Yonhap News Summary

The following is the first summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Friday.
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(3rd LD) Bosworth to begin work on N. Korea's denuclearization with Asian tour:
official
WASHINGTON -- The new U.S. point man on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will
travel to South Korea, China, Japan and Russia next week to discuss resuming the
six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said Thursday.
Clinton also told a news conference at the State Department that Sung Kim,
special envoy to the six-party talks, will head the U.S. delegation to the
multilateral talks in close cooperation with Bosworth.
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U.S. relations with N.K. not to come at expense of ties with S. Korea: Hill
WASHINGTON -- The United States Thursday reiterated that it will not develop ties
with North Korea at the cost of relations with South Korea, urging the North to
refrain from escalating tensions with provocations.
"The secretary made very clear in her press conference in Seoul that we are not
interested in developing relations with North Korea at the expense of relations
with South Korea," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in a news
conference at the National Press Center. "And she also made very clear our view
that North Korea should be doing much more to work on its relationship with South
Korea."
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N. Korea testing rocket monitoring equipment: S. Korean official
SEOUL -- North Korea appears to have begun testing radars and other monitoring
equipment as it moves briskly to launch what it claims will be a satellite, a
South Korean source said Friday.
North Korea said this week it is preparing to shoot a communications satellite
into orbit, a claim that its neighbors say is a disguise for a ballistic missile
capable of hitting Alaska.
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(LEAD) Chief envoy to 6-way talks named division head at spy agency
SEOUL -- South Korea's top negotiator to North Korean nuclear disarmament talks
was named a senior official for the country's intelligence agency, the
presidential office said Friday.
In addition to Kim Sook from the foreign ministry, two others were named division
chiefs of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), tasked with domestic and North
Korean affairs, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
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Diplomatic efforts on N. Korea gain pace, refreshed by new envoys
SEOUL -- After a hiatus of several months, regional powers are moving to get
North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks amid its reported preparations for
a long-range missile launch.
The new U.S. point man on North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to South
Korea, Japan, China and Russia next week to coordinate a strategy on Pyongyang,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in Washington. All the nations are
members of the Beijing-based six-way talks.
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(LEAD) S. Korea's current account swings to deficit in Jan.
SEOUL -- South Korea recorded its first current-account deficit in four months in
January as exports were pounded by a sharp downturn in global trade, the central
bank said Friday.
The current account shortfall reached US$1.36 billion in January, a turnaround
from a $860.8-million surplus the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in
a report. South Korea's current account, which measures trade, service and
investment flows between the country and the rest of the world, had been in the
black between October and December.
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Finance minister indicates expanding scale of extra budget
SEOUL -- Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun said Friday that the volume of a
supplementary budget now under discussion between the government and the ruling
Grand National Party will turn out to be far in excess of expectations.
"The amount of the supplementary budget has yet to be determined, but (the
government) will respect the wish of the ruling party," said Yoon in a meeting
with a group of GNP lawmakers at the National Assembly.
(END)