Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) S. Korea considers N. Korean rocket launch step forward in missile capability
SEOUL -- South Korea considers North Korea's apparent failure to orbit a
satellite still a step forward in the communist state's ballistic missile
technology because its newest rocket represents a potential weapon, an official
said Monday.
North Korea on Sunday launched a three-stage rocket that it said carried a
communications satellite into space. But South Korea and the U.S. disputed the
claim, saying the payload plunged into the Pacific Ocean.
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S. Korea to consult with U.N. council on N. Korean rocket launch
SEOUL -- South Korea plans to deliver its position on North Korea's rocket launch
to the U.N. Security Council, which is tussling over a unified response to the
communist nation's "provocative act," according to officials here Monday.
The South Korean government had said in a statement issued shortly after Sunday's
rocket launch that it "clearly violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718 and
it is a provocative act threatening stability and peace in Northeast Asia,
despite any countervailing claims by North Korea."
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N. Korea hopes to launch more rockets: report
SEOUL -- North Korea hopes to launch more satellites to boost its economy, a
pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said Monday, a day after the communist nation
fired a rocket that experts say could also carry a missile.
Sunday's launch of what Pyongyang calls an experimental communications satellite,
Kwangmyongsong-2, was the opening stage of a larger plan to send various
practical satellites into orbit in the future, said Choson Sinbo, which typically
conveys North Korea's official position.
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Assembly passes resolution against N. Korean rocket launch
SEOUL -- South Korea's National Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution
denouncing North Korea's rocket launch as a serious provocation and urged closer
international cooperation to sanction the communist country.
North Korea claimed it successfully sent a communications satellite into orbit
after launching a three-stage rocket on Sunday morning in violation of United
Nations Security Council resolutions. South Korea and the U.S. said hours later
that the rocket launch ended in failure, as stage two and three of the rocket and
its payload fell into the Pacific Ocean.
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Seoul's financial markets shrug off N. Korea's rocket launch
SEOUL -- South Korea's stock and currency markets shook off North Korea's defiant
rocket launch and gathered ground on Monday as investors had long factored it in,
analysts said.
Defying repeated warnings from the United States, Japan and other countries,
North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday, which South Korea and
Washington claim splashed into the Pacific Ocean.
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(LEAD) Seoul shares end up 1.1 pct despite N. Korea's rocket launch
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks closed 1.1 percent higher Monday as investors
digested North Korea's rocket launch a day earlier, analysts said. The local
currency jumped to a three-month high against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 14.1 points to
1,297.85. Volume was heavy at 719.1 million shares worth 7.75 trillion won
(US$5.92 billion), with winners outpacing losers 597 to 224.
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S. Korea, ASEAN to hold talks on investment
SEOUL -- South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will
hold talks in Thailand this week to hammer out differences over bilateral
investment, an issue that has hampered the finalization of a full free trade
accord, Seoul officials said Monday.
The talks between South Korea and the 10-nation economic bloc will kick off in
Bangkok on Tuesday and conclude Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade.
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