Category: General

SEOUL, North Korea is scheduled to convene a key parliamentary meeting Monday amid key attention over whether its rubber-stamp parliament will approve a constitutional revision on inter-Korean unification.

The meeting comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean ties as relations between “two states hostile to each other” at a year-end party meeting, saying there is no point seeking unification with South Korea.

The North earlier announced its plan to hold the 10th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) on Monday to discuss the state budget of 2024.

North Korean state media has not reported whether the SPA session started. The session is widely expected to last for at least two days, and its outcome could be made public Wednesday.

The SPA is the highest organ of state power under the North’s constitution, but it actually only rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).

Drawing keen attention is whether North Korea’s parliament will revise the Consti
tution or related acts to take into account its leader Kim’s new definition of inter-Korean relations.

North Korea has maintained a blueprint for unification that the country’s late founder Kim Il-sung unveiled in 1980.

North Korea has claimed the only realistic way to achieve unification is the federation system, which calls for respecting each other’s differences in political ideology and government system in the form of “one state and two systems.”

Lee Kyu-chang, a senior research fellow at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea is expected to take measures to provide legal grounds for setting inter-Korean relations as the state-to-state relationship.

“In a follow-up to the WPK’s plenary meeting, North Korea is likely to push to delete or revise clauses related to unification under the Constitution and revise the nationality law to regard South Koreans as foreigners,” Lee said in a recent report.

In September, the SPA stipulated the policy of the country’s nuclear for
ce in the constitution, after the North’s leader called for an “exponential” increase in the nation’s nuclear arsenal at a year-end party meeting in 2022.

Kim is not one of the deputies to the SPA, but he may attend the parliamentary meeting to deliver his hawkish stance against South Korea or the United States.

In an SPA session in April 2019, Kim voiced his willingness to hold his third summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump following the no-deal second summit in early 2019. In a meeting in September 2021, Kim said he would restore the severed inter-Korean communication channel.

During an SPA meeting in September 2022, the North’s leader publicly announced the legalization of nuclear weapons, as its parliament approved a new law that allows for a preemptive nuclear strike.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, The Seoul education office said Monday it will open an online class-only school next year to provide high school students with courses unavailable at their own schools, as the country is set to introduce a high school credit system.

The tentatively named Seoul Integrated Online School will open in March next year to allow students to receive credit in the same way as they take courses at their own schools, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

The school will be housed at the site of Duksoo High School in Seoul’s Seongdong Ward, which is set to be closed, with 30 online lecture rooms and 10 classrooms that can be used for both online and offline classes, the office said.

Though classes are offered online, tests should be taken in person.

Courses for students with health problems or those from multicultural families will also be offered.

Under the high school credit system impending full adoption nationwide beginning in the new semester next year, students are allowed to choose
subjects they want according to career paths and aptitudes.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, The science ministry said Monday it will invest 542.1 billion won (US$410.4 million) in the development of original biotechnology this year.

The budget marked a 3 percent decrease from the previous year’s allocation of 559.4 billion won, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

In detail, the ministry plans to inject 151.8 billion won in research and development projects focusing on new medicines, medical equipment, regenerative medicine and related areas.

Around 361.2 billion won will be funneled into the development of core biology strategic technologies, including synthetic biology and advanced neuroscience, and the establishment of a digital research ecosystem.

Some 29.1 billion won was set aside to create a research network with foreign partners, the ministry said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Seoul police raided the state media regulation agency on Monday over allegations that an employee has leaked personal information of a petitioner to news outlets, officials said.

The raid came after the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) asked investigative authorities to look into the case last month after discovering the personal information of its petitioners has been leaked to media.

The leaked information was subsequently reported by several news outlets, including Newstapa and MBC.

Newstapa and MBC recently reported that the KCSC chief, Ryu Hee-lim, has asked his family members and acquaintances to file petitions to the commission to review the appropriateness of Newstapa’s alleged fake interview with Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the high profile Daejang-dong development scandal in 2021.

In the interview, Kim reportedly attempted to discredit then opposition party presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol, claiming Yoon had helped cover up a fraudulent lending scheme tied to the sca
ndal during his tenure as a prosecutor in 2011.

The Daejang-dong scandal was one of the hottest topics ahead of the presidential election in 2022. It centered on allegations that Kim, the owner of an asset management firm, and his partners reaped huge profits from the development project in the Daejang-dong area in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when then ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung served as the city’s mayor from 2011 to 2018.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Comedian Jee Seok-jin rejoined filming for the popular TV variety show “Running Man” on Monday, a month after taking a break to focus on his health, the show’s broadcaster said.

SBS said the latest episode filmed will be aired Jan. 28.

The 57-year-old, who has been a popular fixture on the show since July 2010, took a temporary break last month after undergoing a health checkup that called for additional care.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, The Korean action comedy film “The Roundup: Punishment” or “Beom-Joe-do-si 4” has been officially invited to the 74th Berlin International Film Festival set to kick off next month, organizers said Monday.

The film, the latest sequel in the action series starring Ma Dong-seok, also known by his English name Don Lee, as rough-and-tough cop Ma Seok-do, was invited to the special gala section, according to the organizers.

“Circle,” an animation directed by Joung Yu-mi was invited to compete in shorts, while the documentary “Doesarananeun moksori,” a collection of interviews of Koreans who suffered during Japan’s colonial rule, was invited to the forum special section.

This year’s film festival will run from Feb. 15-25.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Co. (HD KSOE) said Monday it has received a 310 billion-won (US$235 million) order to build two liquefied petroleum gas carriers for a shipper in the Middle East.

The two LPG ships will be built at the shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in Ulsan, 299 kilometers southeast of Seoul, for delivery by November 2027, HD KSOE said in a regulatory filing.

The company didn’t identify the name of the shipper.

HD Hyundai, formerly known as Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, has HD KSOE as a subholding company under its wing.

HD KSOE has three affiliates — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co.

With this latest order, the country’s leading shipbuilder has achieved 17.7 percent, or $2.38 billion, of its annual order target of $13.5 billion for the year, the statement said.

The company said it had set a “conservative” order target this year compared with its achievement last year because it has alre
ady secured ample ship orders for years to come.

In 2023, it obtained a total of $22.6 billion worth of ship orders, far exceeding its annual target of $15.7 billion.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, A prosecutorial committee of outside experts recommended Monday that Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) chief Kim Kwang-ho be indicted over the Itaewon crowd crush.

Following a discussion that lasted more than seven hours, the 15-member committee recommended prosecutors indict Kim in a 9-6 decision.

The SMPA chief had been probed on charges of professional negligence in connection with the Oct. 29, 2022, tragedy that killed 159 people, mostly those in their 20s.

The committee, however, recommended against the indictment of former Yongsan Fire Station chief Choi Seong-beom in a 1-14 decision.

The investigation into the fatal crowd crush had been left unconcluded for more than a year since police wrapped up their probe and referred the case to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office on Jan. 13 last year.

The special police investigation team concluded the crowd crush was a “man-made” disaster caused by authorities’ failure to come up with disaster prevention measures and respond promptly
to an emergency situation, referring 23 officials to the prosecution.

The district prosecutors office said it will make its final decision upon close analysis of evidence, fact and legal principles based on investigation results and the committee’s decision.

Under the regulations of the Supreme Prosecutors Office, prosecutors are advised to respect the committee’s decision but are not mandated to comply with it.

The prosecution launches an investigative review committee on cases that come under intense public scrutiny. Fifteen members of a pool of 150 to 300 outside experts are randomly chosen to take part in the committee.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that a semiconductor industry cluster being built outside Seoul is expected to create at least 3 million jobs over the next 20 years.

Yoon made the remark during a policy debate held at Sungkyunkwan University’s Natural Sciences Campus in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, the third in a series of debates on people’s livelihood issues.

The plan for a “semiconductor mega cluster” was announced last year and envisions the creation of a hub for chip companies and research centers in cities across southern Gyeonggi Province, including Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, Yongin and Icheon.

On Monday, the government unveiled measures to support the cluster, which is expected to be completed in 2047 with the investment of 622 trillion won (US$472 billion) from Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. and other companies, such as by extending tax credits and building a new power plant running on liquefied natural gas in Yongin.

“Our initial estimate is an investment of 622 trillio
n won, which has started already, and over the next 20 years, we expect it to newly create at least 3 million quality jobs,” Yoon said, noting that in the shorter term, 158 trillion won will be invested over the next five years, creating 950,000 jobs.

“Currently our chip sector has 180,000 jobs, but once the cluster is completed, this fab alone will produce 70,000 more jobs,” he said, before citing an expected increase of 200 trillion won in sales for related industries, such as design, parts and materials.

Yoon said nuclear power has become indispensable for the stable supply of electricity not only to the chip industry but also to other cutting-edge industries, disputing the signature nuclear phaseout policy of his predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

He also vowed to extend tax credits for investments in the semiconductor industry, which are due to expire this year, and dismissed criticism that the scheme favors big businesses only.

“I think we have to make it clear once again that such talk is nothing but false
instigation,” he said. “If tax credits lead to greater investment by semiconductor businesses, all businesses in the same ecosystem will greatly increase their profits and jobs, leading to an increase in state tax revenues.”

Samsung Electronics is currently the world’s largest memory chip maker.

Yoon credited the company’s late founder Lee Byung-chull, as well as former President Park Chung-hee, with paving the way for South Korea’s rise to a global chip powerhouse.

“Our country really had some pioneers,” he said, noting that Park set aside a budget equivalent to the annual budget of the Seoul metropolitan government at the time to invest in the semiconductor industry and entrusted Lee with nurturing the sector.

“Chairman Lee Byung-chull saw at the time how in Japan, large scale integrated circuits were becoming chips and it was receiving large orders from the United States and producing them,” he recalled. “He started by thinking that’s where we should stake our national destiny, and experienced many ups
and downs.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Samsung SDI Co., the battery unit of Samsung Group, has signed a deal to acquire a stake in Canadian mine developer Canada Nickel to bolster its supply of key minerals for rechargeable batteries.

Samsung SDI will acquire an 8.7 percent stake in Canada Nickel under the US$18.5 million deal, according to an announcement made by the Canadian firm Monday.

Under the deal, Samsung SDI will also secure 10 percent of nickel-cobalt production from Canada Nickel’s Crawford project based in Ontario and the right to an additional 20 percent of the production for 15 years extendable by mutual agreement.

The latest deal is seen as part of Samsung SDI’s efforts to more stably secure key raw materials for rechargeable batteries in North America where it has been moving to build battery plants.

Source: Yonhap News Agency