Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) N. Korea reopens border for stranded S. Korean workers
SEOUL -- North Korea told South Korea on Monday that it will partially reopen the
border for stranded South Korean workers to return home from a joint industrial
complex in the communist state, a Seoul spokesman said.
But North Korea still refused to allow South Korean workers to commute across the
border to the industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong, casting
doubt over the future of the last remaining inter-Korean reconciliation project.
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Seoul mulls steps to prevent disruption of Kaesong complex
SEOUL -- South Korea's government is considering a number of options to ensure
travel safety for South Korean workers at an inter-Korean industrial complex in
the North, an official said Monday, indicating one of the measures could include
a temporary shutdown of the joint complex.
The remarks came shortly after North Korea partially reopened the border to allow
hundreds of workers at the Kaesong complex to return South after being stranded
in the communist nation for three days following the border closure last Friday.
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(3rd LD) Four S. Korean tourists killed in Yemen bomb blast
SEOUL -- A team of South Korean government officials left Monday for Yemen, where
four South Korean tourists were killed and three others wounded in what appears
to be a terrorist attack.
A bomb went off at around 11:50 p.m. on Sunday (Seoul time) in the city of Syoun,
about 500km east of the capital Sanna, while the tourists from Seoul were out
taking pictures at sunset, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
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(LEAD) S. Korea, EU to announce free trade deal in early April: officials
SEOUL -- South Korea and the European Union have virtually wrapped up their
negotiations to forge a free trade agreement and are set to formally announce the
deal early next month, officials said Monday.
South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, and the EU, the world's
single-largest economic bloc, started the talks in May 2007, but differences over
industrial tariffs and other sensitive issues have limited progress.
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U.S. ambassador urges patience over FTA
SEOUL -- U.S. ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens urged Seoul to show
patience over the ratification of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), saying
the new U.S. administration needs time to review it.
South Korea has to give the Obama administration time to think over the FTA,
which was signed in June 2007 by Seoul and Washington, Stephens told a meeting
hosted by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
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S. Korean business leader warns of protectionism
SEOUL -- The head of South Korea's largest business lobby said Monday that the
world must fight trade protectionism to help speed up recovery of the troubled
global economy.
Cho Suck-rai, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, also called for
the world's 20 biggest economies to present measures to ease credit constraints
in emerging markets.
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Korea to deregulate operation of money market funds
SEOUL -- South Korea's financial watchdog said Monday it will allow money market
funds (MMFs) to invest in long-term treasury bonds and diversify investment
portfolios in a bid to help boost demand for state debt.
A money market fund is a pool of money which is mostly invested in short-dated
bonds, commercial paper and certificates of deposit. Deposits at MMFs have
sharply increased as local banks increasingly put money into MMFs rather than
extending lending due to risk aversion, and retail investors have flocked to the
funds due to falling bank deposit rates.
(END)