Kardashian attacked at a bar

Kim Kardashian (MCT)

Kardashian attacked at a bar

Hollywood celebrity Kim Kardashian, 29, visited a bar in New York on thursday to have a fun night. In the party, she was with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney, as well as Kourtney's boyfriend, Scott Disick.

But soon, a fiasco happened at the bar and it ruined her family party with her dress doused.  

The incident erupted after a male fan approached the reality star and asked to take a picture with her.

But the photo taking apparently angered the man’s girlfriend. She flew off the handle and threw a drink at Kardashian and a near melee ensued, TMZ.com reported.

Kardashian said in her blog on Friday that "I'm totally fine, guys," "I want to address this because everyone has been asking me if I'm OK after the bar fight last night."

She wrote,” A drunk male fan came up to me and asked to take a picture, and I obliged, but his girlfriend, who was also drunk, got a little out of hand. Luckily I had Scott and Khloe there to protect me."

Kardashian’s sister and her boyfriend, Scott Disick, tried to rescue the celebr in the commotion. But bar security guards intervened and threw Disick out of the club.

[Photos] Korea's top celebrities in fashion show(Famous actress in Korea )

Lee So-ra

Seo In-young

Park Si-yeon

Park Ye-jin

Yoon Eun-hye

Lee Ha-ni

Kim Min-hee

Eum Ji-won

Lee Yo-won

Korea's top female celebrities attend "Fashion's Night Out" at Shinsaegae Department Store in downtown Seoul on Wednesday. (Photos: Yonhap)

Singer MC Mong indicted on charges of dodging military duty

The prosecution said Sunday it has indicted TV celebrity MC Mong on suspicion of dodging mandatory military service by pulling out his healthy teeth, Yonhap News reported.

Entertainer MC Mong (Yonhap)

The report said the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office brought a charge against the singer and TV entertainer, whose real name is Shin Dong-hyun, that he had three health teeth intentionally extracted between 2004-2006 in order to receive exemption from the country's military duty, the office said. 

The 31-year-old was first tested fit for the two-year service in 1998 but determined ineligible in a second qualification exam in 2007, which found him with defective masticatory functions.  Shin was missing 11 cheek teeth when he received his military health check-up.

Lee urges G20 nations to agree on FX policies

President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that the Group of 20 major economies must agree on their foreign exchange policies by their meeting next month, as a failure on policy coordination could lead to big problems for the global economy. 

Lee said during a luncheon meeting with foreign correspondents at his residence that countries should put the interests of the global economy before their own national interests.

“Protectionism threatens the global economic recovery,” Lee told reporters.

The G20 countries are scheduled to discuss key agenda including reform offinancial regulations and the International Monetary Fund during a summit in Seoulbetween Nov. 11-12.

During a weekly meeting with his top aides earlier in the day, Lee called for stronger efforts to raise public awareness of the Seoul G20 Summit.

“Please do your best to help Koreans understand the substantial meaning and effect of the G20 Summit in Seoul,” Lee was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Kim Hee-jeong.

“The Seoul G20 Summit is not a one-time event, and it is necessary to acknowledge its significance in line with the previous summits in Toronto and Paris.”

Lee was briefed by his top aides Monday on the preparations for the G20 Summit such as security measures and public relations plans.

The National Police Agency plans to mobilize 50,000 police for security purposes during the two-day summit.

During the luncheon with the foreign press, Lee also said that North Korea has officially begun the process of succession from leader Kim Jong-il to his third son.

“It seems quite clear that North Korea has officially entered the third generation of Kim rule,” he told foreign correspondents.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s youngest son and heir-apparent Jong-un recently made his public debut as he was appointed to key posts in the Workers’Party two weeks ago.

North Korean state broadcaster has shown rare live footage of Jong-un at the party convention and applauding with his father on Sunday during a militaryparade to celebrate the 65th founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party.

Lee said the South was watching the succession process “very closely.”

The South’s defense and unification ministers said last week the succession process seemed to have started, but Lee had not previously commented directly on the issue.

South Korea remains open to talking to North Korea if the communist nation shows sincerity, the president reiterated.

Kim Jong-il took over from his own father Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994.

Five-day mourning planned for Hwang

A five-day mourning period followed by a public funeral will be held for Hwang Jang-yop, a top North Korean defector who died Sunday morning, his funeral organizing committee said Monday. 

“(The committee) has decided to observe five days of mourning and a public funeral service (for Hwang), so as to allow as many mourners as possible to pay their tributes,” Kim Seong-min, a member of the committee to organize Hwang’s funeral, said. Kim is the president of Free North Korea Radio, a Seoul-based station run by defectors. 

“Discussions are underway with the government in order to have his remains buried at the National Cemetery,” he added. 

The government is considering conferring the first-class Order of Civil Merit on him, which should make him eligible for burial at the cemetery. 

“We’re positively considering the matter,” Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said. 

Kim Suk-hyang, stepdaughter of the late North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop, burns incense at his altar at a hospital in Seoul on Monday. (Joint Press Corps)

'N. Korea believed to have 200,000 special warfare troops'

North Korean soldiers in military parade to mark the 65th founding of its ruling party in Pyongyang on Sunday. (AP-Yonhap)

North Korea is believed to have about 200,000 special warfare troops, an 11 percent increase from two years earlier, according to a South Korean government estimate released Sunday, Yonhap News reported.

The North is also believed to have some 1,000 ballistic missiles, about 2,500-5,000 tons of chemical weapons agents, about 700 pieces of long-range artillery and about 600-700 computer hacking specialists, according to a Defense Ministry report submitted to Rep. Kim Ock-lee of the ruling Grand National Party.

South Korea had estimated the size of the North‘s special warfare troops at 120,000 in the 2006 defense “white paper” report and 180,000 in the 2008 report. 

The North’s bolstering of its special warfare capabilities means that the country intends to send such troops deep into South Korea to conduct a variety of attacks in case of conflicts, a defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

South Korea also estimates that the North has about 700 Scud B and C missiles with ranges between 300-500 kilometers and about 200 Rodong missiles with a range of about 1,300 kilometers, according to the ministry report released by the lawmaker. 

Philip Morris begins work on new plant

Philip Morris Korea Inc. began work on a new plant in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province on Monday.

The 190 billion won ($170 million) plant is scheduled for completion during the first half of 2012, and will replace the company’s current facility located within Yangsan’s Yusan Industrial Complex.

Once complete the new plant will be capable of producing 30 billion cigarettes on an annual basis, more than double that of the current facility.

Samsung completes mold processing center in Gwangju

Samsung Electronics announced the completion of a mold processing development center in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, on Monday.

The new development center which is built on 19,590 square meters of land in the industrial complex of the city is expected to become the location where new mold technologies will be applied to the company’s products including televisions, refrigerators, printers and liquid-crystal displays.
 

“The high quality mold technologies will not only increase the ultimate quality of our products but also become the core components of what defines the competitiveness of the businesses,” said Samsung Electronics’ chief executive officer Choi Gee-sung.

“We will share the know-how of the world-class mold technologies that we secure with our partnering firms as a way to co-prosper.”

Regulator hints at Shinhan chief’s dismissal

Ra Eung-chan ascribes faults to his juniors

Financial Services Commission chairman Chin Dong-soo hinted Monday that Shinhan Financial chairman Ra Eung-chan will be dismissed over his alleged irregularities in the coming months.

Chief regulator Chin, who attended the parliamentary audit on the FSC at the National Assembly in Seoul, said regulators would hold the Shinhan chief accountable after carrying out the scheduled annual probe into the financial groupnext month.

Asked about the possibility of policymakers’ intervention in the financial group’s management, Chin said, “Those (new management) with reasonable rights and responsibilities will be appointed (as the next chairman).”
 
He added that the FSC would try to cut off the possibility that figures dispatched by the government will control Shinhan Financial, whose top three figures are under criminal investigation.

After Chin’s remarks, the possibility that regulators will call for the group to dismiss or suspend incumbent chairman Ra is growing.

‘G20 to boost Korean economy by W31.3tr’

The Group of 20 Summit in Seoul next month will be able to create 31 trillion won ($27.9 billion) in economic effects and over 160,000 jobs in Korea, the Institute for International Trade under Korea International Trade Association said in a report.

“The Seoul summit will draw around double the attention from the world than previous ones in Pittsburgh and Toronto because it is the first to be hosted and chaired by an emerging economy,” IIT president Lee Kyung-tae told reporters Thursday.

“It will also deal with and try to draw conclusions for diverse mid- to long-term post-crisis agenda both in the main and Business Summit, thus leading to more economic effects initiated by the event.”

Lee said the G20 Summit, which is expected to draw in over 15,000 people, including heads of 19 other G20 member nations, will affect the nation widely in its political, social and cultural sectors. 

The list included direct the effects of 26.6 billion won, such as visitors’ spending and the reduction in firms’ advertising costs which should result from an improved national image through the summit. 

Indirect effects of the summit meanwhile could include an increase in exports by $17.3 billion; reduction in foreign debts by $250 million should the country’s OECD credit rating be elevated by a grade; plus creation of around 166,000 jobs. 

According to a survey by KITA, its more than 200 member firms expected to see their exports increase by $22.9 in the next two years through the G20 Summit. 

Yet Lee stressed that local firms should not just be content with benefiting from such results but should also develop their competitiveness in technology anddesign. 

“As Korea will become a rule setter in the global economy through the summit, itsbusinesses should also be able to become leading players in the international market,” Lee said.

Lee also discussed the future of the G20 Summit, which has been very successful in initiating active global cooperation among nations since being created right after the 2008 financial crisis. 

This led to a rather fast recovery, unlike what happened during the prolonged Great Depression in 1920s when countries adopted protective trade measures and depreciated their currencies. 

“Some cast doubts on the future of the G20 Summit now that the world seems to be out of the financial crisis. But it has to grow into a global economic governing body that prevents another financial crisis from happening and secures sustainable growth,” Lee said. 

G20 to tackle world’s financial challenges

SaKong: Seoul summit to promote balanced global growth, drastic financialoverhaul

Pressing global challenges in the post-crisis economy including the recent debate over currencies, a financial safety net and the overhaul of financial regulations and institutions are expected to be on the agenda for leaders of the Group of 20 economies Nov. 11-12.

SaKong Il, chairman of the Presidential Committee for the G20 summit, outlined its priorities and key agenda in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. 

He also discussed the status and future of the G20 as the most important global coordination committee and the significance of Korea’s hosting of the meeting. 

The meeting comes in a critical time for the world’s recovery from the financial crisis and the transformation in the global landscape of economic powers. 

A successful summit in Seoul would be a testimony of how necessary and efficient the G20 is, he said. 

The country also hopes to represent more nations outside the G20 group to help reduce the gap between the members and non-members, in addition to creating a system where global economies can effectively prop each other up in crisis situations as suggested by President Lee Myung-bak in previous summit meetings.

Another significant cornerstone for the upcoming meeting is that it will mark the launch of the G20 Business Summit where CEOs of leading companies will be given an opportunity participate in the G20 meeting to share insight and knowledge. 

Seoul hopes to meet these and other challenges as the host country and chief coordinator. Following are excerpts from the interview. 

KH: The G20 Seoul summit is exactly 30 days away. What has been your main area of interest in making the preparations? 

SaKong: Our focus is on running a smooth program, but one that has significant content. With that in mind, we are coordinating efforts with other G20 nations so that the agreements made in the previous four G20 summits may be fulfilled on time. In addition, we are seeking a consensus on Seoul’s propositions on economic development and the financial safety net. 

Another core part of our responsibilities is to ensure that the world’s leading political and business figures, along with the media who have gathered here, are able to comfortably wrap up the meeting and safely return home. 

KH: The G20 summit will mark Korea’s largest global event, but some seem to consider it little more than a typical international conference. What is the significance of hosting the summit?

SaKong: G20 is a group of the most influential 20 countries among the 192 UN member nations. To have attained membership in this prestigious global club, not to mention lead a meeting as host, to play a proactive role in creating a new global economic order and regulatory framework, has tremendous meaning for our diplomatic history. 

KH: What other schedules are on the itinerary in the lead up to the summit, and what do the related preparations involve?

SaKong: Many consider the G20 summit as a straight-forward two-day meeting, but the meeting requires extensive preparations. 

Google tests cars that can steer without drivers

Google Inc.,  owner of the world’s most popular search engine, said it’s testingvehicles that drive themselves to help improve road safety and address environmental concerns.

The self-driving cars have traveled more than 140,000 miles (225,308 kilometers) in the experiments, according to a posting on Google’s blog today. The vehicles navigate by maps and use cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to monitor traffic.

“Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use,” Sebastian Thrun, asoftware engineer with Google, wrote in the blog. “While this project is very much in the experimental stage, it provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future.”