ROK and Inter-Korean relations
May 2008
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Seoul Seeks Source of Unfounded Kim Jong-il Rumors
South Korean authorities are trying to discover the source of dubious Internet rumors that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is dead, which first emerged in South Korea on Monday and spread even to China. Intelligence authorities and the Ministry of Unification officially denied the rumors as groundless, and they were proved false when North Korea's state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported on Monday night that Kim had inspected a military unit.
Quoting a source with "an information network inside the North Korean military", a report posted on a South Korean Internet portal on Wednesday afternoon claimed that Kim was assassinated in an attack on the road between Pyongyang and Anak County, Hwanghae Province around 7 to 8 p.m. on Monday. The Ministry of Unification dismissed this rumor as well, and the report was pulled from the portal on Thursday.
An intelligence official said, "Rumors about Kim's death or serious illness emerge every so often, but the persistency of the latest rumors is peculiar. We're trying to find their source, but we're having trouble because they are unfounded." Another official said that other groundless rumors are also circulating which claim that the rumors about Kim's death were aimed at deflecting attention from the controversy over U.S. beef imports.
[Disinformation] [FTA]
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N. Korea warns S. Korea over propaganda leaflets
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 30, 2008
Filed at 2:27 a.m. ET
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea's military warned Friday that tensions between the two Koreas could become ''catastrophic'' if South Korea keeps sending propaganda leaflets into the communist nation.
The North's tough talk was yet another sign that relations between the rivals have turned sour since new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with a pledge to get tough on Pyongyang.
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Korea Curtails Freedom of Expression: AI
The government is curtailing freedom of expression, including freedom of demonstration and assembly, the Korean branch of Amnesty International claims in its annual report released Wednesday. The report cites the example of the arrest of two activists. Oh Jung-ryul and Jung Gwang-hoon, the co-chairs of the Korean Alliance Against KORUS FTA who "were arrested on charges of carrying out ‘illegal’ and ‘non/un-permitted’ protests."
[Human rights]
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Citizens volunteer for protests - and arrest
More and more ordinary citizens are participating in acts of civil disobedience to demand civil rights
» Members of a civic group, the People’s Countermeasure Council against the Full Resumption of Imports of U.S. Beef Endangered with Mad Cow Disease, urge the government to release everyone arrested during demonstrations against U.S. beef imports in front of the headquarters of the National Police Agency on May 28.
The South Korean government’s decision to resume imports of U.S. beef has inspired a series of candlelight rallies. However, what began as a movement organized around the idea of protesting the beef agreement between South Korea and the United States, has become an act of disobedience aimed at demanding civil rights as guaranteed by law. Regardless of the fact that many ordinary citizens are taken into custody after the nightly rallies, a growing number of people have appeared with increasing regularity asking to be arrested. Meanwhile, the Internet sites of the National Police Agency and local police stations have been bombarded by articles protesting the police crackdown on the candlelight rallies.
[FTA]
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Lee gov’t needs new N. Korea policy, former unification minister says
June 15 and October 4 declarations should be implemented to restore peace on the peninsula
» Former Unification Minister Lim Dong-won.
Former Unification Minister Lim Dong-won criticized President Lee Myung-bak’s policies on North Korea, saying that Lee should implement the June 15 and October 4 declarations.
At a speech to a forum on unification of the Korean Peninsula hosted by the Young Korean Academy and held on May 28, Lim remarked, "President Lee should clearly show that he accepts the June 15 and October 4 declarations as soon as possible and try to restore inter-Korean relations for the peace and stability of the peninsula."
It is has been three months since the new government took power, but up to this point all it seems to be capable of is repeating slogans from the presidential election, such as "creative pragmatism" and "Vision 3000," Lim said. It cannot seem to come up with a firm vision for national strategy and pragmatic North Korea policy, he said.
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Rumors are commodity for trade with North Korea
Reuters
Thursday, May 29, 2008; 1:00 AM
SEOUL (Reuters) - Rumors are a way of life when it comes to North Korea, one of the world's most secretive states, but a rare one on Thursday about the assassination of its leader led to market jitters in Japan.
A little-known South Korean online news site reported Kim Jong-il had been killed, quoting a highly placed Chinese intelligence official.
Intelligence officials in Seoul and Tokyo said there was no information to back up the rumor, while the North's official news agency has had numerous reports this week saying leader Kim has been out and about in public.
Information about Kim and a possible successor are among the most closely guarded secrets in the paranoid state, known only to a handful of people close to Kim who do not spread the news beyond their tight inner circle, analysts have said.
[Media] [Disinformation]
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Prospects and Desired South-North Relations after the General Election
October 29, 2031 / Issue No. 42
Baek Seungjoo (Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Defense Analysis)
South-North Korean relations underwent raised tension between the end of March and the beginning of April, right before the general election in South Korea. Comments made by National Unification Minister and Joint Chief of Staff, along with the new administration’s stated policies of creating actual unification foundation for coexistence and co-prosperity, were considered as anti-North Korean policies by the North Korean government, who warned of corresponding military actions. North Korea’s reactions against the South, which came out within a month after the presidential inauguration in February 25th, appeared earlier than what the experts had predicted.
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Discontent Growing as Gov't Marks 100 Days in Office
Even Grand National party insiders now complain that people are turning their back on the government only 100 days after President Lee Myung-bak took office, but the presidential office, government and ruling party leadership appear not to recognize the seriousness of the situation. Public anger, meanwhile, has reached the point of calls for an urgent Cabinet reshuffle and even impeachment or resignation of the president.
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N.Korea in ‘Accidental’ Incursion Into Southern Waters
A North Korean coastguard vessel strayed across the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea on Tuesday morning, but retreated to North Korea 17 minutes after the South Korean Navy issued a warning. It was the fourth incursion this year by a North Korean coastguard boat across the de-facto maritime border. South Korean military authorities presume the intrusion happened while the North Korean coastguards tried to keep Chinese fishing boats under control.
[NLL]
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German Wine Queen to Visit Seoul
German Wine Queen
Evelyn Schmidt
By John Redmond
Contributing Writer
The Korean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce is organizing an exhibition, titled ``German World 2008, High Tech ? Lifestyle ? Science Fair" at COEX in Seoul from May 29 to June 1.
The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry will receive guests and friends at German World 2008 at COEX.
The first exhibition took place in 1999 and the second in 2001 under the name of ``The Leistungsschau." It was renamed to ``German World" in 2003 and the exhibition has since attracted wide attention in Korea.
On this occasion of the high-tech, lifestyle and science fair on German products, German Wine Queen Evelyn Schmidt will visit Seoul May 30-31. The 24-year-old is the second Wine Queen from Germany's wine-growing region Sachsen (Saxony) to hold the national title.
Schmidt comes to Korea, one of the most rapidly growing wine markets in the world, to represent German wines and winegrowers. Her excellent knowledge about wine (sensorics, marketing, regional and varietal specialties), her sense of humor and quick-wittedness make her an interesting conversationalist.[IM]
[Wine]
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North Korea Fights Off Malaria as Disease Heads South
By REUTERS
Published: May 27, 2008
Filed at 8:49 a.m. ET
Skip to next paragraph SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has greatly reduced malaria infections at home but mosquitoes carrying the disease are crossing the heavily armed border and infecting hundreds each year in the South, a provincial governor said on Tuesday.
Malaria was eradicated on the Korean peninsula about 30 years ago but re-emerged in the destitute North in the 1990s due to poor sanitation.
Kim Moon-soo, governor of Gyeonggi province which surrounds Seoul and shares a border with North Korea, visited the communist state this month to discuss food aid and ways to keep malaria in check.
"Based on the statistics that we have access to, it seems that the malaria cases (in North Korea) have been significantly reduced," Kim said at a news briefing with foreign reporters.
Kim said there were about 60,000 civilian infections in North Korea in 2003 while in 2007 the number was reduced to an estimated 7,430.
In his province, 677 people were infected last year with malaria by mosquitoes that had crossed the no-man's land Demilitarized Zone buffer dividing the two countries technically still at war.
The infection rate in the province, though, has fallen since 2001 when several thousand people were infected, according to South Korean government statistics.
"The North has replied that it has no problem with malaria.
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Police drawing firm line in face of illegal protests
Candlelight vigils against U.S. beef become violent
May 27, 2008
A Korean delegation, led by Sohn Chan-joon of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, center, returns home yesterday after a special inspection at U.S. slaughterhouses. [NEWSIS]
Following two nights of rallies against U.S. beef on the streets of Seoul that ended with violent clashes with riot police, law enforcement authorities made clear that they will not tolerate any more illegal demonstrations.
[Human rights]
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Prosecution evading debate over National Security Law
In a district court case about NSL violations, prosecution’s reluctance is suspect
» Kim Min-ung, a professor at Sungkonghoe University, spoke in defense of Yun Gi-jin, who was charged with violating the National Security Law for supporting North Korea. Testifying at Yun’s trial on May 26, Kim said, "As inter-Korean relations are moving toward co-existence, there are no hostilities, and, in consequence, we can say that the idea of ‘property that benefits the enemy’ no longer exists."
The prosecution rejected a chief justice’s suggestion of debate between witnesses in a case regarding the National Security Law. The Seoul Central District Court on April 23 asked lawyers for both the prosecution and the defense to summon witnesses to prove whether Yun Gi-jin, the chairman of the South Korean branch of a South-North youth organization, violated the National Security Law.
Yun was arrested on February 27, nine years after being sought by the authorities for sending a leader of Hanchongyeon, a umbrella organization of university student unions, to the North to take part in a celebration organized for South-North youth organizations that took place in Pyongyang in 1999. He was also charged with violating the National Security Law by producing and possessing pro-communist materials.
[NSL] [Human rights]
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Contact Made among Representatives of North, South and Overseas Sides
Kaesong, May 23 (KCNA) -- A contact among representatives of the north, south and overseas committees for implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration was made in Kaesong on May 23.
At the contact there was a consultation on the June 15 functions for reunification and a joint press release was issued.
According to the joint press release, it was decided to hold a "national reunification meeting to mark the 8th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 joint declaration" at Mt. Kumgang resort on June 15 and 16.
The above-said representatives decided to further contacts, when necessary, in order to settle technical issues arising in making arrangements for the June 15 meeting for national reunification.
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Defectors Struggle in Capitalistic South
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Many of the 12,000 North Korean defectors in the South are struggling to make ends meet as they are unable to acclimatize themselves to life in a capitalist country.
[Refugee reception]
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North's violations of sea limit line on the rise
May 23, 2008
North Korea has violated the western inter-Korean sea border three times this year, Defense Ministry officials said yesterday, amid worsening ties between the South and the North after the launch of the hard-line Lee Myung-bak administration.
The violations, however, are ¡°nothing new¡± and should not be seen as an attempt to escalate tensions at the border where two naval clashes have left dozens of troops killed or injured on both sides, they said.
Nonetheless, the North’s repeated violations of the Northern Limit Line have put the South Korean Navy on alert, an official said.
[NLL]
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Chasing the blue crab, and better inter-Korean relations
[Editorial]
It’s blue crab season. In recent years the catch has been smaller, but this year there is a relative abundance of the critters. Fisherman who work near the Northern Limit Line, however, are sighing in frustration, because there’s nothing they can do about the fact that Chinese fishing boats are making off with all the blue crab. Reportedly, there is a flotilla of about 200 Chinese fishing vessels taking all the crabs they want north of the NLL, and they’re coming south of the NLL as well.
The single biggest reason they are able to do this is because of the poor state of inter-Korean relations. The South is unable to get strict with the Chinese boats because it worries about a clash occurring with the North in that process. Once a Chinese fisherman you’re chasing escapes over onto the northern side of the NLL, it’s like a dog staring at a chicken he has chased onto a roof, so unless they venture way below the NLL, there’s no way of seizing them. Not that Seoul can ask for the North’s cooperation. The North appears to be tolerating the Chinese fishing boats, but inter-Korean dialogue has been all but nonexistent for months already.
Both North and South know well enough what the solution would be: a joint fishing zone. At the inter-Korean summit in October of last year it was agreed that they would cooperate in drawing a joint fishing and "peace" zone in the West Sea and establishing what would be called the "West Sea Peace and Cooperation Zone." Among that which was agreed to at the time, the joint fishing zone was something that could have been implemented immediately in time for blue crab season. We’re paying the price now for not having followed through.
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Identities of Abducted Fishermen in N.Korea Confirmed
The identities of nearly two dozen fishermen abducted by North Korea 30 to 40 years ago have been confirmed through a photo taken 23 years ago.
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NHRC to Investigate Conditions on N.Korean Escape Route
The National Human Rights Commission on Sunday said it will dispatch a fact-finding team to investigate the human rights conditions of North Korean refugees fleeing their country along the Southeast Asia "escape route."
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Inter-Korean relations can be restored with change in attitude, Kim Dae-jung says
[Interview] Kim Dae-jung, president of South Korea from 1998-2003
» Kim Dae-jung, the former president of Korea, talks with Jeong Seok-gu, The Hankyoreh’s chief editorial writer, about inter-Korean relations at his house in the Donggyo district of Seoul on May 13.
If the South shows that it basically accepts the June 15 and October 4 joint statements, with revisions and supplements, and offers unconditional humanitarian assistance to the North, inter-Korean relations will be restored, according to former President Kim Dae-jung.
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Loss of trust
Jungsoo Jang, Executive editor
[Column]
All Korea’s presidents, without exception, have experienced political crises at the end of their terms in the form of lost public support. The public discontent that has accumulated during the president’s term explodes when mixed with the various "power leaks," putting the president in a bind. What makes the crisis faced by President Lee Myung-bak so unprecedented is that it is happening at the very start of his time in office. He was inaugurated not three months ago and yet his approval ratings have dived to the twenties. If such low approval ratings lasted a long period of time, it could make the normal affairs of running the country difficult.
There are complex reasons for Lee’s situation, but first and foremost it boils down to a crisis of confidence. Voters who chose Lee because they expected him to revive the economy, and despite questions about his character, soon became disappointed as they saw his choices for the Cabinet, which would be criticized as being filled with people who are rich in real estate in Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood, or are graduates from Korea University, are members of Lee’s Somang Church, are from the Yeongnam region, or are any combination of these
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In spy versus spy, Seoul holds high-tech edge
Soon South Korea will launch two satellites that can see in the dark
May 19, 2008
Kim Tae-young, the chairman of South Korea¡¯s Joint Chiefs of Staff, monitors North Korea¡¯s military position daily. His checklist includes the position of the North¡¯s submarines, tanks, infantry, ballistic missiles, aircraft and artillery.
And it¡¯s easy to see why.
In case the North was preparing an attack, South Korea would need to rapidly plant sea mines to prevent North Korean submarines from offloading commandos in the South.
Also, before any sneak attack, North Korea would need to move mechanized units toward the Demilitarized Zone. Detecting such movements is vital for South Korea¡¯s defense. Should Kim detect such actions, he would first notify General Burwell Bell, the U.S. military commander in the South, and then prepare for battle.
[Military balance] [US military dominance]
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Lee's Rhetoric on NK Changing
President Lee Myung-bak burns incense at an alter of the May 18 Pro-Democracy Memorial Tower in the southwestern city of Gwangju Sunday to mourn those who died during their struggle against the military junta led by Army General Chun Doo-hwan 28 years ago. / Yonhap
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak's rhetoric on North Korea is showing signs of changing toward a more accommodative approach, at least in public statements.
Many North Korea watchers in Seoul said their scrutiny of Lee's public statements indicates that the conservative President is changing his views on the North.
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The government’s textbooks
[Editorial]
After Kim Do-yeon, the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, said, "The nation’s history textbooks and education lean to the left," discussions about revising the textbooks are underway. The main targets are textbooks about the country’s modern history, which have been under intense attack by scholars from the new-right, and sections on the economy in elementary school social studies books, which the business community wants to see revised.
[Propaganda]
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Korea Near Bottom of the Class for Education
Korea ranked high among world countries in higher education achievement but near the bottom in quality.
In the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008, published by the International Institute of Management Development in Switzerland, Korea is ranked a poor 53rd among 55 nations in terms of university education meeting the needs of a competitive economy, one of the indices that indicate quality levels.
In contrast, the country ranked fourth in the percentage of population that has attained at least tertiary education for people aged 25-34. That brought Korea's overall ranking in education competitiveness to 35th among the countries surveyed, down six notches from 29th in 2007. The country's ranking in education competitiveness has been yoyo-ing from 44th among 60 in 2004 to 40th in 2005, to 42nd among 61 in 2006 and 29th of 55 in 2007.
Competitiveness rankings were given according to compatibility with a competitive society, qualified engineers available in the labor market, and knowledge transfer between companies and universities.
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Textbooks to Be Shorn of Leftwing Bias
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has started revising elementary and secondary school textbooks in response to criticism that some modern history and social studies textbooks have a leftwing, anti-market bias.
A ministry official said, "We've started revision of some textbook contents. People from various walks of life have complained about history and social studies textbooks. In March, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry asked us to revise anti-market economy content in elementary and secondary school textbooks." [Propaganda]
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Why University Students Are Missing From the Protests
During the era of democracy protests in the 1980s, scenes of university students clashing with riot police on the main streets of Seoul were part of everyday life. And in 2002, rallies condemning U.S. forces in Korea for the death of two schoolgirls who were killed by a U.S armored vehicle were also led by students. But in recent candlelight rallies against the agreement on the liberalization of U.S. beef imports, university students have been conspicuous by their absence. What is going on?
However, college students are interested in the safety of food they eat. Recently, universities have had a headache since many students asked them not to use U.S. beef for meals served at school cafeterias, forcing them to put up notices saying they use only Australian or domestic beef.
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Slow Birth Rate Shears Korea's Student-Age Population
There are a third fewer Koreans of elementary school age now than there were in 1980. According to the National Statistical Office, the number of Koreans aged between six and 11 is 3.643 million, down 33.7 percent from 5.499 million in 1980.
The number of Koreans of middle school age also fell by 20.3 percent, while the high school-aged and college-aged populations dropped by 23.9 percent and 31.9 percent, respectively, during the same period.
[Ageing society]
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South Korea’s tanks blow competition away
From accuracy to armor piercing, northern counterparts can’t compete
May 14, 2008
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the South Korean military. South Korea, which relied on U.S. military assistance during the Korean War, has evolved into a military power with 600,000 troops and a 26 trillion won ($24.9 billion) annual defense budget. In this series, the military power of South Korea will be analyzed in the context of contemporary warfare, the nuclear aspirations of North Korea and a continuing arms race in Northeast Asia.
The Korean military for the past several years has been working hard to upgrade its weapons in case there¡¯s a showdown on the Korean Peninsula.
At center stage is the South¡¯s new battle tank, the K2.
The K2 is equipped with a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies capable of defeating its North Korean counterpart, the Chonmaho, which means flying horse tiger in Korean.
[Military balance]
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Pyongyang waiting for positive gesture by Seoul: N.K. official
SEOUL, May 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is willing to resume dialogue with South Korea if Seoul's new conservative government makes a positive gesture and pledges to uphold previous agreements between the two sides, a ranking North Korean official was quoted as saying Saturday.
"The current chill in relations between the South and the North will go away if the South's highest-ranking official promises to uphold the June 15 Joint Declaration" from the 2002 inter-Korean summit, Ri Chung-bok, a North Korean deputy chairman of an inter-Korean body, the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, was quoted as saying.
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Cheong Wa Dae to Revise Historical Revisions
Cheong Wa Dae and the government have initiated a revaluation of the republic’s history to mark the 60th anniversary of its founding this year, it was reported Monday. The initiative aims to replace the overwhelmingly negative appraisal of the country's history that has prevailed under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations with an emphasis on the benefits of industrialization and democratization from a middle-of-the-road viewpoint.
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South Korean Navy dominating
But the North holds extensive lead in submarines
May 13, 2008
Surrounded by seas on three sides, experts say naval capability is the key to South Korea¡¯s defense.
Although North Korea outnumbers the South in submarines, naval skirmishes between the two Koreas have demonstrated that the South dominates the North in sea power.
In 1999, a North Korean patrol boat first initiated an attack on the Yellow Sea, but the South¡¯s Navy prevailed.
Navy sources said the reason behind the victory was simple: South Korean combat ships, even the smallest ones, are armed with weaponry capable of automatically targeting the enemy with their integrated radar. For its part, the North has to manually aim and fire during combat.
[Military balance]
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S. Korea losing its place in Northeast Asian relations
[Analysis]
Deterioration in inter-Korean relations keeping S. Korea out of the game
» Sung Kim, the director of the Office of Korean Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, crosses the Military Demarcation Line on May 10 with one of the boxes containing some 18,000 pages of documents on operations of the North’s Yongbyon reactor.
The diplomatic situation in Northeast Asia is changing quickly. Relations between North Korea and the United States have improved remarkably with recent progress in the North Korean nuclear issue. Ties between China and Japan are also facing a kind of honeymoon period following the Chinese president’s first visit to Japan in 10 years. But inter-Korean relations have been tense since the launch of the administration of President Lee Myung-bak. Many analysts point out that Korea’s standing in the politics of the Korean Peninsula reminds them of Japan, which has been left out of the six-party talks due to conflict over the handling of Japanese citizens allegedly kidnapped by North Korea.
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South Korea tackling missile gap
May 12, 2008
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the South Korean military. In this series, the military power of South Korea will be analyzed in the context of contemporary warfare, the nuclear aspirations of North Korea and a continuing arms race in Northeast Asia.
In modern warfare, missiles are strategic weaponry
[military balance]
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S. Koreans Abuzz Over Their Obsession With the Office
By Blaine Harden
{vbar} Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 10, 2008; Page A08
SEOUL - South Koreans are working up a lather over working too much.
They put in far more time on the job than citizens of any other free-market democracy. Compared to Americans, they average 560 more hours at work a year -- the equivalent of 70 more eight-hour days. And that is down significantly from the go-go 1990s.
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‘Green’ Tops List of New Brand Names
Environmentally friendly words like "green" and "bio" have been the most popular words used in naming brands, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
As environmental issues became some of the most hotly debated topics, "green" was the word mostly frequently filed for the naming of brands, with 2,737 in the last five years. The word "natural" came second with 2,730 cases, and "high" third with 2,217. In fourth place was "pro" with 2,030, followed by "bio." The words "clean," "well-being," and "chungjung (pure and clear)" also made it into the top 20.
[IM]
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Lee’s decline in popularity
[Editorial]
President Lee Myung-bak’s approval ratings have dropped to 28 percent, according to the results of a survey conducted by the ruling Grand National Party’s Yeouido Institute on May 5. It is clear that Lee’s low ratings have been caused, in part, by the current turmoil over resumption of U.S. beef imports. However, this incident alone cannot explain such a sudden drop in Lee’s ratings at such an early stage of his term. According to surveys conducted in April, the figure was already down at around 30 percent. For this reason, Lee and Cheong Wa Dae, or the Blue House, need to understand the significance of his declining popularity.
All of South Korea’s former presidents, including Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, saw a decrease in popularity at the end of their respective tenures. But in the early stages of their presidential terms they were powerful leaders, earning approval ratings of over 70 percent each.
In the United States, the press and the general population seem fairly generous toward a new president in the early days of the person’s term. The same cannot be said about President Lee. It seems that his approval ratings have not fallen temporarily, nor have they dropped because of any one issue. People’s general disappointment with the new government’s way of administering affairs of state has pulled Lee’s popularity down, and his administration is falling into a political crisis just two months after its inauguration.
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Wine flows from table to brokerage
May 08, 2008
Wine enthusiasts in Korea say a reason they prefer wine to soju and other popular liquors is wine¡¯s scarcity. Drinking something that few others can¡¯t drink is enough to make them tipsy, in and of itself.
Now, wine¡¯s scarcity is becoming appealing not just for consumption, but for investment as well.
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Koreans Preferred Wine to Whiskey in 2007
Koreans drank more wine than whiskey for the first time ever last year, the National Tax Service said on Tuesday.
According to the NTS, Koreans consumed some 37,655 kl of wine and 34,741 kl whiskey in 2007. That works out to an average of 2.03 500-ml bottles of wine for each adult, up from 1.48 bottles in 2006.
Much of the imported wine came from Chile, which enjoys a free trade agreement with Korea. France, Italy, the U.S. and Australia were the other most popular foreign sources.
The market share of imported wine has increased sharply, from 50.5 percent in 2000 to 80.4 percent in 2006 to 85.4 percent in 2007.
[FTA] [IM] [Wine]
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New book on N. Korea reflects new government’s stance
References to Kim Jong-il eliminate his official title and inter-Korean agreements get only passing reference
» Toys from North Korea are on display at the Unification Observatory, Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province. The Ministry of Unification recently released the 2008 edition of a book on North Korea, which reflects the government’s hard-line stance toward the country.
The new edition of a book on North Korea published by the Education Center for Unification, which is affiliated with the Unification Ministry, and unveiled on May 6, has made a number of revisions to the 2007 edition of the book to reflect the views of the new administration of President Lee Myung-bak. Previous editions of the book refer to the North Korean leader as Kim Jong-il, without using his official title. The 2007 edition of the same book, "Understanding North Korea," referred to Kim as the chairman of the National Defense Commission.
The change goes against the practice of referring to the North Korean leader by both name and title, which has been in place since the June 2000 inter-Korean summit talks. A ministry official said, "The title can be added or omitted according to the context. The government has not changed its policy on the North Korean leader’s title."
Another notable change can be found in the first part of the book, which eliminates the significance of the June 15 Joint Declaration. Previous editions had emphasized the declaration as an important agreement between South and North Korea. Instead, the book emphasizes the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement signed in 1991 as significant.
[SK NK policy]
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Tough talk on North in release
Government publication updated to reflect Lee¡¯s firm stance
May 07, 2008
In a good reflection of the Lee Myung-bak administration¡¯s tougher policy toward North Korea, the latest government publication on the communist country, released yesterday, downplays the past two liberal administrations¡¯ agreements with Pyongyang, while warning against hastily accepting the North as a partner.
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Koreans Turn to Mild Alcoholic Beverages
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
More Koreans are turning to mild alcoholic beverages instead of hard liquors, reflecting a growing interest in healthy lifestyles, statistics showed.
According to the National Tax Service (NTS), Koreans consumed 3.3 million kiloliters of beer, soju, and other alcoholic beverages in 2007, up 3.8 percent from the previous year. The alcoholic consumption has been rising each year except for 2005, when the consumption fell to 3.1 million kiloliters from 3.2 million kiloliters of the previous year.
Beer took 60.3 percent of total consumption, followed by Korea's distilled liquor soju at 29.3 percent. Whiskey took 1.1 percent of total alcoholic consumption.
NTS said the statistics show consumers' preference for low-alcohol beverages as a growing number of people are becoming health conscious. Beer consumption grew 5.5 percent and liquor made from fruit, including wine, grew 35.7 percent.
Most of all, the wine market saw notable growth. Koreans consumed 38,000 kiloliters of wine in 2007, 2.53 times more than what they consumed in 2000. Koreans consumed an average of 2.03 bottles of wine last year, markedly growing from 1.48 bottles of the previous year. NTS said the concern on health and people regarding drinking wine as a sophisticated cultural activity boosted wine consumption. Imported wine took 85.4 percent of the total wine market last year.
[IM] [Wine]
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Korean Wave 'Hallyu' Abroad Waning
Japanese tourists look at souvenirs printed with photos of actor Bae Yong-joon, who starred in "Winter Sonata," at a shop in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in this file photo. / Korea Times
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea's cultural products enjoyed large popularity abroad, especially in Asia, coining the term ``hallyu,'' which means Korean cultural wave.
When Korean singers and actors visited Asian countries, fans cheered and camera crews kept clicking away.
However, now their story may have to start with ``once upon a time, Korean culture used to boom'' because the culture industry has begun to slow down.
Many experts say the repetitious drama and film plots and cultural hostility toward some countries triggered the decline.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the nation exported about $1.4 billion worth of entertainment products last year.
The figure is higher than that of 2005 but the export of dramas, films and music has shown a decline.
The falling exports of Korea's cultural products are also attributed to China's increasing hostility to Korea.
The Xinhua News Agency reported early this month that China's growing cultural hostility toward South Korea, all-too-familiar Korean drama stories and price hikes hinders foreign entertainment from dominating its market.
The report said Chinese people began to believe South Korea tried to settle its historical views and even its cuisine culture through dramas, which nurtured antipathy toward hallyu as it boomed in the country.
It said that Korea saw a decline in drama exports to China from $9.7 million in 2006 to $6.5 million in 2007.
[Hallyu] [Nationalism]
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DPRK denounces South Korea's arms buildup
+ - 10:16, May 03, 2008
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friday denounced South Korea's arms buildup as proof for its "preemptive attack" against the DPRK, the official news agency KCNA reported.
The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland of the DPRK accused South Korea of building up arms by intending to introduce 21 F-15K fighters and hundreds of the latest air-to-ground cruise missiles, according to the KCNA.
South Korea also decided to introduce fifth-generation fighter aircraft equipped with Stealth function and technology related to the establishment of Patriot missile defense system, the KCNA quoted the secretariat as saying.
[military balance]
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Dongguk University to Slash Intake for Unpopular Subjects
A starkly realistic approach to university management is now being applied by Dongguk University, which recently decided to cut down the number of students in less popular departments while letting popular departments to expand.
Based on departmental evaluation under such criteria as students’ grades and employment rate of graduates, Dongguk University decided to reduce the number of students entering the departments in the bottom eight.
According to the departmental evaluation released by the university, the departments of electrical engineering, physics, sociology, and German language and literature were in the bottom four, so student intake there will be cut by 15 percent for next year. Those in the bottom five to eight -- philosophy, mathematics, ethical culture, and mechanical engineering -- will have intake cut by 10 percent. On the other hand, the top three departments -- computer science and engineering, business administration, and electronic engineering -- will be able to increase the number of new students if they wish.
[Education]
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Seoul Arrives At a Difficult Crossroads
By Kevin Murphy
Published: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1996
SEOUL: (Stella Kim, a freelance journalist based in Seoul, contributed to this and several other articlesin this report.)
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When the South Korean government first began talking a few years ago about "segyehwa," translated as "globalizing the economy and internationalizing local society by adopting new ways of thinking," many Koreans understood its message merely as a move to boost export competitiveness.
Given Korean industry's remarkable success in world markets for ships, cars, steel and increasingly computer chips, efforts to lift the country's international performanceby accepting economic standards embraced elsewhere in the developed world, slowly gained domestic support.
In time, segyehwa also came to symbolize the benefits of economic liberalization, for example, the new right to travel abroad and the chance to buy imports rarely available before.
[Globalisation]
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Koreans Recall an Era of Propaganda Battles
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: May 2, 2008
CHONGSON, South Korea — In early April, when North Korea called President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea an "impostor," a "traitor" and an "American running dog," the verbal barbs sounded all too familiar to Jin Yong-seon. He has a museum filled with them.
In his Remembrance Museum in this former mining town about 90 miles east of Seoul, Mr. Jin is exhibiting 700 samples of what he calls "paper bombs," the leaflets North and South Korea fired at each other from the Korean War to 2000, when reconciliation efforts prompted a cease-fire in the propaganda battle
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Unification minister hedges on inter-Korean agreements
Review of past agreements and resumption of dialogue under review
During a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Unification, Foreign Affairs & Trade on April 29, Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong stated his ambivalence toward execution of the June 15 Joint Declaration and October 4 Joint Declaration, both of which were agreed to at inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007. Since the presidential election in 2007, the North has insisted that fulfillment of the two joint declarations is the touchstone for the resumption of inter-Korean relations.
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Looking past the present
Park Myeong-lim, Professor of political science, Yonsei University
[Column]
Korea’s national development depends on her ability to adapt to the international order. It is a matter of fate, since the country is positioned like a bridge between the continent and the sea, and because its international position amidst the "Four Powerfuls" (sa gang, referring to China, Japan, Russia, and the United States) that form its perimeter mean it is right in the midst of some of the world’s most powerful nations. Ironically, we have survived as a national unit despite these conditions for two thousand years, and risen to become one of the world’s top ten economies because of wisdom allowing us to adjust and our ability to put the destiny of our international conditions to use. Compared globally, the Korean people are very dependent on that which is a central pivot, yet they have frequently demonstrated a resourcefulness that has allowed them to keep the center’s pressure at bay while also putting it to use. While existing under the Sino-centric world, they were "loyal" with their minds and in economic ways paid tribute in exchange for stability for the state and independence and security in international relations, maintaining a unique "exchange relationship." Considering the international order after the turn of the last century, the U.S.-Korea mutual defense treaty was a marvelous win for Korea.
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100,000 Young People to Be Trained Overseas
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A total of 100,000 young Koreans will go overseas for subsidized internships and training by 2013.
The Ministry of Labor said Tuesday said about 4 million won ($4,000) will be given to each person undertaking three to 12 months training.
[education]
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S. Korean Principles Vs. Hunger in North
Seoul's New Conditions for Food Assistance Run Up Against Dire Need in Stalinist State
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 30, 2008; Page A10
SEOUL -- This spring on the Korean Peninsula, human rights are on a collision course with hunger.
South Korea's new president, Lee Myung-bak, is asking tough questions about human rights abuses in North Korea -- questions that were all but ignored by his predecessors Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.
But he is learning that high-minded principles can quickly run amok if your neighbor is an irritable Stalinist state on the brink of a food disaster.
[Aid weapon] [Disinformation] [Victim]
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North Korean Officer Defects to the South
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: April 29, 2008
SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean military officer defected to South Korea across its heavily armed border, the first Communist officer to do so in a decade, a South Korean military spokesman said on Monday.
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