Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) N. Korean nuclear weapons more for deterrence than for war: intel chief
WASHINGTON -- North Korea will not likely use its nuclear weapons unless it feels
its security is at risk, the chief U.S. intelligence official said Thursday.
"Pyongyang probably views its nuclear weapons as being more for deterrence,
international prestige, and coercive diplomacy than for war fighting and would
consider using nuclear weapons only under certain narrow circumstances," the
director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, said in a report presented at a
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing.
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Leadership change in N. Korea unlikely to bring policy change: scholar
WASHINGTON -- Any leadership change in North Korea after its leader Kim Jong-il's
death will not likely bring a dramatic change in the reclusive communist state,
as North Korea's senior military and government officials see the status quo as
essential to their well-being, a U.S. scholar said Thursday.
Speaking to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing, Bruce Klingner, senior
research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said, "The new leader, lacking the
inherent legitimacy of Kim Jong-il or his father Kim Il-sung, would be heavily
dependent on senior party and military officials, who are overwhelmingly
nationalist and resistant to change."
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N. Korea's poor health to pose burden to S. Korea after reunification: report
WASHINGTON -- The widespread malnutrition in North Korea caused by famine in the
1990s will likely burden South Korea once the two Koreas are reunified, a U.S.
government report has said.
"If reunification occurs, South Korea will face costs not only of incorporating
an economic void, but also those of a huge health-care burden," said the report
of the National Intelligence Council released recently.
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N. Korean leader makes more public tours ahead of birthday
SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il continued his brisk public activity with
visits to factories and an agricultural university, Pyongyang's state-run media
said Friday, as the country stepped up a worship campaign for the "dear leader's"
birthday.
Kim celebrates his 67th birthday on Monday, amid signs that he has significantly
recovered from a suspected stroke last August. The nation has been preparing the
celebrations for weeks with flower exhibitions, parades to his birth home and
banquets with foreign dignitaries.
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(LEAD) FM, BOK head share view on revision of central bank law
SEOUL -- South Korea's finance minister and the country's top central banker
agreed Friday on the need to revise the nation's central bank law to better cope
with financial and economic instability.
"We shared the view that there is a need to revise the role of the central bank
in the process of overcoming global financial turmoil," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov.
Lee Seong-tae told reporters after a rare meeting with Finance Minister Yoon
Jeung-hyun.
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(News Focus) S. Korean shippers to face rough sailing this year
SEOUL -- South Korean shipping lines are expected to face rough waters this year
as the global economic downturn is likely to last longer than expected, further
reducing shipping demand, analysts said Friday.
The gloomy outlook comes amid speculation that the shipping industry might have
already hit bottom and is now set to rebound from the recent downswing, as a key
barometer of commodity shipping rates continued to climb.
(END)