1. Former First Lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-un have arrived in Pyongyang to pay respects to late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. North Korea's official Korea Central News Agency reported that the delegation arrived in the capital through the border city of Gaeseong today. The group will leave Pyongyang Tuesday morning and return to Seoul in the afternoon.

 

 

2. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao have agreed that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are of common interest to the two nations, and agreed on closer cooperation to tackle issues following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Japanese government officials say Hu also expressed his willingness to resume the stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's denuclearization.

 

 

3. The list of members to sit on the ruling Grand National Party’s emergency leadership committee will be announced by the committee’s chairwoman Park Geun-hye tomorrow. Meanwhile, the main opposition Unified Democratic Party has held a preliminary primary to select final candidates for the election of the party's leadership next month where 9 out of 15 candidates were selected to continue in the race.

 

 

4. The Seoul government has provided all Coast Guard commandos raiding illegal Chinese fishing boats with firearms and will enact other tough crackdown measures in the wake of the death of an officer in a bloody clash with Chinese fishermen earlier this month. The series of measures also called for reinforcing both equipment and personnel cracking down on illegal Chinese fishing and revising guidelines to make it easier for coast guard officers to use firearms.