Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) S. Korean economy shrinks 5.1 pct in Q4
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean economy shrank a revised 5.1 percent
last quarter, less than an earlier estimate, due to smaller falls in corporate
investment, the central bank said Friday.
The figure compares with the previous estimate of a 5.6 percent quarterly
contraction. From a year earlier, the country's gross domestic product (GDP)
contracted 3.4 percent in the October-December period, according to the Bank of
Korea (BOK).
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40 pct of ranking gov't officials report decline in personal wealth
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- Nearly half of the nation's top-ranking public
officials suffered losses in personal assets last year due largely to a steep
decline in the stock and fund markets, the government said Friday.
The Public Service Ethics Committee issued an annual report on the financial
statements of 1,782 highest-ranking officials as of the end of last year,
including all officials of Grade 1 or above at ministries, heads of regional
governments and superintendents of schools.
Among them, 721, or 40.5 percent, reported that their assets had declined in
value, almost double the 21 percent from the previous year's report.
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Senior ruling party lawmaker summoned in corruption probe
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- Rep. Park Jin, a senior lawmaker of the ruling Grand
National Party, was summoned by prosecutors Friday for questioning over
allegations that he received bribes from the scandal-ridden chairman of shoemaker
Taekwang Industry, prosecution officials said.
The three-term lawmaker appeared at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern
Seoul early Friday morning and underwent hours of questioning about whether he
was paid any illicit political funds by Taekwang Chairman Park Yeon-cha, who was
arrested last December on charges of tax evasion and bribery, said the officials.
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KT shareholders OK merger with mobile phone unit KTF
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- Shareholders of KT Corp., South Korea's top
fixed-line and broadband Internet operator, approved Friday the company's merger
with KTF Co., its mobile subsidiary.
The approval comes about 12 years after KTF, the country's second largest mobile
carrier, was founded in January 1997.
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Gov't may extend guarantee for banks' overseas borrowing: officials
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government is pushing to extend its
guarantee for overseas borrowings by local banks as part of efforts to help them
secure more liquidity in the face of toughened credit conditions, officials said
Friday.
According to officials from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and other
financial policymaking agencies, the government is seeking to extend the bank
guarantee by one year until June of 2010.
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S. Korea, U.S., Japan to coordinate on N. Korea's rocket launch
SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's chief nuclear envoy headed to
Washington Friday to coordinate a strategy for countering North Korea's imminent
rocket launch, following media reports that a long-range rocket has already been
mounted onto the secretive nation's east coast launchpad.
"As North Korea's rocket launch preparations gather pace, I will have
consultations on the issue and the six-way talks (on the North's nuclear
program)," Wi Sung-lac told reporters shortly before his departure.
(END)