Yonhap News Summary

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

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N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il meets with visiting Chinese official: Xinhua
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with a visiting Chinese official on
Friday, Xinhua said, as Kim appeared for the first time to a foreign guest since
he reportedly suffered a stroke last summer.
Kim has since recovered and is back in control of his country, according to Seoul
officials.
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DNI-designate Blair calls N. Korea near-term security threat
WASHINGTON -- The nominee for the chief U.S. intelligence post Thursday picked
North Korea among near-term security concerns for America.
"There are many additional near-term issues that are of concern to us," said
retired Adm. Dennis Blair, tapped as director of national intelligence. "They
include North Korea, Iran, decent progress in South Asia, and of course, the
Israeli-Palestinian violence, which flared up recently."
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(LEAD) Top S. Korean, U.S. diplomats agree to seek early summit
SEOUL -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his new American
counterpart Hillary Clinton agreed to push for an early summit between their
leaders during their telephone talks on Friday, the foreign ministry said.
They also agreed to cooperate closely to bolster the two nations' alliance,
resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and overcome the financial crisis, it
added.
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U.N. committee to examine human rights of children in N. Korea
GENEVA -- A United Nations committee is set to question North Korean officials on
Friday about the communist country's policy on protecting the human rights of
children in the country, the first such session since 2004.
The one-day session on North Korea conducted by the U.N. Committee on the Rights
of the Child in Geneva is the third of its kind after similar sessions in 1998
and 2004 looking into malnutrition, infant mortality and budget cuts related to
children's welfare.
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Korean economy to shrink 2.5 pct this year: JPMorgan Chase
SEOUL -- South Korea's economy will contract 2.5 percent in 2009 amid the
deepening global recession, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday, sharply trimming
its earlier projection of a 0.5 percent expansion.
The downgrade comes after many investment banks and research institutes predicted
the economy, Asia's fourth-largest, would post growth in the 1-percent range,
with some expecting a recession for the first time in more than a decade.
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(3rd LD) Samsung suffers first quarterly loss, outlook gloomier
SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co. reported Friday its first-ever quarterly loss in
the final quarter of 2008 as the deepening global economic recession battered
demand for chips, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
The earnings outlook for the world's largest maker of computer memory chips and
major consumer electronics supplier looks even gloomier as Samsung predicts
demand will remain sluggish through the year.
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Gov't plans to encourage job sharing among companies
SEOUL -- The government plans to introduce a job sharing scheme in the public
sector as part of efforts to ease a tightening labor market amid a
faster-than-expected economic slowdown, the finance ministry said Friday.
The government is also considering cutting salaries for newly-recruited workers
among state-run institutions and using the reduced expenses along with tax
incentives to encourage the private sector to join the efforts, the ministry
said.
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(LEAD) Confirmation of police chief nominee delayed due to squatter deaths
SEOUL -- The presidential office decided Friday to withhold its request for
parliament's confirmation hearing of the new national police chief-designate as
pressure mounts for the nominee to withdraw after the deaths of several squatters
in a clash with police.
The decision, however, does not mean the presidential office has decided to abort
its nomination of Kim Seok-ki, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa
Dae told reporters.
(END)