Yonhap News Summary

Yonhap News Summary



The following is the first summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency
on Tuesday.

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(Winter Olympics) S. Korean Mo Tae-bum wins gold in men's 500 meter speed skating
VANCOUVER -- South Korean Mo Tae-bum won the men's 500 meter speed skating event
at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Monday, bringing home the country's first
ever gold medal in the speed skating events.
Mo was clocked at 69.82 seconds in the 500m event held at Richmond Olympic Oval,
nudging out Japanese rivals Keiichiro Nagashima and Joji Kato by 16 hundredths of
a seconds.

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Samsung to target all price segments in smartphone market
BARCELONA -- South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest
handset maker, plans to release smartphone models covering all price ranges to
advance its market share in the rapidly growing sector, the head of the company's
handset division Tuesday.
"We plan to release smartphones at affordable prices so more people can use
them," J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's mobile-communication division, told
reporters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona,
Spain. "We will slowly release cheaper smartphones," he added.

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S. Korea to deliver anti-viral sanitizer to N. Korea next week
SEOUL -- South Korea said Tuesday it will send 1 billion won (US$866,000) worth
of hand sanitizer next week to North Korea to help the impoverished neighbor
combat the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.
The shipment of 200,000 liters of sanitizer, scheduled for next Monday, comes
after South Korea delivered some $15 million in anti-viral medications to the
North in December in the first state-level cross-border humanitarian aid in
nearly two years.

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BOK to gradually raise interest rate in line with economic conditions
SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank will gradually raise its policy interest rate
after gauging financial and economic improvements at home and abroad, the bank
said Tuesday.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) will "be watchful of the possibility of economic
imbalances resulting from maintaining eased monetary policies for an extended
period of time," the bank said in a report to be submitted to the provisional
session of the National Assembly.

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Seoul effectively increases budget for N.K. human rights
SEOUL -- South Korea has frozen its annual budget for supporting activities to
improve human rights in North Korea this year, though the amount is far higher
than what the nation's human rights body had requested, a state panel said
Tuesday.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said the overall budget for
its activities in 12 categories was cut by 5.38 percent on-year to 4.63 billion
won (US$4 million) for the 2010 fiscal year. Funding for research into North
Korean defectors and human rights conditions in the socialist state remained
unchanged, however, at 331 million won, the independent commission said.

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(Yonhap Interview) S. Korea to mediate between advanced, developing economies: envoy
SEOUL -- India expects South Korea to play a bigger role in bridging the gap
between advanced and emerging countries as host of the G-20 summit in November
this year, the top Indian envoy here said.
Balanced development of the world economy is the new major task of the G-20, a
premier negotiating forum for international economic policy cooperation, as the
recession begins to fade.

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(Yonhap Interview) Financial system reform to top G-20 summit agenda: Russian envoy
SEOUL -- The G-20 summit scheduled for November in Seoul will serve as a key
forum for discussions on how to build a firmer footing for the global financial
system in preparation for the post-crisis era, the top Russian envoy here said
Tuesday.
"It is meaningful that South Korea will be the first Asian country to hold the
G-20 summit," Konstantin Vnukov, Russia's Ambassador to South Korea, said in an
interview with Yonhap News Agency.

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(Yonhap Interview) Germany expects G-20 summit to bolster free trade
SEOUL -- Germany hopes to see world leaders reject protectionism and promote free
trade as they formulate plans during this year's G-20 summit in Seoul that is
aimed at rejuvenating the world economy, the country's envoy here said.
On the diplomatic scene, the G-20 talks slated for November will send a signal to
North Korea that its impoverished regime has no chance of survival unless it
endeavors to emulate the rise of capitalist South Korea, Ambassador Hans-Ulrich
Seidt noted in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
(END)