Headlines, September 18, 2018

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Nguyen Xian Phuc of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

Interview with Ambassador Nguyen VuTu of Viet Nam in Seoul

“Korean companies are welcome to infrastructure, high-tech, renewable energy, other areas”

Korean companies are encouraged to move into Viet Nam and make investment in infrastructure, high-technology industries and renewable energy. This was immediately apparent at a recent interview conducted with Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tu of of Viet Nam in Seoul for publication in the five news outlets of Korea Post on the occasion of the Independence Day of Viet Nam on Sept. 3, 2018. The Korea Post media, established 33 years ago in 1985 now own and operate 3 English and 2 Korean news media outlets.

(For further details, visit: http://www.koreapost.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=7573)

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Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies today

And from international media:

The Korea Post media (www.koreapost.com) in English, (www.koreapost.co.kr) in Korean.

Moon heads to Pyongyang for historic summit with Kim

South Korean President Moon Jae-in left for Pyongyang on Tuesday for a historic summit with Kim Jong-un aiming to mediate stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks and move forward inter-Korean relations. Moon's flight left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam at around 8:40 a.m., also carrying some 110 other delegates and staff members, including top business leaders. An advance team of around 90 South Korean officials arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday. The South Korean president was set to arrive in the North Korean capital around 10 a.m., his chief of staff Im Jong-seok said earlier.

“Korean companies are welcome to infrastructure, high-tech, renewable energy, other areas”

Reinsurers in S. Korea see H1 profits drop on losses from accidents

Reinsurance firms in South Korea saw their combined profit slip 13.8 percent on-year in the first half, hit by losses from accidents at home and abroad, data showed Tuesday.Ten reinsurers in South Korea posted a combined net profit of 134.7 billion won (US$119.6 million) in the January-June period, compared with a profit of 156.3 billion won a year ago, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

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KBS (http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/)

Kim Jong-un Welcomes Moon at Airport in Pyongyang

President Moon Jae-in has arrived in Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Along with about 100 official and special members of his entourage, Moon arrived at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang at around 09:50 a.m. Kim and his wife were at the airport to welcome Moon and his entourage. They were saluted by a military honor guard as hundreds of North Koreans waved flags and flowers.

Moon Hopes Pyongyang Trip to Rekindle US-N. Korea Talk

President Moon Jae-in says that his trip to Pyongyang will have great meaning if it can lead to the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue. Presidential secretary for public relations Yoon Young-chan said that the president made the remarks to his aides on Tuesday before heading to Seoul Air Base to depart for his three-day trip to Pyongyang. Shortly before his departure from the top office, Moon reportedly stressed the need for frequent meetings between the two Koreas, saying that inter-Korean relations are now moving toward the level at which they could meet any time when necessary.

Top Office: Koreas to Discuss Possible Economic Cooperation for Future

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Yonhap (http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)

Denuclearization a key item at upcoming inter-Korean summit: Seoul

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will discuss ways to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula when he meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week, Moon's chief of staff said Monday. Im Jong-seok said it will mark a rare opportunity to discuss the issue with the North Korean leader himself. "Just until recently, denuclearization had been an agenda item for talks between the North and the United States," Im told a press conference in Seoul, one day before the South Korean president was set to embark on a three-day trip to North Korea.

Top Office: Koreas to Discuss Possible Economic Cooperation for Future

South Korea's presidential office says the two Koreas are likely to discuss areas that have potential for economic cooperation during President Moon Jae-in’s three-day stay in the North. At the international press center in Seoul for the third inter-Korean summit Tuesday, senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said given this summit’s theme is “Peace, A New Future,” discussions on economic cooperation could, however, be limited. He said the two sides are likely to hold discussions on future economic cooperation projects based on current conditions, rather than talk about concrete and practical ways to boost cooperation.

N. Korean Citizens Gather at Airport to Welcome Pres. Moon

A flurry of activity was spotted on Tuesday morning at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport before the arrival of South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Images of the airport transmitted live showed hundreds of North Korean citizens standing by at from 9:20 a.m., waving both North Korean and the unified Korean flags. It marked the first time for citizens to hold the unified Korean flag at an inter-Korean summit.

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The Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.com)

Moon Jae-in arrives in Pyongyang

President Moon Jae-in arrived at around 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju, who arrived on the runway minutes before, greeted Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook as they stepped off the plane. They talked briefly for about a minute before the South Korean first couple were greeted by the North Korean leader’s younger sister Kim Yo-jong.

Moon aims to revive stalled US-NK denuclearization talks

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday his trip to North Korea will have “significant meaning” as long as it leads to the resumption of stalled denuclearization talks between North Korea and the US. Moon, who flew to Pyongyang for his third meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, said his goal was not to sign a new agreement with Kim, but to establish “permanent peace” on the Korean Peninsula. “We are witnessing a transition from everyday fear of war to institutionalization of peace,” Moon was quoted as saying by his chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan. “It is important for the two Koreas to meet as frequently as possible. … We need to see each other whenever necessary.”

KakaoTalk adds ‘delete sent message’ feature, but deletion record stays

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s most popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has officially adopted a new feature that lets users delete sent messages within five minutes of their delivery. The update has been applied as of Tuesday. However, once a user deletes a message, the phrase “this message has been deleted” appears in place of the removed message on both the sender’s and receiver’s chatroom, leaving a conspicuous record of the deletion. To delete a message, users can long-press a given message, click delete and select the “delete from both chatroom” option. Any message, including text, photos, videos and emoticons, can be deleted.

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The Korea Times (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)

Kim welcomes Moon

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in with a big smile at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, Tuesday. Kim and Moon embraced and flashed wide smiles, after Moon and his wife Kim Jung-sook walked out of the presidential plane at around 10:08 a.m. After watching a welcoming ceremony with Kim, Moon shook hands with people in the cheering crowd, some waving Korean unification flags. Kim's wife Lee Ri Sol-ju, his sister Kim Yo-jong and North Korea's top officials ― including head of parliament Kim Yong-nam and ruling party vice chairman Choe Ryong-hae ― greeted the guests.

Historic handshakes between leaders of two Koreas

Simple handshakes tell a tale of hope and disappointment. The first was between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000. It was supposed to be a new start between the two antagonistic brother nations. In hindsight, it came too early to come to fruition. It took nearly 10 years to have the second ― between Kim and President Roh Moo-hyun in October 2007. It was too late in Roh's presidency, only two months before the presidential election in which the conservative Lee Myung-bak was elected. The third one took another 10 years ― between President Moon Jae-in, chief of staff of the late former President Roh, and Kim Jong-un, son of the late Kim, in April 2018.

Two former singers to hit right note in Pyongyang

The first ladies of the two Koreas met again in Pyongyang, Tuesday, on the first day of the three-day summit from Tuesday to Thursday. The two shared greetings when President Moon and his entourage arrived in the North Korean capital and were welcomed by the first couple of the North. According to the South's presidential office, Tuesday, Kim Jung-sook will visit Okryu Children's Hospital, Kim Won Gyun University of Music and Mangyongdae Children's Palace in Pyongyang. North Korean first lady Ri Sol-ju is expected to accompany her.

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Chosun Ilbo (http://english.chosun.com)

Moon Arrives in Pyongyang

President Moon Jae-in arrived at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang on Tuesday morning where he was welcomed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju. Hundreds of North Koreans had been mobilized to greet Moon and his entourage by waving flags on their arrival. While the two leaders sit down in solemn conclave, first lady Kim Jung-sook is to visit a children's hospital and a university of music, presumably accompanied by Ri.

Why Should S.Korea's Top Business Leaders Waste Time in N.Korea?

Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong, SK chairman Chey Tae-won, LG chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Hyundai Motor vice chairman Kim Yong-hwan will accompany President Moon Jae-in to North Korea for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday. Cheong Wa Dae as good as told them to come, whereas normally business tycoons accompany heads of state on foreign visits because they want their leader to help them win contracts.

Moon Will Have Busy Schedule in N.Korea

An advance team of South Korean officials arrived in Pyongyang on Sunday afternoon to prepare for the inter-Korean summit that starts Tuesday. Officials from the two met in the border truce village of Panmunjom on Friday and agreed to provide live media coverage of some events. Moon arrives in Pyongyang on Tuesday morning on his official plane and is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un several times over the next two days. He carries a heavy freight of expectations that he can break the deadlock in denuclearization talks between the U.S. and the North.

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HanKyoReh Shinmun (http://english.hani.co.kr)

Pyongyang summit more specific in approach to resolving inter-Korean tensions

Two battle lines are drawn across the Korean Peninsula, which remains mired in the Cold War – the military and political confrontations between South and North Korea on the one hand and North Korea and the US on the other. In the Panmunjom Declaration, which was formulated during their first summit on Apr. 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un state that “there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula.” This was effectively an “end-of-war declaration” by the two leaders. During the same event, Moon also promised that “we will never look back anymore.”

Kang Kyung-wha to become first SK foreign minister to make official Pyongyang visit

Kang Kyung-wha will go down in history as the first South Korean foreign minister to pay an official visit to Pyongyang. Her name appeared on the list of people that the Blue House announced on Sept. 16 will be part of the official delegation accompanying South Korean President Moon Jae-in to North Korea for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Unification Ministry said that as far as they knew there was no precedent of a South Korean Foreign Minister officially visiting Pyongyang, not even during previous inter-Korean summits. Inter-Korean relations were defined in the 1991 North-South Basic Agreement as being not “a relationship between states [. . .but] a special interim relationship stemming from the process toward reunification.”

North Korean paper touts “dramatic change” on Korean Peninsula ahead of summit

The North Korean press has been touting “dramatic changes” on the Korean Peninsula ahead of an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang on Sept. 18–20. In a Sept. 16 column titled “A New Era of Autonomous Unification Embraced by the Noble Love of a Nation,” the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) newspaper Rodong Sinmun wrote, “Warm winds of national reconciliation and unity are blowing on this land, which has been frozen over with distrust and antagonism.”

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The Dong-A Ilbo (http://english.donga.com/)

Japan conducts its first submarine drill in South China Sea

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force carried out a submarine drill in the South China Sea, according to a report by the Asahi Shimbun on Monday. This is Japan’s first submarine drill conducted in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Japanese newspaper said the Submarine Kuroshio and three other destroyers participated in the drill, which was conducted under tightest secrecy. The submarine joined the three destroyers in neutral waters in the South China Sea. The destroyers and the helicopters they carry aboard trained to detect a submarine and the submarine practiced to approach vessels without being detected.

Govt. seeks nullifying passports of 36 Koreans staying in Libya

It has been released on Monday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken some first steps to annul passports of Korean citizens who stay in Libya, which is currently in a stage of national emergency. It is seen as the first-ever occasion where the government has initiated more stringent measures of making passports null than issuing a travel warning or a withdrawal recommendation. Multiple government sources said that a total of 36 Korean nationals across Libya are at risk of their passports invalidated next month.

Govt. seeks nullifying passports of 36 Koreans staying in Libya

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JoongAng Ilbo (http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/)

Moon, Kim embrace in Pyongyang at start of inter-Korean summit

Pyongyang/Seoul --- President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for the third time at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport today at 10:10 a.m., kicking off a three-day summit in the North Korean capital. Kim personally greeted the president, as expected by the Blue House, at the airport accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju. Moon and Kim hugged while their wives shook hands with big smiles. The greeting unfolded as music was played by a North Korean military honor guard. Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, was also on hand to welcome the visitors from the South.

Tycoons scout for business in North that probably is taboo

Leaders of Korea’s top four conglomerates are flying to Pyongyang with President Moon Jae-in today, prompting many to wonder if any inter-Korean economic cooperation is possible considering all the sanctions on North Korea. Seoul had initially planned to invite only the heads of business lobbying groups and public companies but Pyongyang requested chaebol chiefs come to meetings with high-ranking North Korean officials, according to sources within the government. The top four conglomerates - Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG - are sending executives on the trip, but they would have to do some very clever juggling between North Korea and Washington to find a way to do any kind of new business.

U.S. warns Seoul about need to keep up sanctions

The U.S. State Department is urging South Korea to abide by UN sanctions as President Moon Jae-in flies to Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by an entourage including top executives of the country’s four major conglomerates.

The Voice of America (VOA) on Monday quoted an official from the U.S. State Department spokesperson’s office as saying Saturday, “We expect all member states to fully implement UN sanctions, including sectoral goods banned under UN Security Council resolution and expect all nations to take their responsibilities seriously to help end the DPRK’s illegal nuclear and missile programs.” The DPRK is an acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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The KyungHyang Shinmun (http://english.khan.co.kr/)

Eyes on the Leaders of Large Corporations as They Accompany the President to the Pyongyang Summit

Businessmen will accompany President Moon Jae-in and visit North Korea for the third inter-Korean summit, which will be held in Pyongyang on September 18-20. The list of a special party for the trip to North Korea released on September 16 included the representatives of the nation's four major business groups--Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics; Kim Yong-hwan, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company; Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG; and Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group--as well as Hyun Jeong-eun, chairman of Hyundai Group and Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of POSCO.

Distorted Argument of a Comprehensive Real Estate Tax “Bomb” Deceiving the People

It's the "tax bomb" again. The Liberty Korea Party and the conservative press are pouring out false arguments of a tax bomb after the government released new measures to curb the real estate market on September 13. The new measures included a tougher comprehensive real estate tax. This is a vivid deja vu. It's a repeat of the "tax bomb" curse, which they had cast to mislead the public and block the comprehensive real estate tax when it was first introduced in 2005. The Liberty Korea Party released a series of comments to fight the September 13 measures, claiming it was a tax bomb. The party used expressions, such as a "high-intensity tax bomb," "punitive taxation and tax bombs," and "tax bombs on even the middle class in reality."

The 70th Anniversary of the Judiciary under the Shadow of Abuse of Judicial Authority: What It Will Take for the Court to Be Reborn as a Bastion of Justice

The judiciary of the Republic of Korea celebrated its seventieth birthday on September 13. However, neither the courts nor the judges were congratulated due to the dark shadow cast by the abuse of judicial authority under Yang Seung-tae. President Moon Jae-in attended a ceremony commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the judicial branch and said, "The allegations of the abuse of judicial authority and the trade of trial outcomes in the previous government is shaking the people’s trust from its very roots," and further said, "The allegations must be clarified, and if there was any wrongdoing, the court should correct itself."

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AJU Business Daily (http://eng.ajunews.com/korea)

President Moon will act as go-between at summit in Pyongyang

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will act as a bridge between North Korea and the United States as the inter-Korean summit this week will be dominated by a stringent topic on how to spur denuclearization, his top aide said Monday. Moon's role as an intermediary is crucial during his three-day visit to North Korea that will include two rounds of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Tuesday and Wednesday, Im Jong-seok, the chief presidential aide, told reporters.

Moon receives treatment of crucial state guest in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rolled out the red carpet for South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, offering the treatment of a crucial state guest to welcome his first trip to Pyongyang for a summit that followed a string of peace overtures to ease cross-border tensions. The airport was engulfed in an awkward silence when Moon's plane landed and taxied at around 10:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) Monday, with hundreds of North Korean citizens waiting silently in front of a large placard reading "Let's open the era of peace and prosperity with the unified power of our people."

N. Korea accuses U.S. of dragging feet in taking reciprocal steps

North Korea accused the United States of making an unreasonable demand for unilateral denuclearization without reciprocating goodwill steps shown by its leader ahead of a historic inter-Korean summit. In a commentary that came before Moon's arrival in Pyongyang Tuesday for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling party newspaper, insisted Washington should make a "sincere and bold" decision to break a stalemate in denuclearization talks.

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Maeil Business News Korea ( http://www.pulsenews.co.kr/)

Samsung Electro-Mechanics to up MLCC capacity in Tianjin line

South Korea’s Samsung Electro-Mechanics, one of the world’s biggest capacitor producers, will inject 500 billion won ($443 million) to raise output capacity of its multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) plant in Tianjin, China. The company is operating an MLCC line in Tianjin mostly for electronic devices and also one each in Suzhou and Dongguan in China. Another line in Busan, Korea is devoted to the automotive industry.

The company said on Monday it will hold a board meeting on Thursday to finalize the investment plan.

CJ Group close to strike a deal to buy Schwan’s Food for $2.5 bn

South Korea’s retail giant CJ Group is reportedly close to striking a deal to take over U.S. food processor Schwan’s Company for about $2.5 billion, in what would be the conglomerate’s largest-ever corporate acquisition. According to sources from the investment banking industry on Monday, CJ expects to finalize the deal by next month. A source close to the deal said CJ has technically been selected as a preferred bidder after vying in a private tender early this month.

Samsung Elec showcases Southeast Asia-tailored premium refrigerators

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. on Sunday showcased a premium bottom-freezer refrigerator in Vietnam to meet growing demand for diverse types of fridges in the country. The premium refrigerator comes with optimal fresh zone that helps maintain double the freshness as to existing refrigerators. It can also store food at a minus 1 degree Celsius without letting it get frozen. The new refrigerator has been also developed based on ergonomic design to lower overall product height by 20 millimeters compared to existing products after considering the average height of consumers in Southeast Asia, the company said.

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