The Korean daily media headlines and humor

Wednesday June 19, 2019

Round-up of important news from major Korean dailies and from international media today

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

Australian barista bets on specialty coffee in S. Korea

It's been a decade since Paul Bassett debuted in the South Korean coffee market with a focus on specialty coffee, and much of its success owes to a "positive evolution" in the local coffee culture, the Australian barista who gave his name to the brand says. Paul Bassett said his decision to join hands with Maeil Dairies Co., a major Korean dairy company, to launch a coffee brand named after him in 2009 came at an opportune time, setting a vision to further expand its presence in the local market to target the growing high-end coffee market.

2 N.K. fishermen express desire to defect, 2 others sent back

Two of the four North Korean fishermen rescued from the East Sea last week expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, while the two others were sent back to the North according to their wishes, the unification ministry said Tuesday. South Korea returned the two crew members at the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day after notifying the North of the incident via their joint liaison office in Kaesong on Monday, a ministry official said.

S. Korea's top nuclear envoy arrives in U.S. for talks on N. Korea

South Korea's top nuclear negotiator arrived in the United States Tuesday for talks on North Korea and recent developments on the peninsula. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, began a four-day visit to Washington amid renewed hope for denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S.

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

Trump Says He'll Have Extended Meeting with Xi at G20 Summit

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week at the G20 summit in Osaka. Trump said in a Twitter post that he had a very good telephone conversation with Xi and that they will be having an extended meeting next week at the global forum in Japan.

6.8 Magnitude Quake Hits Japan; No Major Damage Reported

A powerful six-point-eight magnitude earthquake struck off the northwestern coast of Japan late Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning. According to Japan's Meteorological Agency, the earthquake occurred in waters some 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Sakata at around 10:22 p.m.

S. Korea's Nuke Envoy: Xi's Trip will Contribute to Resumption of US-N. Korea Talks

South Korea's top nuclear negotiator expressed hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to North Korea will contribute to an early resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks. Lee Do-hoon, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, made the remarks on Tuesday as he arrived in the United States for talks on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula.

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

Xi vows close cooperation with N. Korea in resolving Korean Peninsula issues

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed close cooperation with North Korea on Wednesday to help make progress in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington on the eve of his first visit to the North as leader. Xi made the pledge in an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's official newspaper, in a rare move seen as part of efforts to emphasize their friendly and close bilateral relations, a day before he pays a state visit to the communist neighbor.

2 N.K. fishermen express desire to defect, 2 others sent back

Two of the four North Korean fishermen rescued from the East Sea last week expressed a desire to defect to South Korea, while the two others were sent back to the North according to their wishes, the unification ministry said Tuesday. South Korea returned the two crew members at the border village of Panmunjom earlier in the day after notifying the North of the incident via their joint liaison office in Kaesong on Monday, a ministry official said.

S. Korea's top nuclear envoy arrives in U.S. for talks on N. Korea

South Korea's top nuclear negotiator arrived in the United States Tuesday for talks on North Korea and recent developments on the peninsula. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, began a four-day visit to Washington amid renewed hope for denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S.

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

Will Xi’s Pyongyang visit create momentum for stalled nuclear talks?

With Chinese President Xi Jinping set to visit North Korea this week, all eyes are on whether his visit will create new momentum to move forward stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. State-operated media outlets in China and North Korea announced Monday night that the Chinese president is scheduled to make a state visit to North Korea on Thursday and Friday. According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, the two leaders will discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula and push for progress.

Cheong Wa Dae says inter-Korean summit is not a must before G-20

South Korea's presidential office publicly toned down its expectations for another inter-Korean summit Tuesday, a day after Beijing and Pyongyang announced this week's bilateral summit. Attending the Oslo Forum in the Norwegian capital last week, President Moon Jae-in expressed his desire to meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before US President Donald Trump visits South Korea at the end of June.

Korea’s nuclear reactor technologies allegedly leaked to UAE, US

The South Korean government is reportedly looking into allegations of leaks of key nuclear reactor technologies to other countries. According to multiple local news reports Tuesday, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and the National Intelligence Service are verifying the authenticity of a tipoff delivered to the NSSC through a nuclear safety ombudsman system.

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

President Moon blamed for nuclear tech leak to US, UAE

President Moon Jae-in's policy to phase out nuclear energy from Korea's power planning is sparking concerns over leaks in core technologies for nuclear reactors, industry analysts said Tuesday. The analysts said the risks of a further nuclear power technology leak are growing because an increasing number of nuclear scientists and engineers at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and its partner firms are seeking to move to foreign companies amid the Moon administration's anti-nuclear campaign.

'Xi-Kim summit to move forward 4th inter-Korean summit'

Cheong Wa Dae is hoping the upcoming meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will lead to a fourth inter-Korean summit, a senior presidential office official said Tuesday. "The presidential office isn't ruling out the possibility of a fourth inter-Korean summit ahead of the planned meeting here between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump at the end of June. If the inter-Korean summit takes place, that would be a huge plus in advancing the process of achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the aide told reporters in a briefing.

16.3 million households to see lower electric bills in summer

About 16.3 million households are likely to benefit from the government's relaxed progressive electricity billing system and save 10,000 won ($8.43) a month during summer, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Tuesday. The new billing system, which will push up the ceiling on the first two pricing tiers, offers discounted rates for July and August only. This system is likely to incur 280 billion won in additional costs for KEPCO.

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

Koreans Snap up Dollars Despite Spiking Rate

Korean individuals and businesses bought trillions of won worth of U.S. dollars last month due to mounting concerns over the Korean economy. According to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, foreign-currency deposits held by Koreans increased by $2.4 billion as of late May to $65.6 billion.

Xi to Visit N.Korea Late This Week

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on Thursday and Friday, Chinese state media reported Monday in a surprise development. "Both sides will exchange views on the [Korean] peninsula situation, and push for new progress in the political resolution of the peninsula issue," CCTV reported.

Korean Telecoms Bought Billions Worth of Huawei Equipment

Korea's three major telecoms SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus have all bought large amounts of communication equipment from Huawei over the last four or five years. Most of the equipment was used to establish fixed-line backbone networks that also link to the mobile infrastructure. That puts Korea in an awkward position amid increasing U.S. pressure to join its boycott of Huawei as part of its trade war with China. But most of the 36 member nations of the OECD also use Huawei equipment, so Washington may be playing a losing game in the 5G mobile race.

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

The potential of Xi’s N. Korea visit to change Korean Peninsula affairs

The surprise visit to Pyongyang by Chinese President Xi Jinping signals that China is returning to the fore after previously taking a step back from the Korean Peninsula peace process, which has been unfolding since early last year. Analysts are predicting it could be a starting point for major changes in the Korean Peninsula situation, which has remained at an impasse since the North Korea-US summit in Hanoi. While the North Korea-US summit set to take place in Pyongyang on June 20–21 was obviously a mutual decision by the two sides, Xi’s determination was a crucial factor. Xi has yet to visit North Korea despite requests to do so from leader Kim Jong-un over the course of four visits to China since March 2018. Coming six-and-a-half years after he became China’s top leader as general secretary of the Communist Party of China in late 2012, Xi’s visit is also the first by a Chinese head of state in the 14 years since then General Secretary Hu Jintao visited in 2005.

Xi Jinping to visit North Korea as guest of state on June 20-21

Chinese President Xi Jinping will be visiting North Korea as a guest of the state on June 20–21, which coincides with the 70th anniversary of North Korea and China establishing diplomatic relations. It is the first North Korea visit by a Chinese head of state in 14 years. While the visit is to be a relatively short two days, observers are expecting it to be an occasion for domestically and internationally confirming the complete restoration of the two sides’ ties following three summits in March, May, and June of last year and one this past January. There had been discussions of Xi’s visit before. During his fourth China visit last January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asked Xi to officially visit North Korea at a “convenient time,” which Xi “readily agreed” and “provided notice of plans” to do, North Korean and Chinese state-run media reported at the time.

Kang Kyung-wha has phone call with Pompeo during Russia visit

During a telephone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the evening of June 16, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who is currently visiting Russia, discussed US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to South Korea at the end of this month and the attack on oil tankers that occurred in the Gulf of Oman, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on June 17. During a 15-minute conversation, MOFA said, Kang and Pompeo exchanged opinions about matters of mutual interest, including Trump’s visit to South Korea and affairs on the Korean Peninsula. The two diplomats said that Trump’s visit will be an important opportunity to discuss ways to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establish permanent peace there and to strengthen the South Korea-US alliance, and they agreed to remain in close consultation.

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

U.S. feels disgruntled at N. Korea’s silence to requests for working-level talks

Washington does not seem delighted ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's first visit to Pyongyang while paying close attention to the developments between China and North Korea. Such sentiment has been brought on by the fact that North Korea-China summit is taking place while Pyongyang has not responded to the U.S.’ request for working-level talks for North Korea’s denuclearization. The Trump administration has been firmly insisting on progress in the working-level talks for the third U.S.-North Korea summit to be held. However, despite multiple proposals for the working-level talks by U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun who is scheduled to visit North Korea at the end of June, Pyongyang hasn’t even informed Biegun of who would be his new negotiation partner. The U.S. is wary of the possibility that its denuclearization talks with North Korea may become even trickier as Pyongyang and Beijing get closer to each other.

AI chips work just as the human brain serving Samsung’s next-gen hidden card

In the near future, you would not need to clarify pronunciation in refined manner to your mobile device. Three to five years later, AI assistants will be commercialized to carry out various tasks if you talk to them in a friendly and informal way. It may not sound like rocket science but it takes Neural Processing Unit (NPU) technology to calculate task-performing more than 10 trillion times per second. NPU is called a next generation semiconductor that works in the same way as the human brain. The so-called “AI chips” learn information and process it into data on their own just as the human brain does. Samsung Electronics has embarked on its journey to strengthen next-gen NPU technology with the aim of becoming the world best in system semiconductor by 2030. The Korean semiconductor producer announced on Tuesday to put company-wise energy into NPU business by increasing the number of related employees from 200 to 2,000 within the next 10 years.

The 25th Seoul International Book Fair runs public library zone through Sunday

The 2019 Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF), which will be held from Wednesday to Sunday, will have the “Seoul City Public Library Zone,” the Seoul city government said Tuesday. The largest book fair in Korea will celebrate its 25th event this year. The Seoul City Public Library Zone runs under the slogan, “Library Inside a Book Fair” and provides visitors with a variety of programs, such as exhibition and hands-on experience. A three-part exhibition allows visitors to see the past, present, and future of public libraries in Seoul, using infographics, videos, and photos.

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

Pulling out a Sword Against Deep-Rooted Irregularities: Surprise Nomination of Yoon Seok-yeol

On June 17, President Moon Jae-in chose Yoon Seok-yeol (59, 23rd Class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to succeed Moon Moo-il as prosecutor general. Yoon is five classes behind Moon. If Yoon is appointed as the new prosecutor general following a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, he will be the first to be appointed prosecutor general without any experience of leading a high prosecutors' office. This will be a first in 31 years since the term of the prosecutor general was set in 1988. Yoon was responsible for the investigation of Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil for their abuse of state authority, which eventually led to the arrest and impeachment of the former president. After President Moon Jae-in entered office, Yoon contributed to the arrest of former President Lee Myung-bak and led the investigation on the abuse of court authority by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae. By picking Yoon, President Moon sent out a message that he remained firm in his determination to root out long-established irregularities.

Conservatives Divided over Park Geun-hye, Lost Between Integration and Division

The division among the conservatives is intensifying. The conservatives including the Liberty Korea Party have emphasized the need for the conservatives to come together to replace the progressive government. But in reality, the opposite is happening. On June 17, lawmaker Hong Moon-jong, a pro-Park Geun-hye member, left the Liberty Korea Party and joined the Korean Patriots' Party, and now the public is waiting to see if this will trigger a division. If pro-Park lawmakers who are not expected to be nominated as candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election follow Hong and join the Korean Patriots' Party, the conservatives within the National Assembly will divide into three groups: the Liberty Korea Party, the Bareun Party members of the Bareun Mirae Party, and the Korean Patriots' Party. Some experts argue that the conservatives failed to establish their position on the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye and that that is what led to the current division. This day, lawmaker Hong left the Liberty Korea Party and joined the Korean Patriots' Party. The Korean Patriots' Party appointed Hong co-leader along with lawmaker Cho Won-jin. Hong appeared on TBS radio and said, "We are preparing to establish a new Republican Party to represent all Taegeukgi followers. I think we will create a central party and in September begin our local activities." The new Republican Party is likely to take on the form of another pro-Park party, with members of the Korean Patriots' Party and the pro-Park figures who failed to receive candidate nominations by the Liberty Korea Party.

Citizens Run out of Patience: Open Parliamentary Sessions Without the Liberty Korea Party

Negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties to resume normal operation of the National Assembly has been unable to reach an agreement in the final stage, because the Liberty Korea Party is refusing to budge after presenting a so-called "economic hearing" as a condition for resuming parliamentary activities last week. The week before, the Liberty Korea Party demanded that the lawmakers newly select members of the Special Committee for Political Reforms and the Special Committee for Judicial Reforms. Then when the discussions headed toward determining whether or not to extend the activities of the two special committees in further negotiations after the National Assembly resumed normal operation, the Liberty Korea Party insisted on an "economic hearing first, and a review of the supplementary budget second." It is hard to accept their behavior as a serious approach to the negotiations. By now, we find ourselves wondering if the Liberty Korea Party is really willing to restore parliamentary activities. On June 16, Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party made a national appeal at the National Assembly and said, "If the government is so confident, then let's show the people an economic hearing first and then begin reviewing the supplementary budget." The National Assembly opening a hearing to inspect issues is necessary. It is true that the reality of our economy is in a serious state with deteriorating external conditions due to the U.S.-China trade war and with falling domestic investment and consumption. But these problems can be fully discussed in government reports to and questions by relevant standing committees, such as the Strategy and Finance Committee, when the National Assembly resumes parliamentary affairs. That is also one of the tasks of the National Assembly. But pushing back urgent discussions on the supplementary budget and abruptly asking the lawmakers to determine the successes and failures of economic policies is a wild political attack any way you look at it.

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

Korean carmakers to face fines for minimum wage violation despite high salary

South Korean automakers could face fines for violating the country’s minimum wage act next month even though they already pay handsome wages to their employees. The country’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. pays an annual salary of 92 million won ($78,000) on average to its 65,886 workers. But about 7,200 workers are classified as those who receive below the hourly minimum wage of 8,350 won ($7) even though their annual salary amounts to around 50 million won.

Woori Financial Group arranges $28 bn loan package for startups

South Korea’s Woori Financial Group plans to inject 33 trillion won ($27.8 billion) in startups and small enterprises over the next five years to help drive innovation in the country. The loan package was announced Monday after the first meeting of the innovative finance committee. Launched last month, the committee is chaired by the group chairman, Sohn Tae-seung, with the chief executives of each unit sitting as committee members. It is operated under four divisions - loan assistance, investment assistance, loan policy improvement and fintech assistance.

Merrill Lynch faces sanctions for extreme scalping role in Korea

U.S. brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch is facing possible disciplinary action from South Korea’s stock exchange authority for its alleged role in market-disrupting high-frequency trading on behalf of U.S. Citadel Securities. Korea Exchange, the country’s stock exchange operator, said on Tuesday that it will convene a market monitoring committee on Wednesday to determine the level of punishment against Merrill Lynch. The action may include warnings, stern warnings and financial penalties.

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Chinese People's Daily www.people.com.cn kf@people.cn
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Germany Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung www.faz.net anzeigen.ausland@faz.de
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Australia Brisbane Times www.brisbanetimes.com.au syndication@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au
Colombia Reports http://colombiareports.com
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El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english
Andes http://www.andes.info.ec/en
Ecuador Times http://www.ecuadortimes.net
The Jordan Times https://www.jordantimes.com
LSM.lv http://www.lsm.lv/en
The Baltic Times http://www.baltictimes.com lithuania@baltictimes.com, estonia@baltictimes.com, editor@baltictimes.com
El Pais http://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html
Philippine Daily Inquirer https://www.inquirer.net
Daily News Hungary http://dailynewshungary.com
Budapest Times http://budapesttimes.hu
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