on this edition of arirang news for tuesday, september 6th... the south korean government says it plans to turn other countries away from investing in north korea's mt. geumgang tourism resort after the north clears out the south's assets on its own. a powerful potential candidate for seoul mayor ahn cheol-soo says he will not run himself but support a leading liberal activist. the korean government extends paternity leave from three days to five and three of them will be paid.

and gadhafi spokesman moussa ibrahim tells syrian tv that moammar gadhafi is still prepared to defend libya as his the south korean government says it plans to ask other countries not to invest in north korea's mt. geumgang tourism resort... in response to pyeongyang's unilateral decision to clear out seoul's assets from the resort. this is the result of tuesday's meeting of south korean officials in seoul. the meeting comes just days after north korea launched a trial tourism program to attract investors from other countries. angry over seoul's suspension of tours after the shooting death of a south korean tourist in 2008,... pyeongyang demanded that seoul either participate in the new international tourism operation... or liquidate its properties and facilities there.

the head of a north korean firm in charge of attracting foreign capital... has proposed a meeting with south korea's hyundai asan... to discuss property at the mt. geumgang resort in the north, where the north and south used to operate tours together. he said that it is up to the south korean company to operate, lease, or sell its assets there. yoo ji-hae tells us more. north korea's daepung international investment group,... a body in charge of attracting foreign capital to the reclusive state,... proposed talks with south korea's hyundai asan... on ways to deal with its assets at the troubled mountain resort in the north. in an interview with seoul's yonhap news on tuesday,... the head of the north korean company, park chol- su,... conveyed his wish to hold discussions with the south korean firm... on resolving the assets issue... regarding the cross-border mt. geumgang tourism project. he said that it is up to hyundai asan...

whether it continues to operate, lease, or sell its assets at the resort. hyundai asan, however, stated that it had not received any official proposal from the daepung group. once considered a symbol of inter-korean reconciliation,... hyundai asan has invested some 200- million us dollars on the joint inter-korean project since 1998... when the north launched the tourism program for south korean tourists. however, the south suspended package tours... following the shooting death of a south korean female tourist... by a north korean soldier in 2008. pyeongyang has protested in frustration over seoul's unwillingness to resume the tours... as it had not obliged to its demand for a formal apology and increased security measures for tourists. the north recently expelled the last remaining south korean workers at the resort... after vowing to unilaterally dispose of south korean assets there... in an attempt to show that it is willing to continue with the tourism project on its

own. park's proposal for a meeting comes days after the communist nation revealed the blueprint for the first phase of its envisioned development of the tourist area... and an invitational pilot tour to the mt. geumgang resort from the port of its rason economic zone. the head of daepung group... said the north will go ahead with a second trial cruise for foreign investors later this month... before starting tours for international tourists in late october. yoo ji-hae, arirang news. and regarding north korea's recent hosting of an international tour to the inter-korean resort,... several foreign journalists who took part of the tour described it as a deserted "ghost town"... and that it's doubtful that north korea will be able to attract many foreign investors. our lee ji-yoon has more. once a symbol of cooperation between south and north korea, the mt. geumgang resort is now... empty and lifeless. this is what foreign journalists called the

inter-korean park after they ended their tour of the scenic resort last week. pyeongyang invited around 130 foreign journalists and tourism-related personnel from china, russia, france, and japan to take part in its pilot tour program,... in an effort to continue the tourism project on its own. however,... after the visit,... reuters described it as a "modern day ghost town" with hotels and stores covered in cobwebs. japan's asahi shimbun also reported... that 100 tourists per day, at most, probably visit the resort,... which is far from the number of visitors north korea claims it gets. the new york times said... although kim kwang-yun, the director of the north's mount geumgang international tourism leadership bureau,... claimed that about 9- hundred foreign visitors come to the park daily,... this number seems to be an optimistic assessment. several others reported that north korea criticized the south korean government for putting unilateral restrictions on tourism for political purposes,...

but that the tensions would not scare off foreign investors. afp, however, mentioned a chinese tour operator being too wary about the political situation to sign up to the project... despite the fact that beijing is pyeongyang's closest ally. it looks like it will be a tough road ahead for north korea in luring many foreign investors,... against the wishes of seoul,... with much of the resort left deserted and dusty without the flow of south korean visitors. lee ji-yoon, arirang news. meanwhile, the south korean government will send the first batch of flood aid to help the north on the 15th of this month. in an official letter sent through the south korean red cross,... seoul said it will send 200-thousand packets of baby food. and unless pyeongyang shows strong opposition to the idea,... these items will be delivered to flood-stricken areas in the north korean provinces of hwanghae and gangwon

gradually,... once or twice a week until mid -october. the total amount of aid is worth 5-billion won,... or roughly 4- point-6 million us dollars... which includes items such as biscuits, instant noodles, and rice- based baby food. ahn cheol-soo, the founder of ahnlab, korea's leading internet security firm, has decided not to run for seoul mayor. and now that the question of who will run in next month's by -election has cleared up a bit, both the ruling and opposition parties getting ready. laah hyun-kyung reports. the so-called "ahn-fever" that has shaken not only korea's political circle, but also the hearts of ordinary citizens has come to an end. at a joint press conference with park won-soon, a lawyer turned civic activist, on tuesday afternoon,... ahn announced his decision not to run for seoul mayor and that he will support park instead. korean "since park has been devoted

to improving our society to become a more civil one, i have no doubt that he will serve the mayor post better than anyone else." several recent surveys all showed that ahn led the polls... with more than 50 percent of seoul citizens saying that they would vote for him, if he decided to run. in regards to the poll results, he said he deeply appreciates the public's support... and that he will take it as people's desperate hope to see progressive changes take place in korean society. following ahn's remarks,... park said that the two came to a "beautiful agreement"... and since both share the vision of driving civic reforms and bettering the lives of koreans,... they will keep working together to achieve their goals. korean "both of us are more interested in making society a better place, rather than the mayoral post itself. i feel a bigger responsibility now and will make sure to work towards achieving a new era." . meanwhile, after tuesday's announcement, the political circle is really

gearing up for next month's big battle. the ruling grand national party is said to be looking for a strong candidate to take on the opposition parties,... whereas the pan-democratic camp,... including park, former prime minister han myeong-sook, and moon jae-in,... chairman of former president roh moo- hyun's foundation,... have all decided to agree on selecting the single most powerful candidate. with some even speculating that ahn dropped out of the mayoral election in return for park's support in next year's presidential election,... all attention now is on the result of the upcoming by-election... and how it will likely set the backdrop for the 2012 elections. laah hyun-kyung, arirang news. prosecutors have again seoul education superintendent kwak no-hyun for questioning over suspicions of bribery,... after a sixteen-hour session that ended in the early hours of tuesday. yang ji-woo reports. prosecutors summoned seoul education superintendent kwak

no-hyun for further questioning on tuesday afternoon... over suspicions that he paid off a rival candidate to bow out of last year's election... to give himself a better shot at winning the superintendent post. a day earlier, the education chief reportedly denied all the accusations against him... and while leaving the prosecutor's office in southern seoul tuesday morning... kwak refused to respond to a flood of questions from reporters. he is currently facing allegations that he handed over 200 million won,... about 188-thousand us dollars,... to rival liberal candidate park myoung-gee last year... in exchange for park's withdrawal from the election. prosecutors are expected to question kwak until midnight... and from there... determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for him by wednesday. the questioning will likely focus on how kwak managed to come up with the 188- thousand dollars to bribe park. prosecutors,

however, suspect that kwak originally promised more than 650 thousand dollars in a secret deal with park... for him to drop out of the race. if kwak is found guilty... he could face a maximum seven-year prison term. yang ji-woo, arirang news. and over at korea's national assembly... lawmakers held a confirmation hearing for president lee's nominee for chief justice of the supreme court, yang seung-tae . in his opening remarks,... yang said that he will constantly communicate with the public and drive for reforms,... so that citizens can have faith in the nation's judiciary. he added that reforms should be gradual... and stressed that he will use his 36 years of experience in the legal sector to uphold and protect the constitution and the human rights entrenched in it,... especially for those considered minorities in society. the hearing will continue through wednesday... and the assembly will decide whether to approve him on friday. good news for dads... and dads-to-be. the korean government is pushing to extend paternity

leave... from three days to five days... three of which would be paid. the move is a bid to boost the nation's low birthrate... and help people better reconcile work and family life. kim yeon-ji has more. korean men may be able to take up to five days off from work for paternity leave from now on. and three days of the five-day period would be paid. cabinet members cast a vote tuesday on a revision to the legislation for supporting work and family life at a meeting presided over by prime minister kim hwang- sik. under the revision, employers cannot reject employees' legitimate requests for a leave of absence if they have to attend to the needs of their family. this is the latest in a line of government policies aimed at boosting the country's birthrate and to help people better reconcile work and family life. korea's birthrate was about 1-point-2 children per woman through 2010..., one of the lowest in the world and also well below the

average birthrate in oecd nations. meanwhile, the ruling grand national party has also proposed expanding the pool eligible for financial childcare support..., which it says will be discussed further in a special consultative budgetary meeting with the government this thursday. the proposal aims to give everyone in the low 50th percentile income bracket monthly aid for home childcare until the age of 2. kim yeon-ji, arirang news. the finance ministry has given a grim outlook on korea's economy. it blames soaring inflationary pressure at home, coupled with downside risks for the global economy. hwang sung-hee reports. the korean government gave a bleak outlook on the nation's economy,... amidst heightening external uncertainties and faltering economic indicators. in its monthly economic assessment report published tuesday,... the ministry of strategy and finance

said... although there has been steady improvement in korea's labor sector, rising consumer prices, currently hovering at around five percent, remains a problem. growing inflationary pressure, combined with downside risks for the global economy and an increasing volatility in financial markets at home and abroad, has expanded uncertainties for the country. the ministry said worsening economic indicators in advanced nations, mainly the united states and eurozone countries, have revived worries over a recession. the us economy has not been up to par with earlier expectations... with its gross domestic product growth slashed to an annual rate of one percent in the second quarter... from a preliminary estimate of 1-point-3 percent. and things are not looking much better in europe, with powerhouses like germany and france seeing stalled growth during the april-to- june period. however, as for korea's manufacturing industry, the ministry expects to see steady growth... thanks to strong overseas demand for korean

goods. but, it left open possibilities for adjustments, citing a drop in auto production... and seasonal factors. in order to regain price stability, the finance ministry said it will strengthen its short- and long-term policy responses,... adding that it will closely monitor economic changes both at home and abroad... to prepare korea for any additional external shocks. hwang sung-hee, arirang news. korean builders ranked seventh in the global construction market last year,... mainly due to their success in the middle east. citing the american industry magazine engineering new records, the korea federation of construction contractors says... the nation's 11 construction firms accounted for a combined 4-point-8 percent of the international market. that bumps korea's ranking to seventh,... one notch higher than the previous year. the ranking does not include domestic orders. china came in first place at around 15 percent of the global market,... followed by the us with around 12

percent. president lee myung-bak told japan's new prime minister yoshihiko noda that korea-japan relations should develop into a future- oriented one... and grow into something that could give hope to future generations. during his telephone conversation with the japanese leader on tuesday,... president lee stressed that the history between their countries should not hinder the path towards a better future. while expressing his hope to meet him soon... the korean leader also said that seoul-tokyo ties will contribute to peace and development in east asia. and prime minister noda agreed with the idea and asked korea to continue to cooperate with japan in north korea affairs,... especially the north's kidnapping of japanese citizens in the past.

north korea is reportedly developing a gps jamming device... that can disrupt signals more than 100- kilometers away. this could pose a threat to the south korean military... which uses gps extensively to record its positions... and pinpoint the movements of the north. kim han-ul reports. north korea has been developing a new global positioning system or gps jammer with a range of more than 100 kilometers, among other devices for electronic warfare. this is according to a report submitted to the national defense committee on tuesday by south korea's ministry of national defense. the report also says north korea already imported 20 different kinds of communication and radar jamming equipment from the old soviet union. north korea currently owns gps jamming devices that can disrupt signals 50 to 100 kilometers away. and pyeongyang is

known to have mounted these electronic weapons on vehicles and positioned them in two to three areas near the military demarcation line between north and south korea. north korea's latest self-developed gps jammer would be able to overwhelm signals that are more than 100 kilometers away and make south korea's military unable to detect the enemy's whereabouts. kim han-ul, arirang news. the pakistani army claims... it has captured a senior al- qaeda leader suspected of planning attacks against the united states, europe, and australia. the pakistani military authorities say... younis al- mauritani , was arrested monday... in the suburbs of the southwestern city of quetta,... along with two other high-ranking operatives. pakistani intelligence says,... osama bin laden had personally asked al-mauritani to focus on targets of economic importance in the west. white house spokesman josh earnest applauded the actions of pakistan's intelligence and security services,...

which worked hand-in -hand with the cia to capture the trio. a convoy of libyan troops loyal to moammar gadhafi arrived in niger monday night,... heading towards the capital niamey,... but the fugitive leader's spokesperson says gadhafi and his sons remain in libya. and back here in seoul,... the korean government has decided to send a team of water resources experts to help with libya's water shortages. song ji-sun has the latest. a convoy of between 200 and 250 libyan military vehicles, including officers from southern army battalions arrived late monday night in neighboring niger,... and departed to the capital niamey on tuesday ,... but it was not known whether the convoy included any members of moammar gadhafi's family... or other high- level members of his government. regarding gadhafi's whereabouts, his spokesman, moussa ibrahim, told syrian tv station al-rai tuesday... that gadhafi is "in excellent health,... planning and organizing for the defense of libya," adding that both he

and his sons remain in libya. meanwhile, korea's ministry of land, transport and maritime affairs has confirmed that a team of water resources engineers will be dispatched to libya on thursday... to help the war-devastated north african country deal with its severe water shortages. this follows an agreement reached last friday between korea's foreign minister, kim sung-hwan, and interim prime minister mahmoud jibril... of libya's rebel-led national transitional council. during gadhafi's rule, korean engineers built large networks of pipelines in libya to transport underground desert water to urban areas. kim has also promised jibril that korea will help libya restore its infrastructure... such as the internet and communication networks. song ji-sun, arirang news. when the leaders of the g20 countries gathered in korea last year for the g20 seoul summit,... the culture communication forum was also held to promote korean culture. experts from different fields have been invited to seoul again for a three-day visit to share their opinion on the country's culture.

oh jee-hyun reports. korean culture is slowly beginning to gain popularity in some western countries,... drawing attention from young people there. the spread of korean culture is mostly lead by k-pop and tv dramas,... but often through the internet or word of mouth... and not through organized forums to promote it. therefore, the corea image communication institute invited cultural leaders of the group of 20 leading economies... for them to see and learn about the nation. korean "we tried to make sure our guests had a moving cultural experience, because this is more effective than simply giving information. and since they are influential people in different industries, they will play an important role in spreading korean culture when they return home." after visiting major cultural and traditional venues in the capital, the participants held the culture communication forum to share their expertise and to discuss how to better promote korean culture.

english "this is the first time that i'm here to look and feel, taste, and see. to me, the world knows very very little about korean history, korean culture, and about korean food." english "and one day we would hope that korean government and korean institutions would like to showcase korean culture in new york. dissolve most new yorkers understand other cultures better than they do korean culture, so there's a wonderful opportunity to bring korea to new york city." the participants hope to take back what they experienced here... and introduce it to their home countries. they plan to either organize events or to familiarize others with korean culture through art or published works. stand-up "international cultural leaders say... korea must promote its culture through communications, entertainment and food. they also say korea needs to find the right way to present and position itself in the world, since countries outside east asia do not yet fully understand what the country has to offer culturally.

oh jee-hyun, arirang news." a korean research team has developed a technology for the fabric industry. it is microfibers... similar to the silk... spun by spiders when they build webs. the team says... the latest achievement could have huge implications on the country's biomedical engineering. park ji-won tells us more. spiders spin highly stable and elastic silk every day. as liquid protein in a spiders' glands pass through its spinning duct... a silk thread is formed. a research team in korea has applied this method to fabricating microfibers. twenty micrometers superfine fibers can be made with a digital spinning duct... which does not require any heat or pressure source. the fibers can then be made into diverse patterns and designs. according to the research team, this environmentally- friendly micro- nanoscale spinning

technology could potentially be used in various areas of biomedical engineering, such as producing blood vessel tissues or nerve cells. as the fibers are digitally programmable, it allows a variety of multifunctional microfibers. "we think artificial internal organs like livers or kidneys could be produced... based on this microfiber fabrication technology." with its undoubted potential for use in tissue engineering, this microfiber research could be a stepping stone for further studies. the research results were published in a recent edition of nature materials, a world-class journal in materials science. park ji-won, arirang news. taking a look at tuesday's stock market action,... concerns over european debt brought down the benchmark kospi for the third consecutive trading day. the index fell one percent... at 1- thousand-767... as most sectors fell,...

except for the steel sector. samsung electronics and hyundai mobis fell by more than half-a- percent, while hyundai motor and kia motors gained more than one percent. the tech-heavy kosdaq plunged by three percent,... and on the fx counter,... the korean currency weakened by six won... to close at 10-75 against the us dollar. and welcome to world sports. south korea is set to face another major test in its world cup qualifiers at 2 am wednesday korea time, when the nation clashes with kuwait in group b action. coach cho kwang-rae has emphasized speed and communication as the key to winning the match, despite the blistering hot conditions and jetlag. sunderland forward ji dong-won will spearhead the team in a 4-5-1 formation, with arsenal's park chu- young, midfielder koo ja-cheol, and nam tae

-hee in the front. korea currently has an 8-3-8 head-to-head record with kuwait. in other news...the serie a strike ended monday after the italian players' association and league signed a temporary collective contract, clearing the way for the season to start this weekend. however, the new contract expires in june, leaving some to wonder whether another prolonged strike will form next year. reports say that both sides wanted to reach an agreement before the second round begins friday with the defending champions ac milan facing lazio at the san siro. over in tennis...top ranked novak djokovic marched on to the final eight at the us open without dropping a set against alexandr dolgo-polov, although he had to survive an epic tiebreaker to maintain his perfect record. the world number one survived a 30-point classic, winning 16-14 and ran away with the next two sets to win 7-6 6-4 6-2. hello, i'm yang un -jung with your weather forecast. we'll continue to see

nice and dry conditions for the next couple of days... thanks to the high-pressure system coming in from northwest china. however,... clouds will start to increase by wednesday afternoon and last into thursday. and eventually these clouds will trigger some rainfall on friday and throughout the weekend. i know many of you have outdoor plans for this holiday weekend, but it's not a bad idea to have some back up indoor plans... since we have rain in the forecast for three straight days. but stay updated with your latest forecast, just in case. we have a similar range of lows and highs for wednesday. seoul will start off at around 19 and climb to 28 in the afternoon. daegu and gwangju... will begin at 17 and then reach close to 30 degrees. and busan... is expecting a low of 20 then 30 for the high. daejeon will start out pretty cool at 16 before topping out at 27. dokdo is expecting 22 to 25... and mt. geumgang 14 and 24.

taking a look at the international weather... most of japan will enjoy sunny spells on wednesday with temperatures reaching close to 30 degrees. a similar story for northern and eastern china, but there will be occasional showers developing for the country's central and southern regions... with heavy rain and thunder activity mostly concentrated in hong kong. also, heavy monsoon rains will continue in vietnam and thailand and extend into northern philippines as well. down under... clear skies and sunshine will prevail in northern and western australia. but there is a long band of showers hovering in the nation's southeast out to western new zealand, so there's a good chance for some showers along the coastal areas... such as in melbourne and victoria on wednesday. but, wellington will be staying nice and dry tomorrow. flying over to north america... the northeastern us will continue to be affected by a cold front, so a lot of showers and even some severe thunderstorms are possible. meanwhile,... the

remnants of tropical storm lee will influence america's southeast, bringing severe thunderstorms as well as a tornado threat into georgia and florida and up to the carolinas, so watch out if you're in these areas. in south america... rio de janeiro will be remaining sunny,... but sao paulo's expecting one or two showers in the morning. but santiago and buenos aires will enjoy sunshine with highs around 20 degrees. into europe... another clear sunny day for moscow, rome, and madrid for wednesday. and another cloudy day expected in london and paris. while berlin has a chance for some showers once again... with a high of 17. lastly in africa... dakar's staying fine and dry for another day, so enjoy it while you can. cape town's staying nice and sunny as well... with a high of 28. but thunderstorms for addis ababa on wednesday. that's all for today's weather. have a great evening and i'll see you back here tomorrow.