Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Seoul to propose holding talks with N. Korea next week: sources
SEOUL -- South Korea will propose holding inter-Korean talks next week on a
troubled joint industrial park project in the communist North, informed sources
said Monday.
The talks will be a follow-up to a meeting held last week in Kaesong, where the
North demanded negotiations on wage increases for North Korean workers there and
an overall review of contracts.
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S. Korea to urge N. Korea to rejoin NPT in upcoming international meeting
SEOUL -- South Korea plans to reiterate its call for North Korea to return to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) during a major international meeting early
next month, officials here said Monday.
South Korea will send Oh Joon, deputy foreign minister for international
organization, global issues and treaties, to the Third Preparatory Conference for
parties to the NPT to be held in New York from May 4-15, they added.
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N. Korea responds to int'l criticism on human rights: report
SEOUL -- North Korea has reduced public executions and adjusted laws to better
address human rights after years of international criticism, but cases of abuse
are still widespread, a state-run think tank in Seoul said Monday.
Citing interviews with about 50 North Korean defectors who fled their homeland
between 2007 and 2008, the Korea Institute for National Unification said in a
report that North Korea appears to be mindful of criticism from the international
community about its human rights condition and has responded with limited
changes.
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Roh silent on bribery allegations: prosecutors
SEOUL -- Former President Roh Moo-hyun exercised his right to remain silent on
the matter of some US$1 million that his family allegedly received from a local
businessman in a document submitted to the prosecution, according to
investigators on Monday.
A bribery probe into Park Yeon-cha, a businessman who allegedly handed out
billions of won to political heavyweights under the previous Roh administration,
shifted to Roh and his family earlier this month after the former president
admitted that his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, had accepted money from Park to repay a
debt.
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(LEAD) Seoul shares end down 1.05 pct on profit-taking
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished 1.05 percent lower Monday, battered by
massive profit-taking by institutional investors, analysts said. The South Korean
won inched down against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 14.27 points to
1,339.83. Volume was moderate at 537.02 million shares worth 6.79 trillion won
(US$5.05 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 491 to 369.
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(LEAD) S. Korea to double Tamiflu stockpile amid swine flu concern
SEOUL -- South Korea will double its stockpile of Tamiflu and other influenza
drugs to brace for the spread of swine flu following outbreaks in other
countries, a top health official said Monday.
Currently, the state-run Korea Center for Disease Control (KCDC) holds enough
reserves of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to treat up to 2.5 million people, around
5 percent of the country's population.
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S. Korea, Japan creates 'parts investment fund'
SEOUL -- South Korea's state-run development bank and a Japanese financial firm
have created a new investment fund that could fuel bilateral business tie-ups in
the industrial parts sector, the government said Monday.
The 50-50 vehicle established by the Korea Development Bank and CSK Venture
Capital will be used primarily to invest in South Korean companies, but will also
be able to help Japanese companies operating in the country, the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy said.
(END)