Yonhap News Summary

Yonhap News Summary

The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency
on Thursday.

-----------------
(3rd LD) Hyundai Motor-earnings
(3rd LD) Hyundai Motor posts record 2009 profit, outlook bright
(ATTN: ADDS quotes, closing stock price, details)
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, said
Thursday it posted record profits last year on the back of favorable exchange
rates and robust gains in its market share in the United States and China.
The near-term outlook for Hyundai is bright with the Korean currency unlikely to
significantly strengthen anytime soon and Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp.
coming under pressure over massive recalls in the U.S., analysts say.
-----------------
(2nd LD) SK Telecom-Q4 earnings
(2nd LD) SK Telecom reports drop in Q4 net, higher sales, profits targets in 2010
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with quotes, details; UPDATES
closing share price)
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier
by subscribers, reported Thursday its fourth-quarter income missed market
forecasts on higher marketing fees and a one-off loss from stake sales.
But the company said it is eying higher annual sales of 13 trillion won this
year, compared with 12.1 trillion won last year, with annual profit target also
slightly higher than 2009.
-----------------
(LEAD) border tension-dialogue
(LEAD) S. Korea seeks dialogue on joint venture with N. Korea despite tension
(ATTN: UPDATES; RESTRUCTURES throughout)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea Thursday sent North Korea a list of
delegates that will attend next week's talks on Kaesong Industrial Complex, an
official said, as the communist neighbor stoked tension along the western sea
border by resuming artillery firing.
The list of 17 officials, including chief delegate Kim Young-tak, has been handed
over to North Korea through an inter-Korean office in the border town of Kaesong
in the North, the official here said.
-----------------
former police chief-Hanwha case ruling
Suspended jail term confirmed for former police chief in Hanwha case
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's
ruling handing down a suspended jail sentence for a former police chief indicted
on charges of trying to help the chairman of a major South Korean conglomerate
foil an investigation into his connections with an assault in 2007.
The ruling is part of legal proceedings stemming from the attack at a karaoke bar
in Seoul involving the chairman of Hanwha Group, Kim Seung-youn
-----------------
(2nd LD) Hynix-stake sale
(2nd LD) Creditors may consider block sale of Hynix: state agency
(ATTN: UPDATES with closing share price in para 6)
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. could consider a
wide range of options including a block sale if their attempt to sell the world's
second-largest memory chipmaker hits a snag, the head of South Korea's state-run
policy lender said Thursday.
The creditors put their 28 percent stake up for sale this month for the second
time after a previous attempt to sell the stake fell through. Hyosung Group, the
sole bidder for Hynix, dropped its bid in November 2009.
-----------------
Rain-canceled concert suit
Court says singer Rain not responsible for canceled U.S. concerts
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court ruled Thursday that South Korean pop
singer Rain and his former management agency JYP Entertainment were not
responsible for canceled concerts in the United States.
South Korean concert organizer Wellmade STARM had filed a suit against Rain and
JYP seeking 4.57 billion won (US$3.96 million) in compensation for 16 canceled
performances out of a scheduled 35 during his U.S. tour between 2006 and 2007.
-----------------
Korean tourists-Peru rescue
Twenty Korean tourists rescued after being stranded in Peru
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministry in Seoul said Thursday 20 of the
34 South Korean tourists stranded near Peru's famed archaeological site Machu
Picchu due to heavy rains have been rescued.
Peruvian authorities rescued 11 of the tourists Wednesday evening (local time),
after they had airlifted a batch of nine others hours earlier, a ministry
official said.
(END)