate cut since November 2004. The BOK also lowered the interest on its loans to
commercial banks by 0.25 percentage point to 3.25 percent.
-----------------
(3rd LD) Currency rebounds from 10-year low on intervention
SEOUL -- The South Korean won bounced back from a decade low against the U.S.
dollar Thursday, marking the first gain in five sessions as foreign exchange
authorities intervened and the local stock market recouped earlier losses.
The local currency closed at 1,379.50, up 15.5 won from Wednesday's close. The
won fell to as low as 1,485.55 at one point during the morning session, the
weakest since March 1998. On Wednesday, the won lost almost 5 percent.
-----------------
Commander sees no unusual movement in N. Korean military despite rumors of Kim's
health failure
WASHINGTON -- The commander of U.S. forces in Korea said Wednesday the North
Korean military has been making no suspicious maneuvers amid rumors of its leader
Kim Jong-il recovering from a stroke.
"We have not seen anything out of the normal," Gen. Walter Sharp told a press
briefing at the Pentagon, when asked if the North Korean military has been making
unusual movements.
-----------------
S. Korea, U.S., Japan to regularize high-level security talks
SEOUL -- Top-level diplomats from South Korea, the United States, and Japan will
hold talks next week in Washington on regional security and other global issues,
officials here said Thursday, heralding the restart of regular security
consultations among the nations.
The tripartite meeting, slated for Oct. 14, is reminiscent of the now-defunct
Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG), a special group of the three
nations. Formed in 1999, it played a key role in coordinating their policies on
North Korea. But TCOG meetings came to a halt a few months before the launch of
the six-way talks on the nuclear crisis in 2003 amid differences among the three
nations over how to deal with the North.
-----------------
U.S. expresses concerns over reports on N. Korea's missile firing
WASHINGTON -- The United States Wednesday said North Korea's firing of even
short-range missiles will not help stabilize the regional political situation.
"I think just as a general comment, with respect to the firing of these kinds of
missiles, these short-range missiles, we would advise against it," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a daily news briefing. "It's not helpful
in any way managing tensions within the region, which are always at a constant
level."
-----------------
N. Korea uses aged Russian aircraft to fire missiles: source
SEOUL -- North Korea used an aging Russian-made aircraft to fire two short-range
missiles earlier this week, a source privy to North Korean affairs said Thursday,
surprising officials here who believed that equipping the plane to launch
missiles was technically impossible.
The source said the North appeared to have used an AN-2 aircraft, but others
argued against the account.
-----------------
(LEAD) Seoul shares end higher on rate cuts
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished slightly higher in seesaw trading Thursday
as financial authorities around the world slashed borrowing rates to rein in
market turmoil, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 8.2 points, or
0.64 percent, to 1,294.89. Volume was heavy at 445.13 million shares worth 5.54
trillion won (US$4.02 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 414 to 406.
-----------------
(2nd LD) S. Korean central bank cuts key rate for October
SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank slashed its key interest rate by 0.25
percentage point Thursday in a concerted effort to soothe global financial
turmoil and stem the drastic slowdown of the local economy.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Seong-tae and his six fellow policymakers cut the
benchmark 7-day repurchase agreement rate to 5 percent for October, the first
rate cut since November 2004. The BOK also lowered the interest on its loans to
commercial banks by 0.25 percentage point to 3.25 percent.
-----------------
(3rd LD) Currency rebounds from 10-year low on intervention
SEOUL -- The South Korean won bounced back from a decade low against the U.S.
dollar Thursday, marking the first gain in five sessions as foreign exchange
authorities intervened and the local stock market recouped earlier losses.
The local currency closed at 1,379.50, up 15.5 won from Wednesday's close. The
won fell to as low as 1,485.55 at one point during the morning session, the
weakest since March 1998. On Wednesday, the won lost almost 5 percent.
-----------------
Commander sees no unusual movement in N. Korean military despite rumors of Kim's
health failure
WASHINGTON -- The commander of U.S. forces in Korea said Wednesday the North
Korean military has been making no suspicious maneuvers amid rumors of its leader
Kim Jong-il recovering from a stroke.
"We have not seen anything out of the normal," Gen. Walter Sharp told a press
briefing at the Pentagon, when asked if the North Korean military has been making
unusual movements.
-----------------
S. Korea, U.S., Japan to regularize high-level security talks
SEOUL -- Top-level diplomats from South Korea, the United States, and Japan will
hold talks next week in Washington on regional security and other global issues,
officials here said Thursday, heralding the restart of regular security
consultations among the nations.
The tripartite meeting, slated for Oct. 14, is reminiscent of the now-defunct
Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG), a special group of the three
nations. Formed in 1999, it played a key role in coordinating their policies on
North Korea. But TCOG meetings came to a halt a few months before the launch of
the six-way talks on the nuclear crisis in 2003 amid differences among the three
nations over how to deal with the North.
-----------------
U.S. expresses concerns over reports on N. Korea's missile firing
WASHINGTON -- The United States Wednesday said North Korea's firing of even
short-range missiles will not help stabilize the regional political situation.
"I think just as a general comment, with respect to the firing of these kinds of
missiles, these short-range missiles, we would advise against it," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a daily news briefing. "It's not helpful
in any way managing tensions within the region, which are always at a constant
level."
-----------------
N. Korea uses aged Russian aircraft to fire missiles: source
SEOUL -- North Korea used an aging Russian-made aircraft to fire two short-range
missiles earlier this week, a source privy to North Korean affairs said Thursday,
surprising officials here who believed that equipping the plane to launch
missiles was technically impossible.
The source said the North appeared to have used an AN-2 aircraft, but others
argued against the account.
