Yonhap News Summary

The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency
on Tuesday.

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N. Korea launches missiles amid tension over nuclear test
SEOUL -- North Korea fired a pair of short-range missiles Tuesday on its east
coast, escalating tensions already running high on the Korean Peninsula after its
second nuclear test a day earlier, a South Korean official said.
"The North is continuing its saber-rattling," the official said, declining to be
identified and to say whether the launches were meant as tests.
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(News Focus) S. Korea plays PSI card to counter N. Korea's brinkmanship
SEOUL -- South Korea's decision to fully participate in the Proliferation
Security Initiative (PSI) highlights its own resolve to stand its ground against
North Korea's continued provocations and play a bigger role in global security.
It also represents a major policy U-turn, prompted by North Korea's April 5
rocket launch and nuclear test on Monday, from several years of maintaining a
tepid stance toward the U.S.-led campaign to interdict suspected cross-border
proliferation activity.
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(News Focus) S. Korea joins U.S. security drive despite North's warning
SEOUL -- South Korea responded to North Korea's nuclear test by joining a
U.S.-led security campaign on Tuesday, a move expected to further raise the
stakes in deadlocked inter-Korean relations.
North Korea has repeatedly warned that Seoul's participation in the Proliferation
Security Initiative, a naval exercise whose primary targets include the communist
state, would be seen as a "declaration of war."
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Pro-N. Korea newspaper urges U.S. to open two-way talks
SEOUL -- North Korea will continue to raise the stakes no matter how seriously it
is punished by the international community unless the United States takes direct
action to resolve the nuclear crisis, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said Tuesday.
The Choson Sinbo, which conveys North Korea's perspective to foreign readers,
said in the article that the only way to stop the North's accelerating arms
buildup is for the U.S. to discard its hostile policy and seek bilateral talks.
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BOK supplies US$1.5 bln to local banks
SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank said Tuesday it has supplied US$1.5 billion
to local banks, less than what it had previously offered, as the country's trade
balance and overseas borrowing conditions improved.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it re-offered the amount to 12 local lenders through
84-day swap deals earlier in the day out of the $3 billion in loans it extended
in March that mature on Thursday.
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(LEAD) Seoul stocks close 2.06 pct lower on security woes
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished 2.06 percent lower Tuesday as concerns over
rising inter-Korean tension dashed investor confidence, analysts said. The local
currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) skidded 28.86 points to
1,372.04, extending its losing run to a fourth session. Volume was moderate at
648.1 million shares worth 7.85 trillion won (US$6.2 billion), with losers
outpacing gainers 646 to 185.
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Korean banks' deposit, lending rates hit record low in April
SEOUL -- South Korean banks' deposit and lending rates fell to an all-time low in
April due to effects of steep cuts in the key interest rate, the central bank
said Tuesday.
The average deposit rate for households and companies reached 2.88 percent last
month, down 0.09 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the Bank of
Korea (BOK). It marked the lowest level since January 1996, when the central bank
began to compile related data.
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Pro-Pyongyang paper offers tribute to late S. Korean president
SEOUL -- A pro-Pyongyang paper published in Japan on Tuesday called the death of
former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun "shocking," praising his past
contributions to inter-Korean relations that included an historic 2007 summit
with North Korea's leader.
The former president leapt to his death from a cliff while hiking near his rural
hometown in the country's southeast on Saturday, amid a widening corruption probe
involving him and his family.
(END)