ID :
38942
Mon, 01/05/2009 - 18:09
Auther :

Yonhap News Summary



The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency
on Monday.

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(LEAD) S. Korea offers US$300,000 in aid for war-torn Gaza Strip
SEOUL -- South Korea said Monday that it would provide US$300,000 worth of
emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people as Israeli ground troops
continued attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Breaking a week of silence on the latest conflict, South Korea, a key ally of the
United States, also called for an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas.
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N. Korea sacks pointman on S. Korea for misjudging Seoul gov't: sources
SEOUL -- North Korea has dismissed its pointman on South Korea for misjudging
Seoul's conservative administration, government sources said Monday.
Choe Sung-chol, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean
state organization handling inter-Korean affairs under the Workers' Party, was
dismissed in early 2008. It is not yet clear who has succeeded him, the sources
said, requesting anonymity.
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South Korea to build nursery for North Korean mothers
SEOUL -- South Korea will build a day-care center for North Korean children whose
mothers work at a joint industrial park, Seoul officials said Monday.
About 300 North Korean nursing mothers are currently employed by South Korean
firms operating in the inter-Korean complex in the North Korean border town of
Kaesong. The complex employs about 38,000 North Korean workers in total,
according to the Unification Ministry.
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Flow of N. Korean defectors slows in 2008 due to China's border control
SEOUL -- About 2,800 North Korean defectors entered South Korea in 2008, the
Unification Ministry said on Monday, reflecting a slowdown that was partly caused
by tightened border controls in China.
A total of 2,809 defectors settled in the South the past year, up 10 percent from
a year earlier. The increase was 26 percent and 46 percent in 2007 and 2006,
respectively, according to ministry data.
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Financial sector required to inject 'enough' liquidity: finance minister
SEOUL -- Finance Minister Kang Man-soo on Monday called for local banks and
financial institutes to inject "enough" liquidity into the markets in a bid to
help cash-strapped small and medium-sized companies amid frozen credit
conditions.
In his New Year message to leading officials of the local financial sector, he
also urged them to trim interest rates and pursue a debt-rescheduling program to
ease borrowing costs for low-income households.
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(LEAD) Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on Wall Street gains
SEOUL -- South Korean shares finished 1.4 percent higher Monday as foreign
investors scooped up big-cap shares following a Wall Street rally on Friday,
analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 16.17 points to
close at 1,173.57, extending the gauge's gain for a third session. Volume was
heavy at 408.88 million shares worth 5.19 trillion won (US$3.95 billion), with
winners outpacing losers 420 to 400.
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Gov't calls media workers' strike illegal, defends media ownership deregulation
SEOUL -- The government demanded Monday that media workers immediately end their
strike, refuting their accusations that it is trying to tame and control the
nation's media.
In an unscheduled joint press conference, the ministers of culture and economy
called the strike "evidently illegal" and defended President Lee Myung-bak's
sweeping media reforms under which large firms and dominating newspapers will be
allowed to own television networks.
(END)

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