2013 08 20 1200 News

NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 (THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT FOR ARIRANG NEWS THAT AIRED ON 20 Aug 2013- 12:00 KST.) Title: Headlines Coming up on this Tuesday edition of Newsline at Noon .... for the first time, UN experts will interview dozens of North Korean defectors and human rights activists in Seoul this week to gather evidence of human rights violations by North Korea. Unionists at Hyundai Motor go on a two-day partial strike to force through their demands for higher pay and improved benefits. The union of affiliate Kia Motors will decide on a strike plan later today. Plus,... the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has been detained as the Egyptian interim government continues its crackdown on supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsy. The EU is considering cutting aid to Cairo. These stories and more on Newsline at Noon. ed: mi, mark Title: CM 해외문화홍보원 Title: 12 Newsline Title Title: Opening Thanks for joining us you're watching Newsline at Noon. I'm Choi You-sun in Seoul. Good to have you with us.... I'm Mark Broome. Title: UN panel to begin collecting accounts of N. Korean human rights abuses A team of UN inspectors will hold hearings starting today to collect accounts of North Korea's human rights abuses. Although the investigation is not expected to bring an immediate change to the dire human rights situation in the North, experts say it will help publicize the issue globally. Hwang Sung-hee has the details. A three-member UN panel will begin collecting testimonies on North Korea's widespread violation of human rights on Tuesday. The United Nations' Commission of Inquiry, headed by Michael Kirby, will hold hearings for five days at Seoul's Yonsei University, where some 30 witnesses are expected to testify about the ongoing human rights abuses in the communist state, like torture and arbitrary detention. Around 200-thousand people are believed to be imprisoned in North Korea's labor camps, where they are malnourished or even worked to death. This is the first time that an expert panel is examining the North's human rights abuses, although Pyongyang has denied the accusations. North Korea has said it will not allow the UN inspectors on North Korean soil. While experts don't expect the investigation to have an immediate impact on improving the human rights conditions in the North, many say it will help publicize the issue globally and perhaps add pressure to the isolated nation. There are hopes that the current inspection will lead to the trial of North Korean leaders at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, although the commission says this is not an option for now. After gathering evidence in Seoul this week, the panel will move to Tokyo to tackle the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens. Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News. Title: N. Korea condemns Pres. Park's 'underground bunker' meeting North Korea has condemned President Park Geun-hye for holding a National Security Council meeting at the presidential office's crisis management room, or the so called "underground bunker," on Monday,... calling it an "open provocation." In a statement by North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea on Tuesday,... Pyongyang said... war and peace can never coexist and warned South Korean authorities to not to misjudge their sincerity and patience. This is the first official statement released by the North after the start of the annual South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise on Monday. The committee went on to say... should the South continue to pursue confrontation with the North,... inter-Korean relations will deteriorate, eventually leading to a "catastrophic outcome." Title: Motive behind Pyongyang's move for reopening Mt. Geumgang Talks between South and North Korea are expected to resume again this week... but the tug-of-war between the two sides is ongoing over what should be discussed and when. North Korea is pushing for talks on reopening the Mount Geumgang tourism resort. Our Kim Ji-yeon reports on what might be driving the North's persistence on Geumgang. What's behind Pyongyang's decision to ask Seoul to resume holding talks on reopening the Mount Geumgang resort to South Korean tourists? Pyongyang is pressing hard for South Korea to discuss the tourism project this week before the two Koreas sit down Friday for talks on resuming reunions for families separated since the Korean War. North Korea experts believe Pyongyang's move is a carefully crafted one and an articulated move to boost the country's flagging economic interests. Economic development was proclaimed as one of leader Kim Jong-un's two main goals to the North Korean people, the other one is building the country's nuclear capabilities. For North Korea, analysts say reopening the Mount Geumgang resort is a viable way to earn hard currency from foreigners in the short-run. In the long-run, it could be a move to create a synergy effect to boost tourism and in turn advance economic activity in other areas in North Korea, for instance, in its special economic zone in Wonsan. "Pyongyang is trying to nullify South Korea's sanctions against North Korea that are restricting economic trade and activity between the two countries. In addition, Kim Jong-un is trying to make a breakthrough in Mount Geumgang so that it can have a ripple effect to other areas like Wonsan and Mount Masik ." It's estimated North Korea earned around 40 million U.S. dollars every year from Mount Geumgang. Tourist operations at the resort were shut down in 2008, after a tourist from the South was shot dead by a North Korean guard. Seoul still has unresolved concerns to ensure the safety of South Koreans and their properties when visiting North Korea. Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. Title: Switzerland blocks deal to sell ski lifts to N. Korea Switzerland has put the brakes on a deal to sell top-of-the-range ski lifts to North Korea, in a move that could spoil leader Kim Jong-un's plans to open a ski resort in the North. A Swiss daily had earlier reported that Pyongyang had approached several Swiss companies to provide chairlifts and cable cars for its huge Masik resort. The Swiss government, after they were contacted by a company for clearance, blocked the seven million U.S. dollar deal,... saying it would have gone against the country's ban on luxury exports to North Korea. A government spokesperson said the resort was nothing more than a propaganda project for the North Korean regime. Title: Hyundai Motor union begins 2-day partial strike over wages, conditions Labor union members from Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor, began a two-day partial strike starting Tuesday. The strike is seen as a move to pressure the company,... before the two sides meet for talks this Wednesday. Yoo Li-an reports. Members of the 45-thousand strong Hyundai Motor union will set aside their tools for two hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The union workers will split into two groups and alternate taking part in a two-hour strike over the two days,... and on Wednesday, the union leaders are set to meet with company officials to continue negotiations. The union says they decided to go on a strike because there has been no progress in the ongoing talks. But Hyundai expressed disappointment over the strike and especially the timing of it,... as the company's operating profits have dropped by 28 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. "The union refused the Central Labor Relations Committee's recommendation to look for a compromise and went on strike. We express regret over the union's decision, given our efforts to continue talks." The union has laid out about 70 demands to the automaker, which include 89-hundred U.S. dollars to support job-seeking children who do not go to college, a little over a hundred dollars raise in monthly base income, as well as a 35 percent discount off of Hyundai cars for long-term employees. Hyundai's massive strike last year halted production of more than 82-thousand cars which amounts to about one-and-a-half billion U.S. dollars. But analysts say, another extensive strike is unlikely this year, given the negative impacts that the continued strikes had on the company's output as well as reputation. Yoo Li-an, Arirang News. Title: Majority of Korean companies overseas don't intend to relocate: survey A number of Korean companies with overseas business operations are struggling amid the prolonged global economic uncertainty, but the overwhelming majority have chosen to stay where they are as they believe the situation is even worse in Korea. A survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on over 7-hundred Korean businesses abroad, found that, despite the gloomy global outlook, only 1-point-5 percent of the companies signaled an intent to come back to their homeland. The respondents said high wages and labor-management relations were the main reasons behind their hesitancy in returning. Title: Ex-president Chun's brother-in-law arrested for alleged tax evasion State prosecutors probing former strongman president Chun Doo Hwan's illegally amassed assets have made the first arrest in the case. Lee Chang-seok , Chun's brother-in-law, has been taken into custody on suspicion of evading taxes to illegally transfer wealth to one of the ex-president's sons. Kim Yeon-ji has the story. Lee Chang-seok was transferred to a Seoul detention center late Monday on suspicions he evaded taxes worth 11 million U.S. dollars in two separate land transactions, one of which directly involved one of Chun's sons. In 2006, Lee sold 460-thousand square meters of land in Osan... a city just south of Seoul... to Chun's second son, Jae-yong, for just one-tenth of its officially appraised value. Prosecutors allege Lee evaded transfer and gift taxes worth some five million dollars in the process. Lee has long been suspected of being the caretaker of the ex-president's illegal funds... which prosecutors think have been stashed away in paper companies and bank accounts associated with Chun's family members. Lee is the first relative of Chun put behind bars since the prosecution launched a probe to reclaim the ex-president's wealth. Chun is thought to have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars illegally through bribes from big businesses during his military rule in the 1980s. In 1997, Chun was ordered by the nation's top court to return to state coffers some 1-hundred-97 million dollars of the money he illegally amassed while in office. Chun... who came to power in 1980 through a coup... has only paid a quarter of this fine since then, saying that he doesn't have a penny to rub together. With the arrest of the ex-president's brother-in-law, it appears likely prosecutors will soon summon the ex-president's son, Chun Jae-yong, who has been implicated in an illegal land transaction... and speed up their investigation. Kim Yeon-ji, Arirang News. Title: 2013 bridge Title: Spritual leader of Muslim Brotherhood arrested; Mubarak to be freed In a frenzied period of major developments in Egypt... the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was arrested Tuesday as the military continues its crackdown on Islamists. This news broke a matter of hours after it was announced the country's former strongman Hosni Mubarak would be a free man. Kim Hyun-bin reports. The Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, was arrested by Egyptian security forces in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Badie is charged with inciting violence along the Muslim Brotherhood back in July. He and two of his deputies are scheduled for trial on August 25th. Meanwhile, Hosni Mubarak, the man who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for three decades could soon be freed from jail after a court ruling on Monday said he could no longer be held for corruption charges. Mubarak's once commanded armed forces deposed the elected Islamist successor Mohamed Morsy to spark the bloodiest internal conflict. The conflict in the past six weeks was the deadliest in the modern history of the Arab state. Since the army detained Mohamed Morsy on July 3rd, hundreds of casualties and dozens of security personnel have been killed, including 25 police officers who were executed on Monday by armed militants in the northern city of Rafah. Mubarak is now 85 and has been in prison since April 2011. Even with his release he may have no political future and could raise questions that a new form of military-backed government could take place. With the ongoing conflict EU foreign ministers will convene in Brussels Wednesday for an emergency meeting to find ways to broker a peaceful compromise between the army-backed interim government and supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsy. Officials say options on the table include cutting back the EU's 6-point-7 billion U.S. dollar package of grants and loans promised last year... and imposing an arms embargo on Cairo. Several foreign ministers have called for a cutback or severing of aid to Cairo, but many diplomats say such a course of action would hurt the Egyptian people more than the government. Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News. Title: India express train kills 37 people crossing tracks Almost 40 people were killed Monday after being hit by an express train while crossing the tracks at a remote station in northern India. The accident triggered protests by infuriated crowds who assaulted the driver and damaged the train. Our Kim Min-ji has the details. Black smoke billows from the train. This is the Rajya Rani Express train that killed at least 37 passengers who were crossing the railway tracks at a station in Dhamara Ghat,... a small town in Bihar state on Monday morning. The passengers,... who were mostly Hindu pilgrims,... were on their way to a nearby temple as Monday marked the last day of a holy month in India. The collision took place around 8:40 a.m. local time,... after the passengers had just got off from a train on the opposite side. Several others were injured. The death toll,... however,... may rise as some of the victims were severely injured. The Chief Minister of Bihar,... Nitish Kumar expressed his sorrows over the accident and ordered officials to investigate the crash site. "It was hard to approach the scene of the accident. I send my condolences to the pilgrims." The accident also sparked protests by angry crowds at the station,... who brutally beat the driver,... and set parts of the train on fire. Railway officials said that the express train was traveling at high speed as it was not scheduled to make a stop at the station. Investigation is under way to find the exact cause of the collision. The Indian state-owned railway network operates 9-thousand passenger trains and carries some 18 million people every day. Title: U.S., China to boost military exchanges amid tensions The United States and China have agreed to expand their military exercises and exchanges in a bid to foster more stable ties, despite the ongoing tensions between the two superpowers over cyber security and territorial issues. Following talks at the Pentagon Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan laid out plans this year for senior American officers to visit China, joint counter-piracy drills in waters near Somalia and a special exercise near Hawaii. Hagel said Washington and Beijing wanted to build a sustained and substantive military-to-military relationship. U.S.-China relations have become strained over China's alleged cyber attacks on the U.S. and Beijing's territorial disputes with its neighbors in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Title: U.S. prosecutors seek at least 60 years of prison sentence for Manning U.S. military prosecutors have asked that Private Bradley Manning serve a sentence of at least 60 years behind bars after he was found guilty for illegally disclosing classified documents about U.S. secret intelligence operations and harming national interest. Private Manning was convicted last month,.... for leaking some 700-thousand classified files to WikiLeaks. While Manning could face up to a maximum of 90 years in prison for his convicted crimes, including espionage,... Manning's defense lawyer pleaded leniency for the 25-year-old. The court's judge Colonel Denise Lind said,... she would begin deliberating the sentence for Manning at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Title: Japanese city of Kagoshima busy cleaning Sakurajima volcano ash Over in Kagoshima... residents in the southern Japanese city are busy washing ash off the streets after a nearby volcano spewed a record-high smoke plume into the sky on Sunday. Ash reached as high as five kilometers above the Sakurajima volcano... located 10 kilometers east of the city... in its 500th eruption this year. Officials said no injuries or damage has been reported from the volcano. Japanese authorities say there are no signs of a larger eruption... but that similar activity may continue and warned people to not to venture near the volcano. Title: Korean scientists develop bone screws that disintegrate In some medical news... A group of local scientists have developed a new way to treat broken bones. They've produced new types of screws to pin bones... that the body can naturally absorb. Connie Lee has more. A broken bone takes a while to heal ... and even after removing the cast, the patient sometimes needs to go through a second operation to remove the metal that was used in repairing the bone. But patients can soon avoid this second operation, with a new development by local scientists. After eight years of research, scientists from KAIST and Asan Medical Center have developed special bone screws that do not need to be removed, because they naturally disintegrate into the body. They are made of magnesium calcium alloys and iron. "When we tested it on a rabbit for a year... two thirds of the screw disintegrated into the body ... and then disappeared. For now, we do not see any negative effects on the body." Researchers say that for a centimeter of a bone screw to fully disintegrate into the body, it takes about six-months to two years, or more than long enough for bones to heal. However, the shortcoming of these bone screws as of now is that they are only half as strong as metal plates, made of titanium. Currently, titanium metal is the most common material used to fix broken bones. Scientists do say the newly developed medical screws can effectively be used for broken fingers, or fractures in the face. "Because the bone screws are not strong enough for other parts of the body, it can only be used in the face for now. But in the near future, we plan to make the screws a bit stronger so they can be used in dental implants." Since last month, these special screws have been tested on patients' broken fingers... and so far they are only approved for clinical trials. Connie Lee, Arirang News. Title: World Rowing Championships to kick off next week The 2013 World Rowing Championships will kick off in less than a week from now here in Korea, with participants coming in from more than 80 countries. Our Paul Yi takes a look at the last-minute preparations. The best rowers in the world have gathered here in the city of Chungju. Despite the sweltering heat wave, they're focused on training to ensure their best performance at the 2013 World Rowing Championships starting on August 25th. Some 22-hundred rowers from 80 national teams will be taking part in the global event, and spirits are already running high. "Preparations, final preparations are obviously going well. In addition, we're really excited to be here. And I think that we're really excited to race." This year's championships will be held at the International Tangeum Lake Regatta Course, under the theme, "Rowing the World Clean Water for Life, Dream of Chungju." The world-class rowing course is 48-hundred meters long and more than 22-hundred meters wide, surrounded by amazing scenery of low mountains and dense forests. Chungju was chosen to host the eco-friendly themed competition due to its pristine environment and rich cultural heritage. Organizers have been busy making last-minute preparations, but are confident that the event will go off without a hitch. "All the stadiums have been well-equipped. Each operating committee has received training and they've been assigned their duties. Due to our preparations, all that's left is to hold to a successful tournament." The rowing championships will run for eight days through September 1st. Para-rowing events, cultural performances, sport exhibitions, and fireworks will be featured to entertain visitors and raise awareness of rowing in Korea. Paul Yi, Arirang News. Title: Photo Bridge House of Ice Title: Heat wave continues in the West, Slightly cooler in the East Let's now get a weather update with our weather caster Lee JeeHyun who's standing at the weather center Good afternoon JeeHyun [JeeHyun] Hello there guys Ok so for the first and second week of August was the peak season for summer vacation and I am sure a lot of people came back to work from summer getaway this week [Mark] And there was a survey about summer vacation aftereffect and you know what ranked number 1? ... Depression from coming back to reality and the second was the money they have spent during the vacation. [Yousun] Great, I haven't had a summer vacation yet, but I will keep that in mind and try not to spend too much Anyway... as you said in a previous report the air does feel cool early in the morning and late at night [JeeHyun] Yes Yousun.. It felt chilly with my windows wide open last night...but it's a different story during the day, today doesn't seem too much different from yesterday's blistering condition...so heat wave will continue with a lot of sunshine. One thing we can notice though, Western parts of the nation should remain steamy hot meanwhile cool east winds will blow through; bringing down the temperature in Eastern parts of the nation so Busan and Daegu should get some relief from the heat today. Tomorrow we are expecting similar weather condition as today, I would say it will be a last stage of heat wave this week ..from Thursday, readings will start to settle down, and the seasonal average for Seoul at the end of August will be in mid to upper 20's. Let's bear with it for a few more days Right now, we are looking at few bands of clouds passing by but other than that it's looking clear so with high UV levels so don't forget to apply a good amount of sun block. And it's time to take a look at today's readings. Daytime highs in Seoul and Daegu will hike up to 33 degrees Celcius that's 91 degrees Fahrenheit while Gwangju will soars to 36 and Busan should be slightly cooler at 31. Moving over on the other places Jeju will hike up to 34 meanwhile Dokdo and Mt. Geumgang stay slightly cooler. That's all for Korea and here is the global forecast for viewers around the world. Title: World Weather Title: Weather Closing That's all for me today, I will be back with more updates tomorrow morning have a wonderful rest of the day Title: Closing And those are the stories we're following at this hour. Thank-you for joining us on this Tuesday here in Seoul and we'll be back at the same time tomorrow at noon. Title: 12 Newsline Ending Title