News Keywords Nat'l/Politics North Korea Economy IT/Science Foreign Policy World Life/Culture Sports Weather Expert's take on GSOMIA 2019-08-22 Finding areas to apply self-driving car technologies is essential: Exp 2019-08-22 Trump vows again to help Apple against Samsung Electronics 2019-08-22 N. Korea slams Seoul's introduction of 2 additional F-35A stealth jets 2019-08-22 N. Korea slams Seoul's introduction of 2 additional F-35A stealth jets 2019-08-22 S. Korea's deputy nat'l security advisor believes N. Korea-U.S. talks 2019-08-22 Low income families see income stay same while other income brackets s 2019-08-22 S. Korea to end tax cut on gasoline and diesel 2019-08-22 On-going U.S.-China trade spat hurting both economies 2019-08-22 Facebook wins lawsuit against communications watchdog over slowing dow 2019-08-22 Samsung Tests How 5G Can Improve Chip-Making 2019-08-16 Korean researchers discover key to Alzheimer's treatment through brain 2019-08-16 Japan's trade minister says Tokyo open to trade talks with Seoul if 'p 2019-08-22 1.1 mil. tons of radioactive water to flow into East Sea in 1 year of 2019-08-14 S. Korea, U.S. renewed Mutual Airlift Support Agreement last month 2019-08-14 Int'l community should work together to prevent Japan from discharging 2019-08-22 Merkel challenges Johnson to find backstop solution in 30 days 2019-08-22 DNA matching brings Korean War veteran home after 66 years 2019-08-22 Next era of VR blurs line between virtual world and reality 2019-08-22 Number of S. Korean visitors to Japan falls 7.6% in July amid tensions 2019-08-22 Young female tourists from Asia driving increase in tourists to South 2019-08-22 LG Cup International Women’s Baseball Tournament 2019 kicks off on Thu 2019-08-22 Kim Hyun-sub wins world championships race walking medal eight years a 2019-08-22 Seoul mulling whether to set up Olympic training camp in Tokyo amid ra 2019-08-21 Cooler Friday following this week's rain 2019-08-22 Rain down south to let up this afternoon 2019-08-22 More rain down south until afternoon 2019-08-22
Issue Now S. Korea-Japan Trade Row S. Korea to review GSOMIA renewal during NSC meeting Thursday, announcement could follow soon 2019-08-22 Japan's provincial tour businesses will be affected by reduction in flights from South Kor... 2019-08-22 S. Korea to double safety inspections on 17 food items imported from Japan 2019-08-22 S. Korea, Japan hold bilateral meeting in Beijing amid high tensions between two sides 2019-08-22 S. Korea, Japan to hold bilateral meeting in Beijing amid high tensions between two sides 2019-08-21 Gov't, industry say uncertainties remain despite Japan's 2nd shipment of photoresist to S.... 2019-08-20 N. K's recent missiles pose bigger threat Pompeo urges N. Korea to come to negotiating table 2019-08-21 S. Korea at critical diplomatic juncture 2019-08-19 N. Korea could soon deploy new ballistic missile, guided MRL, tactical missile system: Pun... 2019-08-19 N. Korea releases photos from latest test of weapon resembling U.S. ATACMS 2019-08-17 N. Korea releases photos from latest test of weapon resembling U.S. ATACMS 2019-08-17 North Korea missile analysis 2019-08-16
Most Popular S. Korea, Japan hold bilateral meeting in Beijing amid high tensions between two sides South Korea's Foreign affairs minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono met again Wednesday afternoon to discuss pending issues, but it seems like they simply reiterated their stances, neither side budging. The 35-minute meeting came on the sidelines of the 9th Seoul-Beijing-Tokyo foreign affairs ministers' talks. According to an official at South Korea's foreign ministry, Minister Kang, as expected, expressed great regret over Japan's trade restrictions on Seoul and urged Tokyo to retract them. She also said that there need to be negotiations on the matter, and asked for Japan's efforts there. But to that, Kono is said to have restated the view that the restrictions are not up for discussion because they were imposed for "security reasons." The South Korean official told reporters that Kono also brought up the forced labor ruling, in which Seoul's Supreme Court ordered Japanese firms to compensate the Koreans forced to work for them during Japan's colonial rule. Kono reportedly argued that the issue was resolved in their normalization agreement in 1965, while Kang is to have said that the government respects the judicial authority of the court. As for South Korea sharing military intel with Japan, Kono reportedly asked for Seoul to make a decision on whether to continue. The deadline for either side to cancel it is this Saturday, but Kang said the matter is still under review. South Korean officials have wondered aloud why they should keep sharing military intel with Japan if, as Kono says, there are "security" issues between the two sides. There have been reports that a decision will be made at the weekly National Security Council meeting on Thursday. And with so much emotion on both sides, the ministers asked each other to protect the safety of their people in each other's countries as well. Meanwhile, Kang is also to have again relayed Seoul's grave concerns about Japan's treatment of radioactive water in Fukushima, while urging Japan to make a wise decision. Lee Ji-won, Arirang News. 2019-08-22 S. Korea to quit military intel-sharing pact with Japan We begin with a big announcement from South Korea's top office South Korean government says it will leave the military intelligence sharing pact with Japan. This announcement likely to have a big impact on the badly strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo over what started out as a trade row. We go straight to our Shin Se-min who is standing by at the Blue House with the details, Se-min take it away. The long-awaited announcement on whether or not to renew the real-time classified information sharing deal with Japan, the General Security of Military Information Agreement, otherwise known as GSOMIA. South Korea says it is pulling out. Let me repeat that again, the South Korean government is ditching the real-time information sharing pact with Japan that went into effect three years ago. Let me take you to that scene moments ago here at the press room. "The South Korean government has decided to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement and will inform Japan of the decision via a diplomatic channel." And the reasoning is that Japan has violated trust with South Korea by accusing Seoul of illegally transferring chemical materials to North Korea, one of the reasons Tokyo gave for imposing its export curbs. It also said that the government's concluded that it is not in the national interest to continue GSOMIA. And guys, this information sharing pact had initially been set up by all three parties, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in November 2016 to counter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, part of the regional efforts to monitor the regime. But now that all seems unlikely with today's announcement. There will doubtlessly be more to come with this story. What can we expect now? This pact is something that had been set up to counter threats looming from the Korean Peninsula in regards to North Korea. As for the ramifications of today's decision,… there are many. One of the possibilities is that it could negatively impact regional efforts to monitor North Korea, which has recently ramped up its military activities. But get this,.. official at the top office, shortly after the announcement said that the allies Seoul and Washington had been closely coordinating in every step of the decision making process-up until the announcement that the pact is over. That's all for me at the hour,… but I'll be sure to bring you a more comprehensive coverage on that in our later newscast. 2019-08-22 Washington ready to engage as soon as N. Korea responds: U.S. envoy Washington is prepared to start talks as soon as the North is ready. That's according to U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, speaking to reporters Wednesday at Seoul's foreign ministry, after meeting his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon. Biegun said he was assigned by President Trump two months ago to resume working-level negotiations with Pyeongyang after the Kim-Trump meeting at the Demilitarized Zone. Biegun stressed that he's fully committed to this task. "Regarding the restarting of the negotiation, we're prepared to engage as soon as we hear from our counterparts in North Korea." He then denied recent rumors that he'd be leaving his post and become U.S. ambassador to Moscow. "I wanted to dispel any rumors that I'll be leaving this portfolio to take up an ambassadorship abroad. I will not be taking up a diplomatic posting in the Russian Federation, and I will remain focused on making progress on North Korea." Meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom in late June, Kim Jong-un and President Trump had promised to resume working-level talks in two or three weeks. But the North did not respond to U.S. proposals, and so that didn't come true. Soon after, Pyeongyang started condemning Seoul and Washington for holding a joint military exercise. But with the drills having ended on Tuesday, it is possible that North Korea and the U.S. could meet soon. Two weeks ago, Kim Jong-un wrote to President Trump that he'd like to start negotiations as soon as the drills are over. Later on Wednesday, Biegun met with Seoul's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul as well. He will wrap up his visit on Thursday after meeting with the deputy chief of South Korea's National Security Council, Kim Hyun-chong. Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News. 2019-08-22 In-depth: Global market wrap-up It's time now for an in-depth look at the global markets this afternoon, and for that I'm joined on the line by Dr. Hwang Sei-woon, Research Fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute. Dr. Hwang, thank you for coming on today. Thank you. So again, U.S. stocks were down on Tuesday, concerns over Treasuries again. Korean stocks, though, a little higher today. What's the story here? In the U.S. stock markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the first time in four sessions Tuesday, paring some of the strong gains from the previous session as recession fears lingered. The S&P 500 Index also closed lower as U.S. President Donald Trump showed no urgency to resolve trade friction with China and renewed his call for a big Federal Reserve rate cut. The major indexes fell to their session lows in the final minutes of trading as Treasury yields declined as well. Stocks in Asia declined(or showed mixed movements) after a weak U.S. session and a further move lower in Treasury yields overnight. Investors assessed the latest news on trade talks and awaited more clues on monetary policy. Japanese equities bore the brunt of losses, with stocks also lower in Hong Kong and South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.61%, while South Korea’s KOSPI and Hong Kong’s Hangseng lost 0.11% and 0.23% respectively. President Trump dismissing talk of a recession, his administration looking into ways to lower taxes. Does Trump have good reason to downplay recession, and how have the markets responded? President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration was considering temporary tax cuts on wages as well as profits from asset sales as a strategy to boost the economy, even as he maintains the country's economic outlook remains strong. An economic slowdown would be bad news for Trump, who is building his 2020 bid for a second term around the economy’s performance, but whose year-long trade war with China is weighing on growth. People pay payroll taxes in order to finance Social Security and Medicare. Former President Obama had enacted a temporary payroll tax cut during his presidency in an effort to boost the economy. Cutting those taxes could temporarily help the middle class, but could also increase the fiscal deficit and possibly hurt the social safety net programs they fund. Trump will need to boost up the economy to get more votes for his second term. However, a temporary tax cut is not likely to end up with sizable economic impacts. Here in Korea, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has announced investments into six innovative areas of the economy, including system semiconductors. Around 4.7 trillion won. What's he trying to do here, and what can we expect to come out of this? The main purposes of the government investment include to boost up the economic growth and reduce technological dependence on Japan. Policy makers are quite concerned on declining growth rate which is partly driven by fast aging population and fewer rising star companies. In addition, after Japan slapped tougher regulations on exports to South Korea of three key materials used in memory chips and display panels in early July, there are much stronger demands for localization in manufacturing. The planned investment in core infrastructure and new industries is meant to help innovative growth spill over into other industrial sectors. South Korea has been eager to boost the hydrogen economy and other innovative sectors as new growth engines amid slowing exports and investment. If the government investment is coupled with the industrial deregulation, then they will be able to make sizable impacts on economic growth in the long run. Alright, Dr. Hwang. That's where we'll have to leave it today. Thank you again for coming on. 2019-08-21
