Yonhap News Summary

The following is the first summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency
on Wednesday.

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(LEAD) Clinton pledges to engage N. Korea bilaterally, through six-party talks
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she
will engage North Korea bilaterally as well as through the six-party talks to
address its alleged uranium-based nuclear program and nuclear proliferation.
"It is a framework that the president-elect and I believe has merit," Clinton
said of the six-party talks at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. "But it also provides an opportunity, as Secretary Rice has
testified before this committee, for bilateral contact as well between North
Korea and the United States."
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(LEAD) N. Korean leader tours factories following nuke message
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspected machinery plants as part of
his stepped-up economic drive, the North's media said Wednesday, following
Pyongyang's call on the incoming U.S. administration to normalize bilateral
relations.
Amid a global economic downturn and suspension of aid from South Korea, North
Korea has reinvigorated its slogan of "self-reliance" to rebuild the nation's
frail industrial infrastructure and resolve its chronic food shortages.
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N. Korea likely to continue brinkmanhip under Obama gov't: Vershbow
WASHINGTON -- North Korea will continue brinkmanship for the coming years to
teach the international community how to eventually accept the isolated communist
state as a nuclear weapons state, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea,
Alexander Vershbow, said Tuesday.
"North Koreans will continue to use brinkmanship to drive a wedge between Seoul
and Washington," Vershbow said in a speech to the Korea Economic Institute. "We
still don't know whether today's North Korean leaders and the powerful North
Korean military will ever give up their nuclear weapons."
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(LEAD) U.S. affirms it has 'right mix' of war deterrents against N. Korea
SEOUL -- The United States affirmed its commitment Wednesday to maintaining the
"right mix" of war deterrents against North Korea, following a notice it will
replace half of its air-to-ground attack helicopters in South Korea with a dozen
F-16s.
The U.S. announced this week it plans to deploy F-16 multi-role jet fighters
before March to replace a fleet of 24 AH-64 Apaches scheduled to be redeployed to
Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Schwab urges Congress to ratify Korea FTA to help boost U.S. economy
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab Tuesday urged Congress to
approve the pending free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama,
saying they will help the slumping U.S. economy recover from economic recession.
"In the case of the Colombia and Panama and South Korea free trade agreements,
these are incredibly important free trade agreements for the United States,"
Schwab told a roundtable with reporters just one week before the inauguration of
the incoming Barack Obama administration.
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S. Korea to continue efforts to bolster economy: minister
SEOUL -- South Korea's economy remains under strain and the government will
continue its efforts to create jobs and expand spending to turn things around, a
top economic policymaker said Wednesday.
"The economy is facing difficulties and the livelihoods of ordinary people are
suffering" Finance Minister Kang Man-soo told a crisis management meeting. "To
turn things around, the government will do its utmost by creating jobs through
diverse projects and pushing to front-load spending."
(END)