Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Seoul shares up 0.55 pct on brokerage, shipyard gains
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks ended up 0.55 percent Friday as investors picked up
brokerage and shipyard shares, taking a cue from overnight gains in U.S. markets,
analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 7.88 points to
1,440.1, advancing for the fourth consecutive day. Volume was moderate at 397.19
million shares worth 4.44 trillion won (US$3.52 billion), with winners
outnumbering losers 473 to 307.
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Bank heads cautious about shift in monetary policy
SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank should not consider shifting the current
accommodative monetary policy into a tightening stance as the economic outlook
remains murky, commercial bank heads said Friday.
Last week, the Bank of Korea (BOK) froze its key interest rate at a record low of
2 percent for the fifth straight month. Between October and February, the bank
had made six consecutive rate cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points to prop up the
slumping economy.
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(2nd LD) LG Chem to spend 1.2 tln won to build LCD glass plants
SEOUL -- LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's largest chemicals maker, said Friday it will
spend 1.2 trillion won (US$950 million) by 2014 to build facilities to produce
glass sheets for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
The investment plan would make LG Chem the second maker of LCD glass in South
Korea after Samsung Corning Precision Glass Co., a joint venture between Samsung
Electronics Co. and Corning Inc. of the United States.
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Cheong Wa Dae extends operation of emergency economic committee
SEOUL -- The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, decided to extend the operation
of its emergency economic committee until the end of the year to avoid
misperception that the country has emerged from the economic crisis, an official
said Friday.
The economic committee, set up in January, was initially set to disband at the
end of this month.
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EU, U.S. may join ASEAN treaty at regional forum: official
SEOUL -- The European Union and the United States may sign a cooperation and
non-aggression treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
during a major security forum to be held in Thailand next week, a South Korean
government official said Friday.
"The EU and the U.S. may accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC)
during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)," the official said, asking not to be
named.
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(LEAD) S. Korean parliament chief urges prompt constitutional revision
SEOUL -- South Korea's parliamentary speaker urged the legislature to make haste
in amending the country's decades-old Constitution, which marked its 61st
anniversary Friday.
South Korea has long been weighing the issue of revising its Constitution, last
changed 22 years ago. Opinions are split mainly over whether the law should be
amended to allow a president to seek a second term as in the United States, or to
give greater power to the legislature like many European governments, both of
which would result in dramatically changing the nation's power structure.
(END)