YON - Yonhap News Agency of Korea articles from May 2006

YON - Yonhap News Agency of Korea archives from May 2006

S. Korea's card spending up 15.7 pct in April.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's credit card spending grew 15.7 percent last month from a year earlier, a slowdown from growth the previous three months, industry sources said Thursday. Sales on credit came to 17.7 trillion won...

Police, soldiers mobilized to evict farmers from Pyeongtaek.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL/PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Thousands of police Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U. S. students in an area designated for expanded U. S. military facilities. There have been no immediate...

Daegu Bank head to meet foreign investors next week.
May 4, 2006... DAEGU, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Daegu Bank, a leading regional lender in South Korea, said Thursday its president will meet with investors in the United States next week to explain its first-quarter results. Chief Executive Officer Lee Hwa-eon will...

KT's Q1 earnings rise over 12 pct on reduced costs.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed-line and broadband Internet operator, said Thursday its first-quarter net profit increased more than 12 percent from a year earlier due mainly to cost-cutting efforts. In the...

Seoul shares edge down on foreign selling.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks started higher, Thursday, but soon fell slightly as foreign investors dumped tech shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 4.67 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,430.50 in the...

S. Korea 2nd in broadband Internet penetration in 2005: OECD.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea ranked second in 2005 in terms of high-speed Internet penetration among advanced countries, a notch down from the previous year, an international organization said Thursday. According to a report by...

KT's net profit in Q1 rises over 10 pct.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed-line and broadband Internet operator, said Thursday that its first-quarter net profit increased more than 10 percent from a year earlier. In the three months ended on March 31,...

Daegu Bank head to meet foreign investors next week.
May 4, 2006... DAEGU, March 4 (Yonhap) -- Daegu Bank, a leading regional lender in South Korea, said Thursday its president will meet with investors in the United States next week to explain its first-quarter results. Chief Executive Officer Lee Hwa-eon...

S. Korea to announce tax reform measures after June.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Finance Ministry will announce a series of tax reform measures after June, a government official said Thursday. "We plan to submit a tax reform draft bill to the National Assembly in August after...

Taxes and bombs.
May 4, 2006... (EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on May 4) The government is now voicing its intention to keep on punitively "tax bombing" real estate. Kim Byong-joon, the Blue House chief secretary for national policy, said at a symposium on Tuesday, "Some...

Railroading bills.
May 4, 2006... (EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on May 4)With support from minor political parties, the ruling Uri Party succeeded in railroading six of the seven bills it intended to pass on Tuesday despite fierce opposition from the rival Grand National...

US-Japan accord gives Korea relative sense of alienation.
May 4, 2006... (EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on May 4) "We have no better friend than Japan. " No few words could describe the strong sense of unity Washington and Tokyo feel about each other than this remark by U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice...

Police, soldiers mobilized to evict farmers from Pyeongtaek.
May 4, 2006... PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Thousands of police Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U. S. students in an area designated for expanded U. S. military facilities. There have been no immediate...

Top headlines in major South Korean newspapers.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The following are the top headlines in major Korean newspapers on May 4. Vernacular dailies -- Imported rice lays in heaps in local warehouses (Kyunghyang Shinmun) -- 10 children die of malnutrition each minute...

S. Korean police mobilized to evict farmers from U. S. base site.
May 4, 2006... PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- More than 11,000 South Korean police and 2,000 soldiers began work Thursday to evict residents from a small farming village, where the U. S. military plans to build a large-scale base. Riot police...

Virginian senator gives support for South Korea's visa waiver.
May 4, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Virginia's junior senator gave his full support to include South Korea in the U. S. visa waiver program (VWP), his office said Wednesday. Sen. George Allen (R-Virginia), meeting South Korean Ambassador Lee...

Congressman demands Japan take responsibility for comfort women.
May 4, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (Yonhap) -- A U. S. congressman urged Japan to take responsibility for Korean women it forced into prostitution during World War II and asked others in Congress to support a resolution to send this message, his office said...

Resolving Yasukuni issue alone won't end tensions with Japan: Aso.
May 4, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Japan and its neighbors face a slew of frictions that won't be resolved by stopping its leaders' controversial visits to a war shrine, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Wednesday. He argued that Japan's...

S. Korean scientists claim discovery of key cause of Parkinson's.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean researchers said Thursday they have discovered a key cause of Parkinson's disease, which may lead to a breakthrough in finding treatments for the neurological disorder. In a paper published in the...

South Korean scientists develop new metal-like polymer.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean scientists on Thursday unveiled a new type of plastic-based polyaniline, a polymer that has the same characteristics as metal and can conduct electricity at ultra-cold temperatures. The team, led by Lee...

U. S. commission urges Helsinki model on N. K. human rights.
May 4, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (Yonhap) -- A U. S. human rights commission recommended Wednesday that the Bush administration keep North Korea as a country of particular concern (CPC) on human rights, citing lack of any tolerance for dissent in the...

Ulsan Tigers reach quarterfinals of Asian Champions League.
May 4, 2006... ULSAN, South Korea, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Lee Chun-soo led his club, the Ulsan Tigers, to the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Tokyo Verdi in Ulsan World Cup Stadium Wednesday night. Ulsan, the Korean FA cup...

N. Korea's Kaesong seals friendship deal with Ecuadorian city.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's border city of Kaesong has established a friendship city relationship with an Ecuadorian city, its state media reported Wednesday. An agreement has been signed between Kaesong and Yantzaza, Ecuador,...

China donates equipment to North Korea to fight bird flu.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- The Chinese government has donated equipment and material to North Korea to do examinations for bird flu, the North's state media said Wednesday. The equipment and materials will help the communist nation prevent the...

S. Korea steps up campaign on its ownership of Dokdo.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday launched a task force on Dokdo in a bid to bolster the country's ownership of the East Sea islets. In its inaugural meeting, the 30-member special team, headed by Deputy...

President Roh calls for stand-alone diplomacy toward U. S.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday that it is time for South Korea to shift to a stand-alone diplomacy toward the United States. "So far, we have made a success through dependence on the U. S. Now...

Tokyo's claim to Dokdo 'diplomatic mistake': Japanese lawmaker.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- A Japanese opposition politician on Wednesday called his country's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo a "diplomatic mistake. " "It's a diplomatic mistake to make South Koreans feel like they are being invaded...

Gov't to start evictions in Pyeongtaek despite dialogue promise.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government is preparing to take steps to evict the remaining occupants and civic activists from an area designated for expanded U. S. military facilities, according to top military officials Wednesday....

S. Korea launches unmanned submersible.
May 4, 2006... GEOJE ISLAND, South Korea, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday launched a locally developed unmanned submersible capable of descending to 6,000 meters below the ocean surface. The vessel was launched from a port here, about 406...

S. Korea, ASEAN agree on agriculture tariff cuts for FTA.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed on agricultural tariff-cutting measures to help facilitate a free trade agreement (FTA), a government official said Wednesday. The two...

Seoul opposes efforts to change N. K. regime: unification minister.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's point man on North Korean affairs said on Wednesday that his government would oppose any efforts by Washington to cause changes to North Korea's communist regime. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said there...

Former KDB Partners executive arrested in Lone Star scandal.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors here have arrested without warrant a former managing director of a Lone Star-related company as part of an investigation into corruption allegations involving the U. S. investment fund, a senior prosecutor...

Yonhap News Summary.
May 4, 2006... The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday. ------------------ (LEAD) Roh replaces five senior secretaries SEOUL -- President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday replaced five senior...

S. Korea launches human rights policy headquarters.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday launched a human rights bureau under the Justice Ministry to make the office a hub of the country's human rights policy. The bureau will work to establish and implement the nation's human...

State marketer gets no winning bids for imported Chinese rice.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea started its first online auction for rice imported from China on Wednesday, but received no winning bids, a state marketing corporation said. The Agriculture and Fisheries Marketing Corp. (AFMC) said all...

S. Korean online game maker Webzen logs loss in Q1.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Webzen Inc., a South Korean online game company, said Wednesday that it swung to a net loss in the first quarter of this year, attributing the result to a decrease in sales of its flagship game. In the three months...

Young writers festival to open in Seoul.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Young and up-and-coming writers from around the world will assemble in Seoul next week to participate in a literature festival, its host said Wednesday. The Korea Literature Translation Institute, a public body...

S. Korea concerned about nationalization of resources in S. America.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has set up an ad hoc body tasked with addressing moves by some South American countries to nationalize natural resources that could hurt the country's efforts to enhance its energy self-sufficiency. The...

Roh replaces five senior secretaries.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday replaced five senior secretaries in a personnel change seen as an effort to increase focus on state affairs, officials said. Filling the top posts were four lower-level...

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Q1 earnings jump 65.98 pct.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. said Wednesday its net profit jumped 65.98 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. Net profit came to 43.4 billion won (US$46.4 million) in the January-March period,...

Military self-help group drops out of Daewoo Engineering bid.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's self-help military organization said Wednesday it has scrapped a plan to join one of the bidding consortiums for Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Creditors of Daewoo Engineering & Construction are...

Watchdog nixes Hyundai Merchant Marine's share issue plan.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it turned down Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.'s request for a new share issue out of suspicions that the proceeds could be used to buy its former building affiliate. The...

Roh replaces five senior secretaries.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday replaced five senior secretaries in a personnel change seen as an effort to increase focus on state affairs, officials said. Filling the top posts were four lower-level...

S. Korea aims to launch multimedia digital telephony next year.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to launch an enhanced wireless telephone service at home starting next year to enable the speedy transmission of data, as well as featuring video conferencing and other multimedia functions, government...

KT installs first private telephone line on Dokdo.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed-line and broadband service operator, on Thursday established the first private telephone line in the Dokdo islets in the East Sea, the company said. There had previously been...

(LEAD) Hyundai Mobis posts 12 pct drop in Q1 profit on tax.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's largest maker of automotive parts, said Thursday its net income for the first quarter fell 11.6 percent from a year ago because of increased corporate income tax. Hyundai Mobis earned...

Hanjin Shipping's Q1 earnings fall 57.9 pct.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top container shipper Hanjin Shipping Co. said Thursday its net profit fell 57.9 percent in the first quarter from a year ago on a strong won and surging oil prices. Net profit came to 61.1 billion...

(2nd LD) Korea, China, Japan agree on further financial cooperation.
May 4, 2006... HYDERABAD, India, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Finance ministers from South Korea, Japan and China agreed Thursday to make further efforts on financial cooperation in the Asian region. During a meeting on the sidelines of the 39th annual meeting of the...

S. Korea launches new patrol boat for Dokdo.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Thursday launched a new patrol boat for deployment to a set of rocky islets in the East Sea, maritime police said. The 3,000-ton Taepyeongyang-7 was commissioned at a shipyard in Busan, about 320...

U.S. rights group urges Pyongyang to accept monitoring of food aid.
May 4, 2006... By Kim Hyun SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. human rights organization on Thursday urged North Korea to allow international monitoring of food distribution, saying its recent policy changes on outside aid may cause renewed hunger among its...

(LEAD) Korean Air Q1 profit soars 114.7 pct on fuel surcharge hike.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top airline Korean Air said Thursday its first-quarter net profit soared 114.7 percent from a year ago on higher fuel surcharges. Net profit came to 127.3 billion won (US$135.3 million) between January...

Hanwha's Q1 operating profit falls 17 pct on raw material costs.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Corp., a South Korean producer of explosives, said Thursday its operating profit for the first quarter fell 17 percent from a year ago, hurt by rising prices of raw materials. First-quarter operating profit was...

Gist of plan on conservation, utilization of Dokdo islets.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The following is a gist of South Korea's five-year plan on the conservation and utilization of Dokdo islets in the East Sea, unveiled Thursday by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The government will:...

(LEAD) S. Korea unveils plan on managing Dokdo islets.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Thursday it will spend 34.25 billion won (US$36.54 million) on projects to develop natural resources near the country's Dokdo islets in the East Sea in a bid to reinforce its control over the territory....

(LEAD) S. Korean exports may face slowdown: vice finance minister.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports, one of the economy's main growth engines along with domestic consumption, are facing a great downside risk, the country's vice finance minister said Thursday. "Overseas demand is posting...

Seoul shares inch down on lack of leads.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks lost ground Thursday afternoon as investors took to the sidelines on a lack of leads. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 2.67 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,432.50 as of...

(3rd LD) Police, soldiers mobilized to evict protesters from Pyeongtaek.
May 4, 2006... By Sohn Suk-joo SEOUL/PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Thousands of South Korean police on Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U.S. students in an area designated for expanded U.S. military...

Search under way for three Vietnamese missing off S. Korean coast.
May 4, 2006... BUSAN, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Three Vietnamese sailors went missing on Thursday as they attempted to sneak into South Korea, coast guard officials said. The officials said four Vietnamese jumped into the sea from a 498-ton tuna ship anchored off...

Kumho Petrochemical files lawsuit against U.S. firm.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Kumho Petrochemical Co. said Thursday it has filed an antitrust lawsuit against a U.S. tire chemical giant, alleging unfair market practices. In the suit filed with a federal court in California, Kumho...

S. Korean exports may face slowdown: vice finance minister.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports, one of the economy's main growth engines along with domestic consumption, are facing a great downside risk, the country's vice finance minister said Thursday. "Overseas demand is posting...

NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 395 (May 4, 2006).
May 4, 2006... *** CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronological review of major developments related to North Korea from April 27 to May 3, 2006. April 27 Kim Yong-nam, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's...

S. Korea's currency posts sharp ascent in January-April period.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The ascent of South Korea's currency against the U.S. dollar so far this year has been faster than the won's rise for the entire year of 2005, financial sources said Thursday. Such a sharp climb in the January-April...

(Dokdo Special) President Roh fears oblivion of Dokdo history.
May 4, 2006... By Yoo Cheong-mo SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- President Roh Moo-hyun's declaration of a hard-line diplomatic counteraction against Japan's repeated claims to the Dokdo islets reflects his fears the South Korean islets' historical background will...

(Dokdo Special) Japan nostalgic for its militaristic past.
May 4, 2006... By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso calls China a regional threat, while its Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe labels North Korea a peace breaker. Armed with an expansionist policy, however, Japan...

(Dokdo Special) Korea precedes Japan by 1,000 years on Dokdo records.
May 4, 2006... By Kim Hyun SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Japan has sporadically laid claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo since the 1950s but historical records show that they have been under Korea's control since 1,500 years ago. Lying in the...

(News Focus) Evictions to pave way for U.S. base relocation.
May 4, 2006... By Sohn Suk-joo SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The planned realignment of U.S. bases here over the next three years has received a much-needed impetus after the South Korean government Thursday cracked down on remaining occupants and anti-U.S....

Online game publisher NCsoft Q1 earnings plunge.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- NCsoft Corp., South Korea's largest publisher of online games, said Thursday its first-quarter earnings dropped by almost half due to the absence of new products. In the January-March period, net income reached 6.8...

(3rd LD) Hyundai Motor's Q1 profit drops 38 pct on stronger won.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, reported Thursday a worse-than-expected 38 percent drop in its first-quarter net profit, hit by the burden of the won's strength against the U.S. dollar. Hyundai Motor,...

The Korea Interbank Offered Rates(KORIBOR).
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The Korea Interbank Offered Rates (KORIBOR) as posted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news and information arm of Yonhap News Agency, at 11:00 a.m. Thursday. Term Today (%) Previous Day (%) 1-W 3.93 3.93 2-W...

S. Korea unveils robot with human proportions, expressions.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean scientists on Thursday unveiled an android that can express emotions, follow movements and hold simple conversations in Korean, showing the nation's growing technological prowess in robotics. The robot...

Sales of imported cars in S. Korea jump 54 pct in April.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Sales of imported cars in South Korea jumped 53.8 percent in April from the same month a year ago as customers bought more foreign brands, an industry group said Thursday. Import car sales totaled 3,183 vehicles last...

(2nd LD) KT's Q1 earnings rise over 12 pct on reduced costs.
May 4, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's largest fixed-line and broadband Internet operator, said Thursday its first-quarter net profit increased more than 12 percent from a year earlier due mainly to cost-cutting efforts. In the...

(LEAD) Koreas to hold talks May 16 over ex-president's N.K. visit.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- Pyongyang has suggested that the two Koreas hold working-level talks on May 16 to discuss former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's proposed visit to North Korea in June, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Friday. ...

Number of manufacturing workers on the decline.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- The number of people working in the manufacturing industry in South Korea fell below 4.2 million in the first quarter due to a business slowdown, the state statistics office said Friday. According to the National...

S. Korea heavily dependent on Middle East for oil imports.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's dependence on Middle Eastern countries for oil imports remains high, spawning concerns that Asia's fourth-largest economy would be threatened by any supply disruptions in the region, as oil prices continue...

Hyundai Motor supplies 1,250 vehicles for 2006 World Cup.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- Leading South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor said Friday that it handed over about 1,250 vehicles to the organizing committee of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany in a delivery ceremony in Frankfurt. Hyundai, as an...

Top headlines in major South Korean newspapers.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 5 (Yonhap) -- The following are the top headlines in major Korean newspapers on Friday May 5, 2006. Vernacular dailies -- Gov't pursues earlier introduction of after-school program (Kyunghyang Shinmun) -- Maritime Ministry...

EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on Friday May 5, 2006.(Editorial)
May 5, 2006... A day for all children Today is the 84th Children's Day. It is also the start of a three-day holiday, filling the streets with people going out on family outings. We can hear the laughter of our children rebounding in hopeful echoes across...

EDITORIAL from the Hankyoreh on Friday May 5, 2006.(Editorial)
May 5, 2006... U.S. interfering in domestic drug prices A United States government official is strongly demanding that Korea review its policy on pharmaceutical prices because the new policy is supposedly disadvantageous for multinational pharmaceutical...

EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Friday May 5, 2006.(Editorial)
May 5, 2006... Residents' recall There was a silver lining in the cloud of Tuesday's parliamentary brawl: The passage of a bill for a recall system. Beginning next July, people will be able to kick out lazy, corrupt and incapable elected officials --...

Friday's weather forecast.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May. 5 (Yonhap) -- The following is the weather forecast for South Korea's 12 major cities at 9:00 a.m. Friday. Temperature (C) Condition Possibility High/Low of Rain (%) Seoul 22/15 Rain 40 Incheon 22/14 Rain 40 Suwon...

L.A. asylum case does not reflect U.S. gov't views: official.
May 5, 2006... By Lee Dong-min WASHINGTON, May 4 (Yonhap) -- A recent U.S. court decision granting asylum to a former North Korean refugee does not reflect the view of the Bush administration and is not expected to set precedent for other asylum seekers...

N.K. said to request cash loans before returning to 6-way talks.
May 5, 2006... BEIJING, May 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has reportedly asked China for emergency cash loans in return for its return to the long-stalled six-party talks on its nuclear arms program, a news report said Thursday. Pyongyang proposed the cash loans...

Court approves arrest warrant for former KDB Partners executive.
May 5, 2006... SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Thursday granted an arrest warrant for a former managing director of a Lone Star-related company on corruption charges involving the U.S. investment fund. Prosecutors requested the warrant to detain Lee...