Yonhap News Summary

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

-----------------
(4th LD) Koreas end talks over joint park with no progress
SEOUL -- South and North Korea failed to make progress in the latest round of
talks on Thursday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said, with their positions wide
apart over a joint industrial park and the fate of a detained worker.
"We believe the two sides could not narrow differences in their positions,"
Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.
-----------------
(2nd LD) S. Korea to take detained worker issue to ARF: foreign minister
SEOUL -- Seoul's foreign minister said Thursday he will raise the issue of a
South Korean worker in detention in North Korea when he attends a regional
security forum in Thailand later this month, a move expected to provoke the
communist neighbor.
"As it is a matter related to human rights and a very grave issue...I think I
will have to make reference to it" at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Minister Yu
Myung-hwan said during a monthly press briefing.
-----------------
N. Korea sent letter regarding detained S. Korean worker: executive
SEOUL -- North Korea has sent a letter to a representative of South Korean
businesses operating at a joint park in the North, saying the crimes of a
detained worker are "grave," the businessman said Thursday.
The message, which Kim Hak-kwon, chairman of the Kaesong Industrial Council, said
was received on June 27, was a rare mention by Pyongyang of the South Korean
worker who has been detained incommunicado since March. Little is known about the
detained engineer of Hyundai Asan Corp. who has been identified only by his
family name Yu.
-----------------
(LEAD) Elementary school closed on flu concerns
SEOUL -- An elementary school in South Korea was Thursday closed temporarily in a
precautionary measure to stem the spread of the H1N1 flu virus after a student
was confirmed to have been infected with the contagious disease, school officials
said.
The elementary school, which is located in South Jeolla Province and has 850
students, will remain closed until Tuesday, marking the first school shutdown in
connection with the new flu strain.
-----------------
Ericsson mulling investment in S. Korea: official
SEOUL -- Telecom equipment giant Ericsson is reviewing a plan to invest in South
Korea's telecommunication's equipment sector, a government official said
Thursday.
"There has been an exchange of views on this issue with hopes of progress being
made," the official at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, declining to be
identified.
-----------------
NHN begins test service of search engine in Japan
SEOUL -- NHN Corp., the operator of South Korea's top Internet portal Naver,
launched a test version of an upgraded search engine in Japan on Thursday in a
renewed effort to tap the Japanese market, the company said.
NHN started its Japanese-language search engine (www.naver.jp) in 2000, but
withdrew in 2006 in the face of Yahoo Japan Corp.'s unwavering dominance in the
market.
-----------------
(LEAD) Seoul shares inch down ahead of U.S. job data release
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks closed 0.01 percent lower Thursday as investors
await the release of U.S. job data for clues about an economic recovery, analysts
said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
After volatile trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
edged down 0.18 point to 1,411.48. Volume was moderate at 455.7 million shares
worth 4.63 trillion won (US$3.64 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 419 to
372.
(END)

Delete & Prev | Delete & Next
Move to: