prosecutors summoned seoul education chief kwak no-hyun on monday morning for questioning... over allegations that he paid off a rival to withdraw from last year's election. the prosecution focused on the true motives behind the money given to kwak's fellow candidate. park ji-won reports. seoul's education chief, kwak no-hyun , appeared at the seoul central district prosecutor's office on monday morning at around 11 a.m. the education superintendent presented himself to prosecutors for questioning over

allegations that he gave money to a former rival candidate... to withdraw from last year's election for the capital's top educator post. before showing up for questioning, kwak went to his office at the seoul metropolitan office of education earlier in the morning... where he once again declared his innocence. korean "my goodwill is misunderstood as a crime. and i will reveal the truth with all my integrity." kwak admitted earlier that he did give fellow candidate park myoung-gee over 200-million won,... roughly 190-thousand us dollars,... but insisted that it was given out of goodwill and not in exchange for park to bow out of the race. the prosecutors' questions focused on the true motive of him giving the money to his rival candidate. meanwhile,... the conservative korean federation of teachers' association announced its survey result on

monday,... which found that 80 percent of people polled... believe that kwak did not give the money out of goodwill. the association recently surveyed more than 300 of its members online. however, the progressive korean teachers and education workers' union holds a different position. in a statement released monday, the union asserted that the prosecutors' actions are a political ploy,... stretching unconfirmed facts about seoul's top educator. amid the fierce political battle between each political camp,... the prosecutors plan to summon him once again on tuesday. park ji-won, arirang with the by- election for seoul mayor less than two months away... one of korea's most- respected technology executives ahn cheol- soo has emerged as an early favorite... even without declaring his candidacy yet. arirang's oh jee-hyun has more. a recent poll

shows that ahn cheol -soo is the most popular potential candidate in the upcoming seoul mayoral race. with the by-election for the mayor of seoul set for october 26th,... the joongang daily, conducted a survey of more than 1-thousand people living in the capital. results showed that ahn,... who is the founder of a leading internet security firm in korea, the ahnlab,... led the poll with 39- point-5 percent of seoul residents supporting him, followed by grand national party lawmaker na kyung- won and the former prime minister han myeong-sook with 13 and 11 percent, respectively. ahn, a former medical doctor turned entrepreneur,... and currently the dean of seoul national university's graduate school of convergence science and technology,... has yet to announce his intentions. but if ahn chooses to run in the election,... he is expected to run as an independent and since people of all ages support him, including koreans in their fifties known to mostly support the gnp,... he would have a good chance of winning. former seoul mayor oh

se-hoon resigned last month after a city-wide referendum on the free school lunch program failed to draw a large enough turnout. oh jee-hyun, arirang news. and mr. ahn's possible run has huge implications for both ruling and opposition parties. the ruling grand national party is searching for a powerful candidate who can win the race against ahn,... while the opposition parties have announced that they will agree on a single candidate to defeat the gnp. laah hyun-kyung reports. whether ahn cheol-soo will run as an independent... and whether he will form a partnership with park won-soon,... a lawyer turned civic activist,... in the race for seoul mayor appears to be the most controversial issue regarding the upcoming by-election next month. ahn and park are known to be close friends and supporters of each other... to the point where ahn said that he could give up his candidacy if park wishes to run for mayor. the two are planning to meet within the next couple of days to

discuss the candidacy issue... and formally announce their plans. meanwhile, ruling grand national party chairman hong joon- pyo said on monday... that the fact that a non -political has become so popular... over lawmakers... is something that all politicians should think about. korean "this ahn cheol-soo phenomenon is a warning sign to existing politicians. in order to rid this strange development, the ruling and opposition parties should work together to better the lives of ordinary people." and the chairman of the main opposition democratic party, sohn hak-kyu, emphasized the importance of establishing strong inter-party unity among the opposition parties... by saying that anyone going up against the gnp is in the same boat. korean "the dp will nominate a powerful candidate. we will make sure we win the by-election by seeking the strongest candidate out of the pan-democratic camp, if necessary." the opposition parties will now concentrate

on narrowing down their list to the single most powerful candidate for the capital's top post. stand-up "with a new face outside party politics rising as the strongest potential candidate in next month's by- election,... both the ruling and main opposition party are each struggling to come up with the most competitive strategy to win the race for seoul mayor. laah hyun-kyung, arirang news." president lee myung-bak has asked koreans to use traditional markets rather than big retailers when shopping for the chuseok thanksgiving holiday. he said that would help revive local economies as well as the day-to- day finances of low- income families. yoo ji-hae reports. with just one week until one of korea's biggest traditional holidays, chuseok,... president lee myung- bak has called on koreans to visit traditional markets... to help revive regional economies... and boost the livelihoods of ordinary citizens. speaking in his bi- weekly radio address

monday morning... president lee assured the people that prices of food for chuseok ancestral rites are lower at traditional markets... and the quality is just as good as food sold at major supermarkets. korean "recent research into prices of food for ancestral rites has revealed that prices in traditional markets were cheaper than those at major supermarkets by 20 to 30 percent on average. vegetables, wild edible greens and fish were found to be way cheaper." " , 2030% . , ." the korean leader also said... that traditional markets have been renovated in recent times... and that the government has permitted parking and temporary stopping on the streets around traditional markets during the holidays... which will be further expanded to ensure a more convenient environment for market-goers. he added that the government has designated the last saturday of every month... as the day to visit traditional markets... and said that an increasing number of public organizations have started forging a sisterhood relationship with traditional markets... expressing hope that businesses in the private sector,

universities and other entities will also join the movement as for the price hikes... that have been inevitable due to the most severe torrential rains in nearly 100 years this summer... president lee said that the government is doing all it can to release reserved supplies to the maximum limit... and exempt customs duty on some imports to lower the prices. stand-up "president lee's statement on traditional markets... that have increasingly suffered with the sharp growth of supermarkets... is seen as part of his "ecosystemic development" drive... aimed at improving the livelihoods of low- income families by helping smaller firms grow. yoo ji-hae, arirang news." despite the bad economy and this year's short chuseok holiday,... incheon international airport is expected to be very busy during the three- day break... which starts on sunday. the incheon international airport corporation says it expects nearly 516- thousand travelers between september 10th and 14th,... which is a 15-percent jump

from last year. this is the first time the figure has surpassed the 500-thousand mark. about 507 thousand people are expected to take international flights,... a 16 percent rise from last year. the number of passengers taking domestic flights, however, is expected to drop by 20 percent to just 45-hundred. korea's top economic policymaker says... no changes will be made to president lee myung-bak's business-friendly policy. during a meeting with members of the federation of korean industries on monday,... finance minister bahk jae-wan stressed... that the business-friendly policy is a shortcut to creating more jobs and enriching the nation. bahk said enterprises are the source of national wealth,... adding that workers, executives, and partner companies must be seen as part of a single enterprise. speaking on korea's soaring consumer prices and slowing exports,... the minister asked the business to take a more aggressive role in leading the nation's economy out of the current difficulties.

the defense minister and the minister of knowledge economy held their first meeting on monday... aimed at investing more in research and development in the defense sector... and to increase domestic exports in defense and aerospace. kim han-ul has more. on monday,... the first consultative meeting on defense industry development... took place in seoul. both the national ministry of defense and the ministry of knowledge economy decided to announce their goals of reaching 1-point-6 billion us dollars worth of defense exports this year... and four billion by the year 2020. typically, the defense ministry is known for spending... rather than contributing to the national economy. but that's about to change... says korea's defense minister kim kwan-jin... by investing more research and development of aerospace and defense markets... while also exporting homemade weapons. the minister of knowledge economy, choi joong-kyung , says... spending also creates demand and more jobs... and that he hopes to see korea become a

leading nation for defense exports. the defense ministry will be laying out the blueprint for increasing defense exports through holding defense business exhibitions,... while the defense acquisition program administration will be establishing a framework for sustainable defense exports. and the ministry of knowledge economy plans to announce business cooperation strategies at the meeting... to enhance exports in defense and aerospace. stand-up "the two ministries also discussed ways to successfully host the international aerospace and defense exhibition in seoul next month. kim han-ul, arirang news." arirang tv has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government... to oversee the promotion of next year's nuclear security summit in seoul... to viewers around the world. arirang tv's president and ceo sohn jie-ae sealed the deal with korea's foreign minister kim sung-hwan... on monday,... to work together to help koreans... and the international community better understand the event. arirang tv is expected

to cover the two-day seoul summit from march 26th to the 27th next year,... attended by more than 50 world leaders... who will gather to discuss a range of nuclear security issues. the whistle- blowing website wikileaks has revealed... that the united states has been busy intercepting north korea's attempts... to smuggle weapons of mass destruction. choi you-sun has more. the united states has been exerting diplomatic efforts to obstruct north korea's attempts to smuggle weapons of mass destruction and related parts and instruments over the past several years. according to wikileaks, in a cable sent to a number of us embassies in africa, including the democratic republic of congo in january 2009, the us state department referred to

intelligence that representatives from a north korean missile and arms company was operating nearby the sahara desert. with great speculation that their visit was linked to the expected arrival of the north's cargo likely carrying arms materials, washington, ordered its diplomatic offices to demand their respective countries inspect the freighter and to discontinue such trade activities. in another cable to the us embassy in russia the same year, washington asked moscow to actively stop pyeongyang from purchasing artillery trucks from russia that would be delivered to yemen. north korea has also been trying to illicitly bring in parts and materials used to produce wmds. records show that in 2008, the us asked switzerland, japan and singapore to intercept pyeongyang's plans to illegally purchase banned goods. meanwhile, wikileaks disclosed that just before north korea's long-range missile test in 2009,

washington had notified moscow it plans to ready its ballistic missile defense system mindful of the possibility that the taepodong-2 could pose a threat to us territory. choi you-sun, arirang news. the us-based organization.. human rights watch... and foreign journalists in tripoli have found documents... revealing close ties between libya and western intelligence agencies. hwang ji-hye has the details. documents found in an abandoned libyan external security office in the capital tripoli... show the close relationship between america's central intelligence agency and the moammar gadhafi regime... during the george w. bush administration. although cooperation between libya and western intelligence services was made public after libya announced the end of its weapons of mass destruction program in 2004,... the documents show libya's tight cooperation with the cia and the british

intelligence agency mi -6... on the us's rendition program, which questions terror suspects in third-party countries,... like libya and tunisia. neither the cia and the mi-6 confirm the authenticity of these documents,... but details seem consistent with what is known about the transfer of terrorism suspects. the new york times reports... that the documents suggest that the united states sent terror suspects to libya for questioning at least eight times,... despite the country's reputation for torture. peter bouckaert, the emergencies director for human rights watch,... a us- based international non-governmental organization,... who discovered the documents says that the american government has used the libyan government to interrogate terrorist suspects,... handing over lists of significant figures that are believed to be part of al qaeda. human rights watch has often criticized the us rendition program,... saying the detainees were tortured and treated inhumanely. a cia

spokeswoman says... the close ties should not come as a surprise... since the agency works with foreign governments to help protect the us from terrorism... and other deadly threats. hwang ji-hye, arirang news. the forces of libya's rebel-led interim government are set to attack one of fugitive leader moammar gadhafi's last remaining strongholds, bani walid,... as those loyal to gadhafi refuse to surrender. located around 180 kilometers southeast of the capital tripoli,... it is one of four remaining areas still controlled by pro- gadhafi forces. meanwhile,... china has come under fire over allegations that it sold weapons and ammunition to the gadhafi regime in july,... in violation of united nations sanctions. according to officials in the national transitional council,... a few chinese state companies offered gadhafi representatives 200- million us dollars worth of weapons. china's foreign ministry spokeswoman, jiang yu, said on monday... that gadhafi's officials visited beijing about two months ago to buy

arms,... but that no contracts were signed. monsoon rains in southeast pakistan have killed at least 88 people and displaced eight million people. according to pakistan's disaster management agency,... most of the affected people are living in relief camps that the government has set up. authorities are providing food and other supplies,... and the united nations... as well as pakistani military forces are taking part in rescue operations. 3-hundred-65 millimeters of rain hit pakistan over the past four days. many residents in the province of sindh are living without power, while close to 15- hundred people in the punjab area are suffering from dengue fever. at least 29 people were killed and 56 are missing after typhoon talas ravaged western japan on sunday before making its way to the east sea. local authorities fear there could be more victims, especially on the kii peninsula, as damaged roads and mudslides have hampered relief work by police and firefighters.

hundreds of thousands were evacuated from flood-hit areas nationwide. the japan meteorological agency warns... that there could be more mudslides in the western region where a huge amount of rainfall has been recorded since last tuesday night. taking a look at monday's stock market action,.. the benchmark kospi ended below the 18- hundred mark,... mainly on news that there was no job growth last month in the united states. the kospi finished four-point-four percent lower... at 17- 85. all of the top 20 companies by market cap fell... except for sk telecom, which gained more than two percent... and nhn, up one percent. the tech-heavy kosdaq, meanwhile, dropped three percent. on the fx counter,... the korean currency weakened by six won... to close at 10-69 against the us dollar. and other major markets in asia also closed down. let's get you the closing numbers.

time for another hearty dose of human interest stories seen and heard from around the world. daniel choy reports. there's little arguing the fact that taiwan is one of the premiere filmmaking countries in asia. and recently, the country turned heads with their latest release. warriors of the rainbow is the title of the film dubbed... the most expensive movie ever produced in taiwan. the 24-million us dollar movie is based on a true story... of an uprising by indigenous people in taiwan... against japanese rulers in the 1930s. the headman for this grand project is director wei te-sheng. wei broke into the local market by storm in 2008,... with his award -winning comedy movie titled "cape no.7". the production saw some delays back in 2009, when a massive typhoon destroyed the original set. this was the reason

why the cost of production was almost tripled from the original estimate. warriors of the rainbow stars heavyweights like vivian hsu and zheng zhiwei... who graced the red carpet for the film's premiere. the 2 and a half hour movie opens on september 12 in taiwan and will be released in europe later this year. india's fateh sagar lake is brimmed. this is the result of the monsoons that drenched the city recently. the rising water level in various lakes are a cause for celebration for the locals. the panoramic view of the lake provides an overwhelming sight. a steadily increasing number of tourists continue to flock to rajasthan to catch a glimpse of the picturesque sight. a temple situate in the middle of the lake was thronged by devotees... who rejoiced as the lake overflowed. tourists and locals expressed happiness over this rare phenomenon... which occurs once every year. the experience of holding one's breath while witnessing the

raging water level rising inch by inch is simply amazing. a cool 1-million is the latest digit punched in by private buyers to ghanaian cocoa. according to industry regulator cocobod, the cumulative purchases of the main ingredient to the dark and tempting treat... has reached 1-million, 4- thousand, 1-hundred and 94 tons for the 2010-11 crop year. not a surprising number, considering the fact that ghana has around 2-million small -scale farmers who grow the crop. the country is also the producer of about 14 percent of west africa's cocoa output. unfortunately, some analysts attribute smuggling flows as part of the success story. but the main reasons behind the healthy increase are new farming techniques and good weather. and the number is guaranteed to go nowhere but up. daniel choy, arirang news.

the 13th iaaf world championships came to a close sunday evening... and officials in daegu handed over the flag to moscow, the next host in 2013. our song ji-sun recaps the 9 days of the world's biggest track and field event. it was none other than the world's fastest man, usain bolt of jamaica and his team that finally set a new world record on the last day of the iaaf world championships held in daegu. the jamaicans beat their own world record by 6-hundredths of a second in the last race of the championships crossing the line in 37 -point-0-4 seconds in the men's 4-by-100 meter relay. english "i kept on looking at the clock and i kept on saying, 'i can do this, i can do it' so i ran through the line. it was exciting to see the world record. i'm happy." defending his 200- meter title earlier in the championships, bolt won 2 golds at this worlds... after he was disqualified in the 100 meter final for a false start on the second day. and although there were controversies

regarding the false- start rule... the governing body of athletics has reaffirmed that the one -strike policy will remain. english "no chance. because he bolt made a false start, we are not going to change the rule." jamaica dominated the sprinting events... winning all of their medals in 100 to 400 meter dashes... while kenya raked in all of their medals from long -distance races... from the 800 meters to the marathon. abel kirui took home his second worlds title in men's marathon clocking 2 hours 7 minutes and 38 seconds. the country has already swept the podium on the first day in women's marathon... and in women's 10- thousand meters, four kenyans were first to come in. but the united states maintained the lead on the medal table until the last day, with 25 medals overall, including 12 golds. america's sprinting star allyson felix won the most medals with 4... two golds from women's 4-by-100 and 400 meter relays... as well as a silver in 400 and a bronze in 200 meters. russia placed first-

runner up, with their world champions reigning in race walks... as well as in other disciplines. germany, britain, china, australia, ethiopia and ukraine also made it in the top ten. and as the host nation, korea vowed to place 10 of team in top 10 in 10 events... but only 2 out of the team made it. both results came from the race walk, with kim hyun-sub finishing sixth in men's 20- kilometer and park chil-sung coming in seventh in 50- kilometers. with the 2011 worlds behind... the athletes are now aiming at their next destination,... the summer olympic games in london 2012. english "i feel really good right now, we have london 2012, thank you." english "i'm really satisfied and i'm happy for this. i'm looking forward to racing next year in london at the olympic games." and a year after the london olympics, the 14th iaaf world championships will take place from august 10th to 18th in moscow, russia. song ji-sun, arirang tonight in sports...north korea defeats south korea 3 -2 monday in the women's qualifiers for

next year's london olympics. meanwhile in other news, bubba watson leads after round three at the deutsche bank championship. jimmy yu has more... hello, i'm jimmy yu and welcome to world sports. teeing off with golf...bubba watson regained his composure after dropping three shots on the back nine to grab a one stroke lead after the third round of the deutsche bank championship on sunday. the american made a birdie at the penultimate hole for a round of one-under-par 70 after losing his advantage with three bogeys between the 11th and 15th holes. he finished the day on 11-under-par, one stroke clear of a group of five players, the two australians jason day and adam scott, and three americans, jerry kelly, brendan steele and chez reavie. meanwhile, yang yong -eun was the highest korean finisher of the day, as he came in 30th at 5-under. over at the us open...rafael nadal sent a scare on sunday when he collapsed during his post-match news conference because of severe cramping in his leg. the defending

champion was speaking to reporters after his third round win over david nalbandian when he suddenly stopped talking and slumped to the floor. nadal had just beaten nalbandian 7-6 6-1 7-5 at flushing meadows to book his place in the fourth round. another big name also earned his fourth-round card as andy murray beat feliciano lopez 6-1, 6- 4, 6-2 in less than two hours. murray had lost only one set in his five previous meetings with lopez and rarely looked in danger of conceding another one. although the spaniard recovered after a dreadful start, he was a beaten man well before the finish. elsewhere...juan martin del potro saw his nine-match winning streak come to an end as he fell 4-6 7-6 6-2 7-6 to gilles simon in the third round. the 18th-seeded argentine has made an encouraging comeback from the injury this year with titles at delray beach and estoril, but was not quite at full force. meanwhile, andy roddick roared back to life with a convincing 6-1, 6-4, 7-6

win over julien benneteau, mixing power with patience. on the ladies' side...second seed vera zvonareva eased past sabine lisicki of germany 6-2 6-3 to advance to the quarter -finals, making just 11 unforced errors. in football, south korea continues its world cup quest as the team gears up for the second game of the third round of regional qualifications against kuwait on wednesday korea time. after completely thrashing lebanon 6-0 last week in its opening game, south korea will be looking to use that momentum to stay on top of group b in kuwait city. now kuwait won't be another lebanon as the squad is coming off a confident 3-2 win over the united arab emirates and temperatures are expected to be scorching during the match. it will be another good test for team korea as only the top two from the group progress to the final round of qualification. wrapping up...jorge lorenzo blazed his way to a convincing win at the san marino grand prix, and more importantly,

the spaniard ended casey stoner's run of three consecutive motogp wins on sunday. right behind, lorenzo's compatriot dani pedrosa took second place while stoner finished a disappointing third. although stoner had pole position, the world champion lorenzo snatched the lead on the first bend and never looked back as he won his third race of the season. well, that's it for sports. next up is your weather update. hello, i'm yang un -jung with your weather forecast. it was a beautiful start to the workweek today, with nice low humidity, comfortable temperatures, and even plenty of afternoon sunshine. and it looks like we'll continue to see these fall-like conditions for most of the week. as we have no reports of rain until at least friday,... so until then... the weather's going to be gorgeous to spend some time outdoors. n will be sunny and dry... as typhoon talas has moved past the country,... but tokyo will still has one more day to deal with some left over showers.

meanwhile,... beijing will remain nice and dry with some cloudiness. but heavy showers and thunderstorms will continue in northern thailand as well as vietnam and cambodia. new zealand. flying over to north america... the rain is returning to the northeastern us as a strong cold front slowly advances eastward. and some areas that were hit hard by last week's hurricane irene could see more flooding, so watch out. meanwhile...a strong high-pressure system will be in control for the american midwest,... so plenty of sunshine there. and the west coast will see sunny skies and summer-like temperatures for the next couple of days as ny areas algiers, dakar, and cape town... will all clear out nicely on tuesday... with cloud- free skies and beautiful sunshine expected. addis ababa, meanwhile, will be pretty much the only major city with wet weather on tuesday. that's all for today's weather. ha g