Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Former Samsung chairman given suspended jail term for illicit bond deals
SEOUL -- A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former Samsung Group Chairman Lee
Kun-hee to a three-year suspended prison term and a fine of 110 billion won
(US$89.2 million) for illegal bond transactions that caused huge financial losses
to a Samsung affiliate.
The Seoul High Court made the ruling, convicting the 67-year-old Lee of forcing
Samsung SDS, a system integration unit of Samsung Group, to sell bonds with
warrants (BWs) to his son and daughters at a huge discount in 1999, incurring a
loss of 22.7 billion won for the Samsung company.
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(LEAD) Hyundai chief extends N. Korea trip for third time
SEOUL -- The chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai Group extended her North Korea
trip for a third time on Friday, as uncertainty remained over whether the
country's leader Kim Jong-il would grant a meeting with her.
Hyun Jung-eun, initially due to return home in the afternoon, will stay in North
Korea for one more day, said Cho Kun-shik, chief of the group's North Korea
business unit, Hyundai Asan Corp., who received a phone call from her entourage
in Pyongyang.
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(LEAD) Obama likely to visit Seoul ahead of Singapore APEC summit in Nov.: sources
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama will likely visit South Korea in
November on his way to the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in
Singapore, diplomatic sources here said Thursday.
It will be Obama's first trip to South Korea since taking office in January,
although he has met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak twice, first in
London in April on the sidelines of the G20 economic summit and in Washington in
June.
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U.S. welcomes S. Korean worker's release from N. Korea
WASHINGTON -- The United States welcomed the release Thursday of a South Korean
worker detained in North Korea since March for allegedly defaming the communist
regime.
"Obviously, we welcome the release of the South Korean employee and hope that
that will remove an obstacle to potential dialogue between North and South,"
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said at a daily news briefing.
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President Lee to promise 'massive' assistance to N. Korea
SEOUL -- President Lee Myung-bak is expected to promise massive economic and
humanitarian assistance for North Korea if the communist nation abandons its
nuclear ambitions, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.
The pledge will come in his speech Saturday, marking the country's liberation
from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.
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Korea's current account deficit with Japan soars in last decade
SEOUL -- South Korea's current account deficit with Japan has been snowballing in
the last decade due to its heavy dependence on Japanese goods to power its
export-driven economy, central bank data showed Friday.
Seoul's cumulative current account shortfall with Tokyo stood at $174.9 billion
in the 1999-2008 period, with the deficit widening sharply almost every year
during the decade, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
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Younger Koreans face tighter job market: data
SEOUL -- Younger people in South Korea face tougher recruitment conditions than
those in other age groups amid a protracted economic slowdown, data showed
Friday.
According to the data by the National Statistical Office, the number of employed
people aged between 15 and 29 totaled 4.09 million at the end of July, down
112,000 from the same month a year ago.
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Ssangyong Motor suffers 177 bln won loss in Q2
SEOUL -- Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea's smallest carmaker currently under
bankruptcy protection, said Friday it posted a seventh consecutive quarterly loss
in the second quarter due mainly to a plunge in sales and a months-long strike.
Net loss reached 177 billion won (US$144 million) in the April-June period, the
company said in a regulatory filing. Sales plunged 66 percent on-year to 222
billion won, and operating loss increased 15 percent to 27.4 billion won, it
said.
(END)