SUWON, South Korea, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- A court on Wednesday cleared the stepfather of a convicted North Korean spy of espionage charges, citing a lack of corroborating evidence.

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will try to establish itself as a nuclear
weapons state by offering to give up future nuclear arms development, a strategy

President Lee set for trip to Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will embark on a

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- Hyosung Corp., a South Korean maker of textiles and
heavy machinery, said Wednesday its net profit more than doubled in the final

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean automakers called for the lowering of car
acquisition and registration taxes to help revive sales that have been hard hit

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- Former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee is likely to
be discharged from hospital as early as Thursday after undergoing a regular

(ATTN: UPDATES with closing prices in the first 3 paras)
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean currency plunged to the lowest level

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES throughout with Clinton's comments on missile in paras
11-16)
By Lee Chi-dong

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

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- A ranking North Korean official has admitted "there
may be problems" in implementing the two inter-Korean summit accords but accused