Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from October 2003

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from October 2003

Iraqi officials to visit Seoul.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) High-level Iraqi officials will visit Seoul today to discuss the possibility of enlisting South Korean companies in rebuilding the country's dilapidated information technology infrastructure. The 14-day visit is...

MDP, GNP united to censure Roh.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Sim Sung-tae The two main political parties yesterday continued slinging accusations at President Roh Moo-hyun for quitting the Millennium Democratic Party. The MDP again expressed its outrage at Roh's...

Conspiracy alleged in Assembly audit boycott.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Joo Sang-min The opposition Grand National Party raised an allegation yesterday that key witnesses who did not attend a parliamentary audit of government branches conspired together to avoid testifying. ...

4 N.K. defectors aiming for Seoul.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Four North Koreans who snuck into Cambodia after escaping their hunger-stricken homeland are waiting for passage to South Korea, a Christian pastor said yesterday. The four were among 58 North Koreans caught by...

Members demand GNP apologize for spy fund.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) After issuing their joint regrets, 11 junior lawmakers of the opposition Grand National Party demanded yesterday the party formally apologize to the public for being implicated in the misappropriation of funds from...

U.S. awaits N.K. disarmament proof.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Seo Hyun-jin The United States will discuss what benefits it can offer to North Korea only when the North makes a concrete commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, the top U.S. envoy in Seoul said...

LG to spin off 4 units, names new LGE head.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Sung-mi The LG Group, Korea's second-largest conglomerate, said yesterday that it would spin off four affiliates and that it had replaced the head of its flagship electronics unit as part of group-wide...

Tension grows between MDP, new group.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Lee Joo-hee Relations between the Millennium Democratic Party and its breakaway group are deteriorating after President Roh Moo-hyun departed from the MDP on Monday. While Roh held his MDP membership there...

Prices jumped in Sept.; Consumer price index surged 0.9 percent from August.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Koh Byung-joon Korea's consumer prices jumped for the second consecutive month in September largely due to frequent rainfall and Typhoon Maemi, both of which wrought havoc on the harvest of fruits and vegetables,...

South Korea undecided on Iraq troop dispatch.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Sim Sung-tae The Korean government has yet to make a decision on the U.S. request to send additional troops to Iraq, presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said yesterday. Yoon denied a media report that the...

Big plan for Armed Forces Day.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) A wide range of colorful ceremonies aimed at marking the 55th National Armed Forces Day will take place in Seoul and across the nation today, offering a glimpse of Korea's military might with its flagship weaponry...

U.S. sees Korean role in Iraq.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Choe Yong-shik U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Leon LaPorte expressed his optimism yesterday over Korea stepping up and accepting a greater responsibility in post-war Iraq in consideration of Korea's military...

Adult site offers evening at a posh bar.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) A popular Internet movie site for adults is bidding a night out for two at a posh room salon in Gangnam, southern Seoul, inviting both public criticism and apprehension, for the grand prize of an event they are...

Minister, justice split over reform.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Justice Minister Kang Kum-sil and Supreme Court Justice Kim Yong-dam have expressed a sharp difference in opinion over the issue of judiciary reform, which has split the legal community down the middle. Kim, who...

Leniency expected for exiled scholar.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Kyung-ho Intelligence and prosecution officials are leaning toward taking lenient measures against Song Du-yul, a South Korean-born scholar residing in Germany, as he has expressed an intention to observe the...

Kookmin Bank names head of card unit.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Kookmin Bank, Korea's largest lender, has nominated Cho Bong-hwan, current chief executive of its card unit Kookmin Credit Card Co., as head of the bank's consolidated card operations. Kookmin Credit completed its...

Corporate donations drop.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Koh Byung-joon While local corporations are faring quite well and reaping more profits, they are tightening their purse strings on public donations, according to a recent report by the National Statistical...

Reform of Korea's judicial system (I).
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Pyung-woo What is causing the outcry? How does Korea's judicial system differ from other nations, and what can be done to address the concerns being expressed? In the leading nations of Europe, including...

Chohung Bank to focus on corporate customers.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Ji-ho After becoming part of Korea's second-largest financial services company, Chohung Bank will now focus on risk management to boost its profitability, the lender's new chief said. In a meeting with...

The IMF fails again.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) It is six years since the IMF's fateful meeting in Hong Kong, just before the global financial crisis. I was there. What a peculiar meeting it was. It was clear that a crisis loomed. Capital market liberalization...

Hanbul to put Peugeot in fast lane; Aims to grab 10% of local imported car market next year.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Hyun-chul These days, Hanbul Motors Corp.'s showroom for Peugeot vehicles in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, is packed with dozens of cars waiting to be delivered to their new owners. "This month, we plan...

Korean Air rises on increased demand.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Korean Air Co., the nation's largest airliner, rose sharply on increased demand, the strong won and an expected fall in oil prices. Analysts said the sluggish performance in the Korea-Japan sector, which had...

Government recovered W60 tril. of public funds.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Koh Byung-joon The amount of public funds injected into unhealthy local companies totaled 161 trillion won ($140 billion) as of August and of that amount about 60 trillion won has been recovered, the Ministry of...

KT to cut caller ID service fee.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) KT Corp. is to slash caller identification service charges by 40 percent beginning Oct. 1, the company said yesterday. The decision, which will see service rates fall to 1,500 won ($1.3) per month from the current...

Market value sheds W30 tril. in 2 weeks.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) The combined market capitalization of companies listed on the Korea Stock Exchange lost about 30 trillion won ($26 billion), as the local stock market tumbled on the appreciation of the won and an expected hike in...

BOKsees 5% growth in '04; Gov. Park predicts economy to recover from fourth quarter.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Lee Kyoung-ah Bank of Korea Gov. Park Seung forecast yesterday that the local economy would start to recover gradually from the fourth quarter, helped in part by a previous package of economic stimulus measures....

Raw materials make up half of 8-month imports.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Raw materials made up about half of Korea's imports in the first eight months of the year, while capital goods topped the country's exports at 41 percent, the Korea International Trade Association said yesterday....

Businesses urge free-trade deal with Japan.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Sung-mi Business leaders and experts from Korea and Japan yesterday called for an early conclusion of a bilateral free-trade agreement between the two neighbors. They also urged their governments to work...

SKT tests data roaming service in China.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Yang Sung-jin SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier, said yesterday that it has successfully completed a wireless data roaming test between Korea and China, marking a major step forward in the...

New LG CEO: a man with initiative, drive.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Min-hee The newly appointed CEO of LG Electronics, Kim Ssang-soo, 58, is counted among the top home appliance experts in the world and credited with LG's dramatic and robust advance in the global market in...

Contact made with science satellite.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Seo Ji-eun Korea's first satellite dedicated to space research, Science and Technology Satellite-1, sent its initial signal Monday night, wiping out concerns that it had been lost. "We made successful contact...

Ministry to help small firms adopt IT solutions.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) The Ministry of Information and Communication yesterday unveiled a plan to help small enterprises purchase computers and digital infrastructure, a move aimed at helping them better utilize the country's high-speed...

Tycoons wield excessive power; Panel says chaebol families' voting rights 4 times stockholding.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Ji-ho The families controlling Korea's four largest conglomerates, or chaebol, wield four times greater power than their real stakes allow, the state antitrust panel reported yesterday. According to the...

Stem cell transplant - better safe than sorry.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Andy Ho The Straits Times / Asia News Network Some readers wrote to me recently about an experimental heart operation carried out on a 60-year-old man in a Kuala Lumpur hospital and asked why Singapore didn't...

China adjusts policy.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Wu Yixue China Daily / Asia News Network Profound changes in international relations since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, especially since the U.S.-led war against Iraq which had neither a...

The man who made Malaysia.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is stepping down after serving more than 22 years as the leader of Malaysia and its ruling the United Malay National Organization (UMNO). Today's gleaming, modern Malaysia is unimaginable...

Roh's exit from MDP.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) In spring 2002 when the primaries of the Millennium Democratic Party began, Roh Moo-hyun was an underdog trailing behind such party giants as Lee In-je and Han Hwa-kap. Unexpectedly in Kwangju, the center of the...

Levis tailors free rock concert.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By O Youn-hee The country's reigning rock stars will make a rare concert appearance together Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at Jamsil Stadium, Seoul. The event is hosted by Levis to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Kim Kyung-ho,...

Cuban concert cancelled.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Warren Lee Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer, 76, has cancelled his Oct. 3-4 concert at the LG Arts Center, citing an eye disease that is preventing him from flying overseas. LG Arts Center said that the nature of...

Kia to introduce subcompact in Nov.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Kia Motors Corp. is scheduled to introduce a new model of its compact Spectra in early November, intensifying competition with rival subcompact makers, company officials said Monday. The exterior of the vehicle,...

'Gobau': the public voice of the times.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By O Youn-hee Though news reports discuss social issues at length, sometimes a photograph more vividly shows the hunger of Rwanda, devastation in Iraq and the Tiananmen massacre. Similarly, news columns and...

A Palestinian apologist and a pianist.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) Edward W. Said sadly passed away last week, after courageously fighting leukemia for more than 10 years. The man who spent his whole life challenging Western prejudice against the East, the critic who preached that...

'Scandal' spices up Joseon affairs.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) By Kim Jin The Joseon Dynasty was an age of stuffy scholars who got their topknots all bunched up about sexual matters. So we thought. The new film "Scandal" opening tomorrow puts forth a different view: Beneath the...

Seoul to coordinate robot R&Dplans.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) The Korean government will draw up a comprehensive plan to promote the nation's robotics industry this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced yesterday. The Science Ministry will also coordinate...

From rags to riches to jail.
October 1, 2003... (From The Korea Herald) G&G Chairman Lee Yong-ho appears to be a man of formidable tenacity. While in prison due to illegal activity that caused hundreds of small investors to lose their money, he is still attempting to take part in the...

Thinking of Kris, Joey over mongo con hielo.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Ambeth R. Ocampo BEING away from home provides some perspective on the scope of the Kris-Joey break-up. On the lurid topic, my mailbox was swamped with all sorts of messages that far outnumbered...

Army captain linked to youths' slay.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) DAVAO CITY-The New People's Army linked an Army captain and two more soldiers in last week's death of militant youth leaders in Maco, Compostela Valley. But the military said the rebel group should not...

1 killed, 5 hurt in ambush.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) OROQUIETA CITY-Year-old Jovelyn Rasonable is now out of danger after her legs were hit by bullets in an ambush Tuesday afternoon in Concepcion town that claimed the life of her mother and sent four others...

The BAP: same-same, no shame.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Recah Trinidad THIS is the story of a sports association, run mainly by two men, a Batman-Robin tandem that has taken over the affairs of amateur basketball in the Philippines. It is a...

It's Ateneo in final versus Far Eastern.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Dennis U. Eroa LARRY Fonacier, no stranger to playing the hero's role, delivered the killer shots as title holder Ateneo subdued arch rival La Salle, 74-68, and barged into the UAAP basketball...

Bayan Muna says military agents abducted leader.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Jhunnex Napallacan CEBU CITY-An official of Bayan Muna in Cebu has accused members of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID) of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas...

Nikki airs side on cockfight story.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Manolo R. Inigo MY longtime friend, former Sen. Nikki Coseteng, whom I have not seen in ages, recently wrote this paper to give her side on a story which wrongly portrayed her as "betting...

'Confess and sin no more'.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Jerome Aning TRUE love waits. Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines secretary general Hernando Coronel yesterday used this adage in renewing the Church's reminder to the faithful...

Politics that heals.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Junefe Gilig Payot IN NIHONGO, the kanji (characters used in Japanese writing) that stands for "political administration" is read as sei. It is composed of two graphemes, the building blocks of...

Does Baguio gov't still need tossed salad fest?
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) DOES the Baguio City government still have a taste for the world's biggest tossed salad? The local government's treatment this year of the city's annual Tossed Salad Festival has convinced many...

DPWH fails to serve suspension orders on erring execs.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Martin P. Marfil THE DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways yesterday finally issued the suspension orders on DPWH Undersecretary Salvador Pleyto and Director Romeo Panganiban but failed to...

Dwindling health budget blamed for alarming rise in sex diseases.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Cynthia D. Balana THE GOVERNMENT'S dwindling budget allocation for health is to blame for the alarming rise in the number of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including the possibility of an...

Wild child.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) THE POSITIVE thing resulting from the tawdry saga involving Cory Aquino's wild child is that it has provoked thoughtful discussions on issues not only of gender but also of media exploitation and...

Pro-Erap supporters stage protest at LTA.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Alcuin Papa SUPPORTERS of former president Joseph Estrada yesterday staged a rally at the LTA Building in Makati City just as President Macapagal-Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo arrived...

Bush safety paramount concern, says Palace.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan, Carlito Pablo and Cynthia D. Balana THE SAFETY of the world's most powerful man during his short stay in the country is of paramount concern, Malacanang said yesterday amid...

Engagement with China.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Karim Raslan CHINA has become the new El Dorado, a land of enormous promise and extraordinary profit. For the nations of Southeast Asia and especially the region's all-powerful taipans, the...

Final SEAG roster known today.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Marc Anthony Reyes THE FATE of the national men's football team will be decided when the Southeast Asian Games technical commission tries to complete the Philippine delegation to the Vietnam SEA...

It will take just one word from Kris.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Christian V. Esguerra ALL KRIS Aquino needs to do is say one word for Mayor Joey Marquez to lose his guns. The Philippine National Police yesterday gave Ms Aquino the "option" to seek the...

Cancellation of Bush visit upsets Leyte folk.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Joey A. Gabieta TACLOBAN CITY-The cancellation of the supposed visit of US President George W. Bush in Leyte has caused disappointment not only among local officials but also members of militant...

Lacson claims Palace unleashed 'attack dogs' against him.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Christine O. Avendano and Tarra Quismundo OPPOSITION Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday claimed that Malacanang had unleashed "new attack dogs" to preempt or even stop him from uncovering his third...

Cops act to check rob rash.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) THE SERIES of daring robberies in the metropolis has alarmed the National Capital Region Police Office. And if this rash of crimes continues, heads will surely roll. In a statement, NCRPO Director...

Jamie Cullum, so young, so talented.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Tina Arceo-Dumlao JAMIE Cullum is often referred to as "Sinatra in sneakers," perhaps because he is only 23. But Cullum packs his music with attitude that certainly would have caught the...

Lessons of the Cabalantian tragedy.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Tonette Orejas FOR SOME sentimental reasons, Benjamin Pineda timed the start of the construction of their house three days before the eighth anniversary of the Cabalantian tragedy when lahar, as...

Military lifts red alert status.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: TJ Burgonio THE MILITARY downgraded its alert status from red to white at six last night, hours after the President returned from a five-day working visit to the United States, France and Italy....

Lawyer explains Mike-Toh contradictions.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Neal H. Cruz I GOT a quick reaction from the hardworking lawyer Jesus Santos, counsel for First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, on our Sept. 29 column. That column pointed out apparent contradictions in...

Now, Congress wants automated elections scrapped.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Carlito Pablo THE JOINT Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automation of Elections is recommending the suspension of automated elections in the 2004 polls. The oversight committee...

NFA bares mixture of good, bad rice.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) COTABATO CITY-Some rice traders in Cotabato City and Maguindanao have mixed National Food Authority rice with poor quality commercial rice, the NFA office for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said. ...

Palace says P150M spent so far for repair of presidential airplane.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) MALACANANG has spent about P150 million for the overhaul of the presidential airplane, an aging twin-engine Fokker F-28 jet, for P10 million less than the original estimate, a Palace official said...

Police report capture of Janjalani aide.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) GENERAL SANTOS CITY-Police are claiming that they captured the deputy of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani on Monday at a checkpoint near Malisbong bridge in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat. Chief Insp....

Still, God.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Conrado de Quiros I DON'T know if you believe in signs. But at the very time Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo went to Rome to seek enlightenment, the whole place was plunged into darkness. According to...

2 rebels captured after Negros clash.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) BACOLOD CITY-Two suspected New People's Army rebels were captured, one of them wounded, following a gun battle with Army soldiers Sunday in Sitio Hiyangon, Barangay Magticol, Toboso, Negros Occidental,...

Ombudsman rebuffs Honasan on DOJ probe.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Gerald G. Lacuarta OPPOSITION Sen. Gregorio Honasan yesterday lost his bid for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the coup d'etat charges filed against him for his alleged involvement in...

Records lost, then found, decide drug pusher's fate.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) CHINESE Po Chuan nearly got off the hook for drug trafficking after the records of his case mysteriously disappeared in 2001. The records later resurfaced as mysteriously as these disappeared and this...

'Nowhere in Africa' strikes close to home.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Peachy Vibal-Guioguio GIVEN the choice between reading a good book and watching a movie, I would rather read. But one rainy weekday, in between two appointments in the same area, I decided...

All winners.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Rina Jimenez-David BEFORE THE JUDGING for the Well Family Midwife Clinic Diamond Awards, verification teams went around the country to evaluate all the midwife-nominees, visiting the clinics,...

'Robin Padilla' found dead.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) YESTERDAY, Robin Padilla was found dead. But he was not the country's so-called Bad Boy. He was just his namesake, a 14-year-old high school student, who drowned at the Pasig River. SP02 Edison...

Security tightened for foreigners in South.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: TJ Burgonio THE MILITARY has ordered field commanders to intensify security for foreigners in Mindanao following a fresh warning that the Abu Sayyaf was planning to snatch the American...

Senior citizens set walkathon.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) Byline: Norman Bordadora MORE than 1,000 senior citizens are expected to join the Walk for Life walkathon for the elderly this morning to kick off the country's observance of the Elderly Filipino Week...

Shell flaunts new import vs Pena, SMB.
October 1, 2003... (From Philippine Daily Inquirer) GAMES TODAY (Philsports Arena) 5 p.m.-Shell vs San Miguel Beer 7:30 p.m.-Coca-Cola vs Talk N Text DORIAN Pena returns to San Miguel Beer when it tackles Shell today even as Talk 'N Text and...