Yonhap News Summary

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

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Obama urged to move for ratification of Korea FTA
WASHINGTON -- The biggest U.S. business lobby called on the Obama administration
Tuesday to seek Congressional approval of pending free trade deals with South
Korea, Colombia and Panama to help create jobs amid the worst recession in
decades.
"Washington is sitting on pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia,
and Panama," Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a
forum here. "If we fail to pass them, we will not only miss opportunities to
create new jobs, but we will lose existing jobs."
Obama has been lukewarm on the free trade deals with the three countries signed
by the George W. Bush administration amid rising protectionist sentiment in the
Democratic Congress over possible job losses.
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N. Korea among nine worst countries in rights, democracy: Freedom House
WASHINGTON -- North Korea has been listed among the nine worst countries in terms
of human rights and democracy, an independent human rights watchdog group said
Tuesday.
"Of the 47 countries ranked Not Free, nine countries and one territory received
the survey's lowest possible rating for both political rights and civil
liberties: Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan,
Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan," Freedom House said in the survey titled
"Freedom in the World 2010: Global Erosion of Freedom," which was posted in its
Web site.
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Temperatures in Seoul hit six-year low
SEOUL -- A prolonged cold spell sent the mercury plummeting in Seoul on
Wednesday, with temperatures dropping to their lowest in six years, the country's
weather agency said.
Seoul recorded minus 15.1 C as of 7 a.m., the lowest since a minus 16.7 C reading
in the nation's capital on Jan. 22, 2004, said the Korea Meteorological
Administration (KMA).
The morning low dropped to minus 22.2 C in Cheorwon, a town in Gangwon Province
close to the border with North Korea, the lowest temperature in the country, and
minus 17 C in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers east of Seoul, while Suwon saw
temperatures of minus 14.5 C.
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Int'l cooperation on N. Korean nukes among Obama's foreign policy victories: aide
WASHINGTON -- Enhanced international cooperation to prevent proliferation of
nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran should be seen as one of the major
foreign policy achievements of U.S. President Barack Obama during his first year
in office, a senior aide to the president said Tuesday.
"The world is more united in addressing the threat from nuclear proliferation,
including Iran and North Korea," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor,
said in a contribution to the White House Web site titled "A Year Taking on
Unprecedented Challenges Abroad." "President Obama's policy of engagement has
strengthened our efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and to
seek a denuclearized Korean peninsula."
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S. Korean banks' 2009 earnings could fall to 5 tln won
SEOUL -- South Korean banks' net earnings are forecast to have dropped sharply
last year to around 5 trillion won (US$4.4billion) due to declining interest
income and a potential rise in loan-loss reserves stemming from Kumho Asiana
Group's debt restructuring, estimates by local brokerages showed Wednesday.
Nine local banks and financial holding firms that control banks could register a
combined net profit of just 5.64 trillion won for 2009, according to the
projections.
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Samsung Electronics denies report of 3.45 tln won investment with Sony
SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co. refuted on Wednesday a local media report that
it has agreed with Japan's Sony Corp. to make a 3.45 trillion won (US$3 billion)
investment in a liquid-crystal-display (LCD) joint venture.
"The report that Samsung is investing 3.45 trillion won with Sony in S-LCD is not
true," Samsung said in a regulatory filing.
Local media reported that Samsung and Sony would make another investment in the
joint venture S-LCD, which was founded in 2004, to build a next generation
production line.
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Samsung develops new memory solutions for mobile devices
SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest chipmaker, said Wednesday
it has developed two high-density memory solutions for mobile devices.
The new storage solutions -- a 64-gigabyte (GB) moviNAND memory device and a 32GB
micro secure digital (microSD) memory card -- will enable advanced compact
high-density memory, Samsung said.
"Samsung's high-density memory solutions bring the storage capacity levels of
computing systems to small, mobile devices," said Jun Dong-Soo, executive vice
president of memory marketing at Samsung Electronics.
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S. Korea aims to export 80 nuclear reactors by 2030
SEOUL -- South Korea aims to export 80 nuclear reactors by 2030 as part of its
strategy to become one of the top three atomic energy powers in the world, the
government said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a nuclear energy industry meeting
chaired by President Lee Myung-bak that the country will strive to grab at least
20 percent of the global market share for new reactors in the next 20 years.
To meet this goal, the country must "customize" export strategies to meet the
needs of individual countries, attain full technological self-sufficiency that
can bolster competitiveness, train more engineers and set up arrangements to
ensure steady supply of fuel, it said.
(END)