“Korea will have no problem leading G20 discussions at the Seoul summit and we have been organizing everything appropriately,” Vice Finance Minister Lim Jong-ryong told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.
2010년 10월 13일 수요일
Seoul refutes Japan’s doubt on its G20 role
“Korea will have no problem leading G20 discussions at the Seoul summit and we have been organizing everything appropriately,” Vice Finance Minister Lim Jong-ryong told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.
Hwang’s death puts leftists in dilemma
As South Korea mourns the death of Hwang Jang-yop, a top North Korean defector, its left-leaning politicians are finding themselves in an awkward position, given their strained relationship with the deceased.
While politicians from the right-wing Grand National Party showed up in sequence at the mortuary where Hwang’s body is kept soon after his death Sunday, the liberal opposition Democratic Party hesitated for days, agonizing over whether or not to pay tributes to him.
On Tuesday afternoon, the DP sent a delegation headed by floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won. Its chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, however, will not visit his altar in person, party officials said.
“There were pros and cons,” a party insider was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying.
“While some said we should pay respects to Hwang as he lived such a tragic life as a victim of the division of the two Koreas, others urged caution, insisting that such an act could have an impact on relations with North Korea in the future,” the official said.
Rep. Chung Jung-bae, a member of the DP’s top decision-making Supreme Council, said, “Hwang can be seen as a victim of the division of the Korean Peninsula, but I don’t think (he was someone who) the party should consider paying its formal tribute to.”
While politicians from the right-wing Grand National Party showed up in sequence at the mortuary where Hwang’s body is kept soon after his death Sunday, the liberal opposition Democratic Party hesitated for days, agonizing over whether or not to pay tributes to him.
On Tuesday afternoon, the DP sent a delegation headed by floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won. Its chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, however, will not visit his altar in person, party officials said.
“There were pros and cons,” a party insider was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying.
“While some said we should pay respects to Hwang as he lived such a tragic life as a victim of the division of the two Koreas, others urged caution, insisting that such an act could have an impact on relations with North Korea in the future,” the official said.
Rep. Chung Jung-bae, a member of the DP’s top decision-making Supreme Council, said, “Hwang can be seen as a victim of the division of the Korean Peninsula, but I don’t think (he was someone who) the party should consider paying its formal tribute to.”
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| Former President Kim Young-sam pays tribute to the late North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop at a Seoul hospital Tuesday. (Joint Press Corps) |
Samsung’s heir apparent may take bigger role soon
Speculation is rising that Samsung’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong may take on greater responsibility in business operation next year after Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee said the organization needs to get younger on Tuesday.
“An organization must be young in any era,” Lee said in response to reporters’ questions at Gimpo Airport while on his way to attend the general meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees in Mexico.
His statement was issued at a sensitive time for the group, only a few months ahead of its yearend reshuffle scheduled in December.
Some assumed that the time may have come for the business tycoon’s only son Lee Jae-yong to take a bigger voice in running and managing the country’s top business conglomerate, while others believed this may be pointing to a drastic reshuffle.
“An organization must be young in any era,” Lee said in response to reporters’ questions at Gimpo Airport while on his way to attend the general meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees in Mexico.
His statement was issued at a sensitive time for the group, only a few months ahead of its yearend reshuffle scheduled in December.
Some assumed that the time may have come for the business tycoon’s only son Lee Jae-yong to take a bigger voice in running and managing the country’s top business conglomerate, while others believed this may be pointing to a drastic reshuffle.
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| Lee Jae-yong |
Assistance to poor near top of summit agenda
Tackling the nagging challenge of narrowing the gap between the advanced and underdeveloped nations is to be one of the main priorities of the G20 summit Seoulis to host Nov. 11-12.
The November meeting will be the first in which development issues are placed at the forefront since the heads of state of the 20 members began convening in 2008.
Experts said the emphasis on development issues was a reflection of critical evolution of the G20 as they expand on the type of global crises or challenges they try to meet.
SaKong Il, chief of the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit, emphasized that helping less-developed nations help themselves will be one of the key initiatives the summit will be pursuing.
“We are looking for ways to help developing economies become independently competent without relying on external aid so they may achieve sustainable growth,” he said.
As agreed in previous G20 meetings, November’s summit is to be focused mainly on two pillars; discussion on building a counter-crisis global financial system and creating a sustainable growth base for underdeveloped countries.
Initially, the summit attended mostly to policies and related technicalities for coping with financial crises since the group was born amid the 2008 global financial meltdown policy issues and the global financial organizations.
South Korea was seen as the most appropriate candidate to handle the new agenda, due to its status as an emerging market.
It also boasts a surprisingly rapid rise to industrial development, despite that it suffered from colonial rule in the early 1900s, followed by a civil war that has left the Korean Peninsula divided.
The November meeting will be the first in which development issues are placed at the forefront since the heads of state of the 20 members began convening in 2008.
Experts said the emphasis on development issues was a reflection of critical evolution of the G20 as they expand on the type of global crises or challenges they try to meet.
SaKong Il, chief of the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit, emphasized that helping less-developed nations help themselves will be one of the key initiatives the summit will be pursuing.
“We are looking for ways to help developing economies become independently competent without relying on external aid so they may achieve sustainable growth,” he said.
As agreed in previous G20 meetings, November’s summit is to be focused mainly on two pillars; discussion on building a counter-crisis global financial system and creating a sustainable growth base for underdeveloped countries.
Initially, the summit attended mostly to policies and related technicalities for coping with financial crises since the group was born amid the 2008 global financial meltdown policy issues and the global financial organizations.
South Korea was seen as the most appropriate candidate to handle the new agenda, due to its status as an emerging market.
It also boasts a surprisingly rapid rise to industrial development, despite that it suffered from colonial rule in the early 1900s, followed by a civil war that has left the Korean Peninsula divided.
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| Lim Won-hyuk, a director at the Korea Development Institute, speaks at the G20 High-Level Development Conference organized by the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap News) |
Debate heats up on economic outlook
Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson, two towering figures in contemporary economics, sparred again over global economic outlook and exit strategies from stimulus measures
The two scholars participated in the World Knowledge Forum organized by a Korean media firm Wednesday, offering contrasting views on major economic issues as they did last year.
The two scholars participated in the World Knowledge Forum organized by a Korean media firm Wednesday, offering contrasting views on major economic issues as they did last year.
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Seoul refutes Japan’s doubt on its G20 role
The Korean Finance Ministry rejected Japan’s questioning of Seoul’s leadership as the chair of G20 and said Korea has the ability to successfully mediate all agendas on the table for the G20 Seoul Summit slated for Nov. 11-12.
“Korea will have no problem leading G20 discussions at the Seoul summit and we have been organizing everything appropriately,” Vice Finance Minister Lim Jong-ryong told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.
“Korea will have no problem leading G20 discussions at the Seoul summit and we have been organizing everything appropriately,” Vice Finance Minister Lim Jong-ryong told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.
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| Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda (AP-Yonhap News) |
Path of Kim Jong-il’s other sons
It is like the story of a one-time crown prince called Yangnyeong at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty. The eldest son who was initially deemed the next in throne loses his status to his younger brother after falling out of his father’s favor for misbehavior. The defamed, womanizing son goes into exile.
Only this time, in North Korea, the brothers’ country faces an opaque future.
Because he is the eldest, Jong-nam, born in 1971, was often considered the most likely son to succeed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. That was until 2001 when he got caught trying to enter Japan on a fake Dominican passport bearing the name Pang Xiong which means “Fat Bear” in Chinese. He told the police that he wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland, which greatly enraged his father. After several days of detention, Jong-nam was deported to China, making Kim Jong-il cancel a scheduled trip to China out of embarrassment to both countries.
Prior to the globally publicized 2001 incident, Jong-nam had reportedly made several secret visits to Japan, starting as early as 1995.
Several years after the eldest son’s fallout, speculation rose over whether the throne would go to second son Jong-chol, as it usually did during the Joseon Dynasty.
Unlike his elder brother who was tutored and educated in North Korea’s elite school, Jong-chol, born in 1981 to a different mother, was educated in Switzerland for five years until 1998.
It was only early last year that the outside world learned that the “Dear Leader” finally decided to pass on his legacy to the third and youngest son Jong-un, born in 1984.
Only this time, in North Korea, the brothers’ country faces an opaque future.
Because he is the eldest, Jong-nam, born in 1971, was often considered the most likely son to succeed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. That was until 2001 when he got caught trying to enter Japan on a fake Dominican passport bearing the name Pang Xiong which means “Fat Bear” in Chinese. He told the police that he wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland, which greatly enraged his father. After several days of detention, Jong-nam was deported to China, making Kim Jong-il cancel a scheduled trip to China out of embarrassment to both countries.
Prior to the globally publicized 2001 incident, Jong-nam had reportedly made several secret visits to Japan, starting as early as 1995.
Several years after the eldest son’s fallout, speculation rose over whether the throne would go to second son Jong-chol, as it usually did during the Joseon Dynasty.
Unlike his elder brother who was tutored and educated in North Korea’s elite school, Jong-chol, born in 1981 to a different mother, was educated in Switzerland for five years until 1998.
It was only early last year that the outside world learned that the “Dear Leader” finally decided to pass on his legacy to the third and youngest son Jong-un, born in 1984.
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The world watches Chilean miners rescue mission
Chilean rescue workers hoisted into the desert the first nine of 33 miners who were trapped underground for more than two months where they were greeted by their families and President Sebastian Pinera in an operation that gripped television viewers around the world.
The first miner, Florencio Avalos, emerged from the San Jose coppermine at 11:12 p.m. New York time after being trapped in a tunnel for 69 days more than 600 meters (1,970 feet) underground, according to a broadcast by state television channel TVN. The operation, to be overseen by Pinera in the Atacama desert, is scheduled to run another 24 to 48 hours.
“I am so overwhelmed with emotion because it’s been so long since we have seen him,” Avalos’s father Alfonso said in comments broadcast by TVN. “I am so content, so happy. Thank God that he emerged so strong.”
Avalos embraced his wife and son and President Pinera before being taken to a mobile hospital as rescuers shouted “Long Live Chile.” Freed miner Mario Sepulveda joked with rescuers and Pinera.
The four-meter long “Phoenix” capsule painted in the red, white and blue colors of the Chilean flag is acting as an elevator, hoisting the miners to the surface through a 26-inch wide rescue hole. More than 1 billion people watched the rescue live on television networks around the world, TVN reported.
Embraces and Confetti
Families embraced and threw confetti at the mine site where they have camped for more than two months to await the rescue of the men. They had lit fires to fend off the cold. Police erected barricades to protect the families from hundreds of reporters.
“I’m so happy; it’s historic,” said Lily Ramirez, wife of 63-year-old Mario Gomez, the oldest miner. “My husband is still down there. I just hope they all get out okay.”
The miners were discovered alive on Aug. 22 after being trapped since Aug. 5, when the mine’s access collapsed. The miners’ only contact with the outside world was through drill holes that were used to discover them and through which they receive food, water and medicine.
The survival of the San Jose miners surpasses a 25-day rescue of three coal miners in a flooded mine in Guizhou, China in 2009.
“Chileans and the entire world are not going to forget this night,” Pinera told the more than 1,000 reporters gathered at the mine site. “When Chile unites, and it always happens in adversity, we are capable of big things.”
National Monument
Pinera said the San Jose mine will be converted into a national monument to reflect hope for future generations.
He wore the same red jacket he used in the aftermath of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in February, and will stay near the rescue site alongside Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales.
Pinera’s approval rating has increased since his government started the rescue operation more than two months ago, while Mining MinisterLaurence Golborne has become the most popular member of the president’s cabinet.
Pinera’s popularity grew to 57 percent in September from 54 percent in a May poll, Santiago-based research group Center for the Study of Contemporary Reality, or CERC, said in a report published Oct. 7. The Sept. 3-13 poll of 1,200 people has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The miners are being split into three groups for the rescue. The first will provide information to rescuers and possibly help with the operation,Health Minister Jaime Manalich said. The weakest will then come out, followed by the rest. The last to be rescued will be shift foreman Luis Urzua.
‘In Knots’
“I’m nervous, my stomach is in knots,” Maria Segovia, the sister of trapped miner Dario Segovia, said in an interview at the site dubbed “Camp Hope.”
The 33 men were given meals rich in minerals and protein to prevent nausea and stabilize blood pressure during the ascent and examined remotely by medical officials on the surface. Ten have been identified by authorities as being the most in need of special care, Manalich said.
They’ll wear elastic bands on their lower extremities and a waistband during the 15- to 20-minute ascent that will help ensure proper blood circulation and prevent a reduction in arterial pressure and possible fainting, the health minister said. Rescue workers will supply the miners with emergency oxygen in case dust on the ascent causes breathing problems.
The miners want to wait until all 33 are brought to the surface so theycan travel to the hospital as a group, the health minister said today. Authorities are instead seeking to fly miners to hospital as soon as possible so they can undergo examinations and any necessary treatment, Manalich said.
“Miners are fighters,” said Mario Castillo, 39, who has worked to bring lighting and equipment to the rescue site during the past two months. “The big lesson from all of this is that we have to be united. This is for the world.” (Bloomberg)
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