Yonhap News Summary

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

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S. Korea protests North's abrupt dam discharge that left 6 missing
SEOUL -- South Korea protested on Monday over the North's unannounced discharge
of dam water that left six people missing, an incident that may become a new
thorn in cross-border relations.
Floodwaters swept the campers away early Sunday morning after North Korea
released a large quantity of dam water into the Imjin River that runs through the
inter-Korean border in the west, South Korean authorities say.
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Koreas normalize consultation office in Kaesong park
SEOUL -- South and North Korea on Monday resumed operations at a consultation
office that oversees daily affairs at their joint industrial park in the North,
the government said.
Pyongyang in December had unilaterally shut down the Inter-Korean Exchange and
Cooperation Consultation Office at the complex located in its border town of
Kaesong and restricted traffic in and out of the park to protest Seoul's
hard-line policy toward it.
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Ruling party gets new chief ahead of parliamentary by-election
SEOUL -- Rep. Chung Mong-joon, the head of Hyundai Heavy Industries and a
six-term lawmaker, took command of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) on
Monday after his predecessor stepped down to run in next month's parliamentary
by-elections.
Chung automatically assumed the post as he was the runner up in the race at the
party's national convention in July last year, in which Park Hee-tae was elected
as the head.
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(LEAD) Journalist-turned-professor takes reins of embattled film council
SEOUL -- A veteran cinema theorist who supports reducing South Korea's exclusive
screen quota system was named Monday as new chairman of the Korean Film Council,
a post left vacant for two months after his predecessor resigned under
labor-management disputes.
Cho Hee-moon, 52, a journalist-turned-professor and former member of the
incumbent government's transition committee, will serve as the state-run
organization's new chief through May 27, 2011.
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S. Korea's current account surplus expected to fall to US$1.5 bln in Aug.
SEOUL -- South Korea's current account surplus is expected to fall to US$1.5
billion in August due to a sharp drop in trade volume, a government report said
Monday.
The latest economic assessment by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the
size of the current account, which topped $5.4 billion in June and $4.4 billion
in July, will be affected by the decrease in the trade surplus for the cited
month.
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Korea needs more investment to boost service industry: report
SEOUL -- South Korea's service industry remained less competitive than those of
major advanced countries, a central bank report showed Monday, calling for more
investment to boost the sector.
South Korea's service sector accounted for 40.4 percent of the total economy in
2007, up from 39.3 percent in 2000, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The
figure compares with 70 percent for the United States, 66.9 percent for Britain
and 55 percent for Japan, it added.
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S. Korean stocks among the fastest to emerge from Lehman shock
SEOUL -- South Korea's stock market is one of only four to have recovered to
levels seen before the collapse of U.S. banking giant Lehman Brothers last year,
the bourse operator said Monday.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), Korean stocks gained 7.98 percent as of
the end of August from the same period last year, two weeks before a bankruptcy
filing by the investment bank triggered a wide-ranging global financial crisis.
(END)