Yonhap News Summary

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

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S. Korea, U.S. need to deploy 460,000 forces in N. Korea after its collapse: scholars
WASHINGTON -- South Korea, the United States and their allies would need to send
up to 460,000 troops and other security forces -- three times more than the U.S.
troops deployed in Iraq -- to help maintain stability in North Korea in case of
the North's collapse, a U.S. think said Wednesday.
"In an insurgency, according to one Defense Science Board study, as many as
twenty occupying troops are needed for every thousand persons, implying a force
of 460,000 troops, more than three times the number of American troops in Iraq,"
the Council on Foreign Relations said in a report. "Coping with such a
contingency would likely be impossible for the South Korean and American forces
to manage alone."
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N. Korean leader's son leaves world guessing with succession talk
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's first son raised eyebrows with his
first-ever public remarks on a power succession in Pyongyang, but his cryptic
message kept the world guessing about who is next in line.
Seoul analysts were discordant as they tried to interpret whether Kim Jong-nam
truly has "no interest" in power, as he claimed, or is simply being mindful of
his father.
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N. Korean leader continues public tours
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il watched an army volleyball game and a
performance by a naval unit over the Lunar New Year holiday, Pyongyang's news
agency said Thursday.
Rampant rumors of Kim's illness seemed to subside after he appeared with a
foreign guest last week -- his first such appearance since a reported stroke last
summer. Photos of the reclusive leader talking with a visiting Chinese party
official suggested he may not be in perfect health but is well enough to govern.
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(LEAD) (Yonhap Interview) N. Korea's space ambitions pose immediate security threat:
expert
SEOUL -- North Korea is preparing to send a satellite into space in the coming
months from its brand new rocket launch facility on the west coast, posing yet
another serious challenge to global security, an American expert in Seoul said
Thursday.
If conducted, it would be provocative because such a long-range rocket is a
dual-use technology that can be used for inter-continental ballistic missiles
capable of carrying nuclear warheads, according to Daniel Pinkston, senior
analyst at the Brussels-based security think tank International Crisis Group.
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S. Korea eyes greater share of U.N. procurement orders
SEOUL -- South Korea is aiming to increase its share of products and services
that it provides to the United Nations as part of its ongoing effort to bolster
exports, the government said Thursday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Small and Medium Business
Administration said South Korean-made goods only accounted for 0.51 percent or
US$52 million of the $10.1 billion worth of goods procured by the international
body in 2007.
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S. Korea's business confidence improves, but fears linger
SEOUL -- South Korea's business sentiment for February rebounded from an 11-year
low on the government's stimulus package, but fears remain as the economy is
headed for its first recession in a decade, a survey showed Thursday.
The monthly business survey index, an indicator of corporate sentiment for the
coming month, was 66 for February, compared with 52 the month before, according
to the poll by the Federation of Korean Industries.
(END)