Welcome to Arirang News.
This is the late edition for Thursday, December 12th.
I'm Ahn Chak Hee.
And I'm Kim Kiho.
Thank you for tuning in.
We begin with the latest announcement coming out of North Korea.
Pyeongyang declared on this Thursday it is scrapping a key agreement with Washington to refrain from nuclear activities.
While accusing the United States of first violating the 1994 Agreed Framework the communist state still left room for dialogue on the matter saying what happens next was up to the U.S.
Paik Seungmin has details in our top story.
North Korea declared Thursday it will cancel the 1994 Agreed Framework and immediately resume the operation and construction of its nuclear facilities.
The Washington-Pyeongyang treaty had required the North to give up its nuclear ambitions in return for two light water power generating reactors and an annual supply of 500,000 tons of heavy oil.
In a statement released by the North's Foreign Ministry a North Korean government spokesman said the U.S. first violated the accord by suspending oil shipments for this month following the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization or KEDO's decision to stop delivery in November.
This he added revoked the freeze on nuclear activities and that the communist state had all the right to restart its program to make up for the power shortages it faces.
The spokesman also said whether North Korea halts its nuclear development program is entirely up to the Bush administration's next move.
The South Korean government, meanwhile convened a National Security Council meeting right after Pyeongyang's announcement to come up with ways to deal with the issue.
Paik Seungmin, Arirang TV.
In another development involving North Korea
The United States has released a North Korean ship which was on its way to Yemen with a cargo of Scud missiles.
The move is reportedly in accordance with international laws and is also because Washington was given reassurances the weapons would not end up in the wrong hands.Cho Heemyung has the latest.
Less than a day after seizing a ship carrying 15 North Korean Scud missiles in the Arabian Sea the United States on Wednesday decided to release the shipment to Yemen.
Yemeni officials say the clearance came after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh discussed the incident with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and assured him the weapons would be used only for Yemen's self-defense and would not reach any third party.
They also reaffirmed this would be the last delivery of missiles from North Korea apparently contracted last year before the Arab nation pledged to stop importing dangerous technology from Pyeongyang in July 2001.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer justified its actions at sea saying while there is authority to stop and search there is no provision under international law prohibiting Yemen from accepting the missiles.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also involved in the high-profile diplomacy cited the good relationship between the U.S. and Yemen as one reason for the Scuds' release.
Yemen has been credited for about a year in cooperating with the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
The discovery of North Korean weapons Bush administration officials said clearly backed U.S. claims that the communist state is a major weapons proliferator.
They vowed to use the case to strengthen treaties and international agreements dealing with the proliferation of missiles though it would not affect current U.S. policy on North Korea.
Cho Heemyung, Arirang TV.
Just a week to go until the December 19th presidential election and all seven Cheong Wa Dae contenders are making last-ditch efforts to garner voter support.
Targetting the undecided the country's three leading candidates on this Thursday continued their nationwide stumping tours.
Nam Ki Yung has more.
The Grand National Party's Lee Hoi-chang kicked off the day's outdoor rallies in Jinju and Masan in South Gyeongsang Province.
Lee wooed local constituents by saying he will safeguard the country's agricultural industry from external pressures and promised to provide free education to children in rural fishing and farming districts until they finish high school.
While stumping for votes at the Busan Station Lee stressed the importance of regional development and vowed to relocate the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries now in Seoul to the southeastern port city.
"When the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and related institutions, including all the companies and organizations transfer to Busan, this place will develop into a capital for maritime logistics."
Presidential hopeful Roh Moo-hyun of the Millennium Democratic Party, meanwhile, also took his campaigning on the road vying for voter support in North Chungcheong and Gangwon provinces.
In the morning, Roh took part in the launching ceremony of the committee for the relocation of the current administrative capital to the central Chungcheong region.
At a street rally in Chungju, Roh reiterated the proposed transfer of the administrative capital is paramount to balancing development between the nation's metropolitan and provincial areas.
"We have to save the agricutural industry.
We also have to save the farming districts and its farmers.
I am a farmer's son. I have farmed before.
Candidate Lee Hoi-chang doesn't even have a friend who is a farmer."
In the meantime, presidential nominee Kwon Young-ghil of the Democratic Labor Party visited Daedeok Science Town in Daejon.
There Kwon promised to foster the nation's science and technology fields by revamping governmental policies and allocating five percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product to research and development.Nam Ki Yung, Arirang TV.
Meanwhile other presidential hopefuls kept their public activities to a minimum this Thursday preparing for their first joint TV debate set to begin in about an hour.
During the 100-minute on-air session the Hanaro National Union's Lee Han-dong reportedly plans to highlight his years of experience in state affairs while Kim Young-kyu of the Socialist Party of Korea is likely to call for the U.S. army's withdrawal and the Korean chaebol's breakup.
The nation's former intelligence chief Chang Se-dong in the meantime is expected to emphasize his expertise and experience in security-related matters while promising to boost the quality of life for the low income bracket.
And Buddhist monk Kim Gil-su's key message is likely to focus on unifying the nation through Buddhism.
Absentee voting for the nation's 16th presidential election began on this Thursday at 490 polling stations nationwide.
According to the National Election Commission 867,000 voters or 2.5 percent of the electorate are eligible to cast their ballots during the three-day voting period from 10 in the morning 'til 4 in the afternoon.
Registered absentee voters who are unable to make it to the polls can mail in their ballots instead by election day, December 19th.
Meanwhile for the first time in Korea's election history polling booths have been installed at three university campuses namely, Seoul National, Yonsei and Daegu universities.
Staying with election news as we continue our in-depth look at the campaign strategies of major candidates ahead of the presidential vote.
In this edition we turn the spotlight to the Millennium Democratic Party's Roh Moo-hyun.
Min Sunhee reports.
A society of principle where hard work is recognized and rewarded this is the kind of community Roh Moo-hyun hopes to establish in the next five years.
The Millennium Democratic Party candidate is out to woo national support by striking chords with the ordinary public who are currently suffering the consequences of steep housing prices unemployment as well as the other tough aspects of life in a capitalist society.
Aside from pledges to address these issues the 56-year-old is vowing to make tomorrow's Korea a better place for the country's women.
"At this rally, there are not a lot of females in their twenties, but I would like all of you here to go and let those women know that I plan to nurture a society where they can fully exploit their professional talents."
Coming from a low-income family himself one of Roh's priorities lies in ensuring opportunities for the less fortunate.
Roh's pro-government MDP, however, went through its share of hardships earlier in the year following its humiliating defeat in the local elections.
But after merging forces with the National Alliance Party 21 the party and the candidate's popularity are said to be back on track.
"Roh Moo-hyun, as a potential president, has shown us that he is well aware of major national issues."
On Thursday the two parties inked an accord on coordinated policies paving the road to a coalition government if Roh Moo-hyun wins the race.
The framework also calls for a firmer stance against North Korea stating that financial aid may be withheld if the Stalinist regime continues to pursue its nuclear interests.
Min Sunhee, Arirang TV.
In other news,
The nation's Chief Executive on this Thursday stressed the importance of nurturing a social environment that allows scientists and engineers to realize the full potential of their creative talents.
Speaking during a lucheon at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae for some 180 experts in the science and technology fields President Kim Dae-jung underscored the importance of developments in the fields in order for Korea to become one of the world's leading nations.
The President also thanked the participants for their commitment to advance Korea's science and technology sectors.
Seoul and Washington are forming a special task force to work together in improving an agreement which governs the status of the 37 ,000 U.S. troops stationed in Korea.
The move comes in light of growing anti-American sentiment in the country following the acquittals of two U.S. soldiers involved in the road deaths of Korean girls this past summer.
Choi Soungah reports.
South Korea and the United States agreed Wednesday to form a committee to discuss ways of improving the accord governing American troops stationed in the southern peninsula.
The agreement was reached in a so-called "2 Plus 2" meeting with two senior officials from each side.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik and chief of the policy planning bureau at the Defense Ministry Lieutenant General Cha Young-koo, sat for South Korea while the U.S. was represented by Deputy Ambassador Evans Revere and 8th U.S. Army Commander General Charles Campbell.
"Both sides have agreed to immediately set up a task force to improve operations of the SOFA."
The two sides are to hold further talks to agree on details of establishing the body that will review the bilateral military accord called the Status of Forces Agreement.
Many South Koreans have been demanding for SOFA revisions following last month's jury acquittals in U.S. military courts of two American soldiers who operated an armored vehicle that hit and killed two Korean schoolgirls in June.
Meanwhile working-level officials of both countries met on Thursday to discuss ways for Korean law enforcement authorities to get wider access to U.S. soldiers accused of crimes.
There they tentatively agreed for the host country to take part in the initial stages of investigations and will finetune related details in follow-up meetings.Choi Soungah, Arirang TV.
With the growing number of North Korean defectors entering the country the South Korean government plans to put up 24.6 billion won or roughly 20 million U.S. dollars next year to help their resettlement.
Government officials said Wednesday the amount to be allocated in 2003 is a whopping 64 percent increase from this year.
Of the total 16.6 billion won will go to helping defectors to resettle in their new environment while 4.3 billion won will be earmarked to enhance education and training programs offered by the state.
3.7 billion won is set to go into improving Hanawon in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province a facility for North Koreans to learn the basics of life in the capitalist South.
In news on the economy
The Bank of Korea on this Thursday decided to leave the benchmark short-term lending rate unchanged after its policymakers agreed to take a wait-and-see approach to various external factors.
Park Jonghong has the details.
The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee Thursday decided to freeze the call rate at the curent 4.25 percent.
The committee came to this decision in its regular monthly meeting for December.
As reasons the committee cited the global instability prompted by the possible U.S. invasion of Iraq and the sound growth being posted in the domestic economy.
The committee said economic growth slowed down slightly in September due to the Korean Thanksgiving holiday and typhoon damages.
But it added industrial production surged in October and the momentum was sustained the following month.
Also it said consumer prices in November were stable and the once soaring real estate prices showed signs of a lull thanks to the government's stabilization measures and a seasonal decline in demand.
The call rate, or overnight inter-bank lending rate was raised by 25 basis points back in May and has remained unchanged ever since.
Park Jonghong Arirang TV.
Recapping this Thursday's local market action
A strong rebound on the Seoul bourse ending five straight sessions of losses to recover the 710-point level.
Despite the day being a triple-witching day when futures, options and equity options all expire at the same time the main bourse got a boost from a massive program buying by institutional players.
Analysts say investor sentiment was not swayed due to earlier losses this week.
At the closing bell the key index finished almost 17 points higher at 715.
Gains also for the tech-heavy KOSDAQ at 53.38.
On the FX counter the national currency closed trading at 1,212 won per greenback.
It was also worth 982 won per 100 yen and 1,222 won to the euro.
And those are the leading stories for our international segment. We thank you for watching.
More news is coming up for viewers in Korea after a check of Friday's weather conditions for the peninsula.
Stay with us.
It was another freezing day but here's the good news.
Temperatures will recover seasonal norms tomorrow afternoon and stay the night at least until end of the week.
It looks like the high pressure front which moved in over the peninsula earlier this week. will continue to make its influence felt tomorrow.
Patchy clouds are in the forecast but it's going to be rain-free nationwide even in the western regions where the residents received sporadic showers during the past few days.
Morning lows will stay mostly under the freezing point but Jeju is an exception at 2 degrees.
Capital Seoul will be kicking off the day at minus 6 degrees and the port city of Busan warmer at minus 1.
Expect a pleasant warm-up in the afternoon as readings will hover mostly in the single digits.
Daegu will post 5 degrees Gwangju 6 Busan 7 and the warmest will be Jeju at 8 degrees.
That's it for today and here's our our five-day forecast.
More of the day's news now
The nation's unemployment rate moved up in November rising for two consecutive months.
According to the National Statistical Office today the jobless rate rose by 0.1 percentage point from October to 2.7 percent while the number of jobless individuals grew by 10,000 to 615,000.
Analysts say the unemployment rate has been pushed up by a decline in the number of working women coupled with the increase in the number of younger jobseekers as high school graduates enter the employment market.
But regardless of the month-on-month hike experts point out the November figure still marks a drop of half a percentage point compared to the same month last year.
The country's major industries including construction and steel are likely to mark a slight decline in performance next year.
According to a report released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry today the expected slowdown is due mainly to decreases in facility investments and consumer spending.
The KCCI is also predicting the electronics, machinery, petrochemical and automobile sectors,
on the other hand, will keep up their momentum and work to fuel the domestic economy.
In addition amid a steady rise in demand for such goods in the U.S. and China exports of these products along with semiconductors are expected to grow by up to 20 percent in 2003.
The Construction and Transportation Ministry says on this Thursday it will open an additional 23 sections of national highways totalling a distance of 232 kilometers by the year's end.
The new roadways include sections of Highway Number 39 outside the Seoul Metropolitan area and Highway Number 5 in Gangwon Province.
The additional routes are expected to help alleviate traffic congestion and in the case of Highway Number 5 it is expected to connect the northern and southern regions of Gangwon Province and to boost tourism in the Sorak Mountain area and East Coast.
Seoul's Justice Ministry says plans are in the works to toughen its regulations for issuing E-6 visas.
Officials say they will seek measures to improve the current visa issuance system to prevent foreign women from working illegally here in Korea.
The ministry is also considering having visa applicants submit their HIV test records.
The E-6 entry permit was originally designed to attract foreign tourists to this country but recently a growing number of foreign female entertainers were able to obtain the visa through domestic performance agencies.
Amid mounting criticism some of these women were forced into prostitution or work as dancers at local nightclubs and other entertainment facilities.
And here's a bit of good news for those of you who run into problems at the dry cleaners.
Starting next year any articles of clothing that come back damaged or discolored will be compensated up to 95-percent by the cleaners.
This according to a new consumer protection guideline by the Fair Trade Commission today which also says locals will be able to get up to 20 times the cleaning cost regardless of when they purchased the damaged clothes or what type of material it was made of.
As part of on-going efforts to regulate unsolicited commercial e-mails Seoul's Information and Communication Ministry along with the Korea Information Security Agency have developed a new anti-spam mail program called "Never Spam".
Ministry officials say the program prevents spam-mail senders from extracting people's e-mail addresses from Internet boards.
The ministry plans to distribute the program from next week free of charge through the Internet.
In tonight's World News Roundup
The United States and Chile reach an agreement on a free trade accord lifting tariffs on 85 percent of goods from both countries in the first year while Europe's most powerful rocket Ariane-5 explodes within three minutes after liftoff.
Kim Duyeon has more.
The United States on Wednesday signed a Free Trade Agreement with Chile hoping to present the accord to Congress early next year for approval.
Tariffs will be phased out on 85 percent of all goods from both countries in the first year.
And by its 12th year all tariffs will be lifted.
A U.S. study by the National Association of Manufacturers said the lack of a trade agreement will cost U.S. exporters 800 million dollars per year in sales and a loss of 10-thousand U.S. jobs.
Arianespace a European rocket launch operator made its second attempt to launch its new, more powerful Ariane-5 Wednesday after an unsuccessful attempt last month.
But the rocket exploded within 3 minutes after liftoff.
Loaded with two satellites it carried the Stentor an experimental telecommunications satellite.
Honda Motors unveiled Wednesday its latest humanoid robot Asimo.
The Japanese car manufacturer has programmed it to walk and recognize voices.
The upgraded version can also understand human gestures and 10 different pre-programmed faces while calling out that person's name.
Its makers say they hope the child-size walking robot standing 1-point-2 meters tall will someday perform household chores. Kim Duyeon, Arirang TV.