ID :
42381
Fri, 01/23/2009 - 19:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/42381
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The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Friday.
SEOUL -- Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il through a visiting Beijing official on Friday, Pyongyang's state news agency said, as Kim greeted a foreign guest for the first time since his reported stroke last summer.
Kim's appearance suggests he has recovered significantly and is in full control
of the country, watchers said.
-----------------
N. Korea renews claim to nuclear status
SEOUL -- North Korea's state news agency said Friday that the U.S. military
recognizes North Korea as a nuclear state, renewing Pyongyang's claim to
membership in the nuclear weapons club ahead of expected negotiations with
Washington.
North Korea has insisted that it be recognized as a nuclear state following a
nuclear weapons test in 2006. Regional powers, including the United States and
Russia, have so far denied Pyongyang's claims.
-----------------
Obama to prioritize N. Korean nuke: Seoul envoy
SEOUL -- South Korea's top nuclear envoy said Friday that the new American
government will give a priority to the North Korean nuclear issue, dismissing
worries here that it may be put on the back burner.
"I am not worried," Kim Sook said. "The North Korean nuclear issue may not be as
urgent as the (conflict) in the Gaza Strip. But it would be high on the list of
priorities in both the short and long term in view of nuclear proliferation and
weapons of mass destruction."
-----------------
President Lee says reconciliation with N. Korea top priority
SEOUL -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Friday called on the military to be
fully prepared to counter any provocation from North Korea while adding the
nation's top priority is securing peace and reconciliation between the divided
Koreas.
The call comes less than a week after the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said
it would now take an "all-out confrontation posture" against the South.
-----------------
UNDP to resume N. Korea projects after suspected fund misappropriations
NEW YORK -- The United Nations will soon resume development projects in North
Korea, nearly two years after it suspended work in the communist state over
suspicions that funds were being misappropriated, a source said Thursday.
The executive board of the United Nations Development Program made the decision
after North Korea agreed to guarantee independent auditing and to alter the
methods for payment and selection of North Korean staff, the source said on
customary condition of anonymity.
-----------------
Japan's top nuke envoy due in Seoul next week
SEOUL -- Japan's chief nuclear negotiator Akitaka Saiki will visit Seoul next
week to meet with his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook, sources here said
Friday.
Saiki, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs
Bureau, will also attend an annual meeting of Japanese envoys here, the sources
added.
-----------------
(LEAD) Seoul stocks fall 2.05 pct on earnings woes
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks closed 2.05 percent lower Friday as investors were
spooked by growing worries about corporate earnings, analysts said. The local
currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 22.83 points to
1,093.4. Volume was light at 259.1 million shares worth 3.5 trillion won (US$2.5
billion), with losers outpacing gainers 582 to 215.
(END)
Kim's appearance suggests he has recovered significantly and is in full control
of the country, watchers said.
-----------------
N. Korea renews claim to nuclear status
SEOUL -- North Korea's state news agency said Friday that the U.S. military
recognizes North Korea as a nuclear state, renewing Pyongyang's claim to
membership in the nuclear weapons club ahead of expected negotiations with
Washington.
North Korea has insisted that it be recognized as a nuclear state following a
nuclear weapons test in 2006. Regional powers, including the United States and
Russia, have so far denied Pyongyang's claims.
-----------------
Obama to prioritize N. Korean nuke: Seoul envoy
SEOUL -- South Korea's top nuclear envoy said Friday that the new American
government will give a priority to the North Korean nuclear issue, dismissing
worries here that it may be put on the back burner.
"I am not worried," Kim Sook said. "The North Korean nuclear issue may not be as
urgent as the (conflict) in the Gaza Strip. But it would be high on the list of
priorities in both the short and long term in view of nuclear proliferation and
weapons of mass destruction."
-----------------
President Lee says reconciliation with N. Korea top priority
SEOUL -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Friday called on the military to be
fully prepared to counter any provocation from North Korea while adding the
nation's top priority is securing peace and reconciliation between the divided
Koreas.
The call comes less than a week after the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said
it would now take an "all-out confrontation posture" against the South.
-----------------
UNDP to resume N. Korea projects after suspected fund misappropriations
NEW YORK -- The United Nations will soon resume development projects in North
Korea, nearly two years after it suspended work in the communist state over
suspicions that funds were being misappropriated, a source said Thursday.
The executive board of the United Nations Development Program made the decision
after North Korea agreed to guarantee independent auditing and to alter the
methods for payment and selection of North Korean staff, the source said on
customary condition of anonymity.
-----------------
Japan's top nuke envoy due in Seoul next week
SEOUL -- Japan's chief nuclear negotiator Akitaka Saiki will visit Seoul next
week to meet with his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook, sources here said
Friday.
Saiki, the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs
Bureau, will also attend an annual meeting of Japanese envoys here, the sources
added.
-----------------
(LEAD) Seoul stocks fall 2.05 pct on earnings woes
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks closed 2.05 percent lower Friday as investors were
spooked by growing worries about corporate earnings, analysts said. The local
currency fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 22.83 points to
1,093.4. Volume was light at 259.1 million shares worth 3.5 trillion won (US$2.5
billion), with losers outpacing gainers 582 to 215.
(END)
