Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Lee Myung-bak supports Obama's idea of meeting Kim Jong-il
WASHINGTON -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday supported the idea of
incoming U.S. President Barack Obama meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
"It would be better for President-elect Obama to meet with Chairman Kim Jong-il
personally if it is helpful to North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear weapons,"
Lee said in a news conference with South Korean correspondents based here in
attendance.
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S. Korea seeks to legally bar activists from sending leaflets to N. Korea
SEOUL -- The South Korean government is seeking legal means to bar the country's
activists from sending anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border,
officials said Monday.
The move is part of Seoul's efforts to rekindle the chilled inter-Korean ties, as
North Korean officials intensify their protests against the leaflets they claim
are defamatory of their leader and regime.
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Lee seeks support of U.S. businesses for early South Korea-U.S. FTA approval
WASHINGTON -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday sought support of U.S.
businesses for the rapid ratification of the South Korea-U.S. free trade
agreement to help boost bilateral trade and investment.
"We need to rapidly ratify the South Korea-U.S. FTA to develop bilateral trade
and investment and strategic economic cooperation," Lee said while meeting with
Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here, according to
an aide.
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S. Korea holds first 'dirty bomb' attack exercise
SEOUL -- South Korea will hold its first "dirty bomb" attack exercise to assess
the preparedness of its emergency response system, the government said Monday.
The exercise, planned for Tuesday at Jeju harbor on the country's largest island,
will involve the suppression of terrorists who have hijacked a ship, the
simulated detonation of a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or dirty bomb, and
emergency evacuation and decontamination efforts, the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology said.
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Ruling party to keep minimum real estate tax base
SEOUL -- The conservative ruling party has decided to keep the minimum base on
the country's real estate tax at 600 million won (US$427,000) to prevent too much
leniency toward owners of expensive homes, officials said Monday.
The decision by the Grand National Party (GNP) follows a recent Constitutional
Court ruling that partly struck down a progressive tax law on high-end
homeowners.
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(Yonhap Feature) Young N. Korean defectors come to terms with their identity
SEOUL -- It's 3 p.m., and students at Seoul's "Set-net School" gather in the main
hall for the screening of a play they performed a week earlier and filmed in
front of an audience of some 100 people.
Titled "Like a Flower, Like a Tear, or Rather Like a Story," the play blends
music and dance routines to tell the story of how young North Korean defectors
spent their childhoods north of the heavily militarized border separating the two
Koreas.
(END)