president lee myung-bak and his colombian counterpart juan manuel santos have agreed to upgrade their countries' bilateral relations... and sign a free trade agreement. president santos will head back to colombia on friday. our presidential office correspondent yoo ji- hae reports. president lee

myung-bak held summit talks with visiting colombian president juan manuel santos on boosting cooperative ties on energy, resources, science and technology. during thursday's summit at the presidential office of cheong wa dae... the two leaders agreed to elevate their relations to a "strategic cooperative partnership"... and set up systematic mechanisms... such as high-level conferences, business meetings and forums for comprehensive and long-term collaboration. they also agreed to sign a bilateral free trade agreement... whose talks began in 2009... by the end of this year... so as to expand their political alliance forged in blood to an economic alliance. two-way trade between korea and colombia nearly doubled in 2010 from a year earlier to 1 -point-8 billion us dollars... while korean exports to the latin american country chalked up nearly 1- point-4 billion the same year. the two leaders also presided over the signing of a series of memorandums of understanding between the two governments... calling for

collaboration in setting up a high-level policy consultation forum, joint development of energy resources, infrastructure construction, and green growth. this is the third visit by a colombian president to korea... since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962. stand-up "during the rest of the stay in korea... the colombian leader is expected to visit energy complexes, as well as shipping and automobile companies in the country's leading industrial city of ulsan, in south gyeongsang province... before returning home on friday. korea's ministry of knowledge economy will help colombia develop its oil industry. the multi-billion dollar project is expected to create more opportunities for korean companies in the latin american market. hwang sung-hee reports. korea and colombia have agreed to conduct a joint multi-billion dollar project to develop new oil fields and facilities

in the latin american country. the ministry of knowledge economy unveiled plans for the "look asia project" on thursday... which includes developing new oil fields in the llanos grasslands in eastern colombia as well as building a pipeline and other facilities to open up the asian market for south america's fourth -largest oil producer. colombia's oil reserves are estimated to be around 1-point-9 billion barrels,... but currently, nearly all of its daily production of 2- hundred-67-thousand barrels are heading to the united states. the construction of a pipeline connecting the llanos basin and the andes mountain range with a seaport in the pacific is believed to facilitate shipments to asian countries. in fact, one of the two existing seaports in the pacific coast of colombia, the buenaventura port or the tumaco port will be improved with additional facilities and designated as an exclusive port for oil exports to asia. three korean companies, including state-run korea

national oil corporation, currently hold stakes in ten oil development projects in colombia. the ministry also added that the project, which could be worth up to 10-billion us dollars, will create a win-win situation for both countries. if successful, the "look asia" project will open up more opportunities for korean companies seeking to enter the latin american market, while colombia will enjoy a more prosperous oil industry. korean "the ministry said that a working group with representatives from the public and private sectors will be formed by next month,... who will draw up more detailed plans... and launch a joint feasibility study with colombia before the end of this year. hwang sung-hee, arirang news." korea posted a trade surplus for the 19th straight month in august. the trade surplus was smaller than the previous month, however, as imports grew faster than exports. kim na-ri has the details.

korea recorded a trade surplus for the 19th straight month in august. the korea customs service announced thursday that the country's trade surplus came to about 500 million us dollars in last month. the number, however, has declined from the previous month... as imports grew faster than exports in august. according to the data... the total amount of the nation's exports recorded 45-point-9 billion dollars... which is down from 49-point-2 billion in july... while imports rose from 44- point-3 billion to 45- point-5 billion. according to the data, the reason behind the increase in imports was the higher prices of local raw materials. in august, costs of purchasing crude oil rose about 46 percent on-year to 8-point-2 billion dollars. regional wise... national exports bound for china jumped just over 21 percent... and shipments to japan and the european union increased about

45 percent and 12 percent on-year respectively. kim nari, arirang korea's finance minister has... for now... ruled out the possibility of new measures to tackle volatile foreign exchange rates. in a keynote speech at the economist bellwether conference held in seoul on thursday, minister bahk jae-wan said the three main measures already implemented by the government have proven to be relatively successful, for instance, reviving a tax on gains from bonds held by foreigners. but many had expected more measures amid the ongoing debt crisis in europe. however, the minister said the government will continue to prepare for volatility in capital flows by regularly reviewing and improving the current measures. us treasury secretary timothy geithner says free trade deals with countries like korea... are "absolutely critical" to the us economy. speaking at an investor conference

held by cnbc in new york city on wednesday,.. geithner told cnbc host jim cramer that... other countries will take market share away from us companies... if the trade pacts are not approved soon. he expressed confidence, however,... that congress has a bipartisan strategy in place... to pass the pending ftas with korea, colombia and panama... calling all three "good agreements". but geithner did not specify when the obama administration will send the related bills to capitol hill. a recent survey shows... that a growing number of americans believe that asian countries are more important to the us... than the country's traditional allies in europe. oh jee-hyun reports. a new poll has found that more than 50 percent of americans think asia is more important than europe to their country's national interest. the transatlantic trends 2011 released on thursday,... which is an annual survey of american and european public opinion,... shows that 51 percent of americans feel that asian countries,... such as korea, china and

japan... are more important to them than countries in the european union. the poll results also show that a generational difference of opinion has emerged,... with young americans viewing china more positively than older americans. this year's results are in contrast to results recorded in 2004,... when only 29 percent of americans viewed asian countries as important to america's national interest. experts say... the poll could mark a potential change in the traditional transatlantic relationship,... as the us starts to view the far east in a more positive light. however, a slight majority of people surveyed in eu countries said that the us is more important than asian countries, suggesting that the transatlantic relationship for europeans remains relatively strong. the poll also found that 75 percent of europeans approve of us president barack obama's handling of international affairs,... higher than the approval rating they gave their own leaders. oh jee-hyun, arirang

the italian government has approved a package of austerity measures... as it attempts to balance its budget. the move is expected to be viewed positively by moody's when it reconsiders the country's credit rating later this week. park ji-won reports. in the midst of continuing uncertainty over greece's debt woes,... the italian parliament finally approved a 54 billion euro package of austerity measures on wednesday. the lower house passed the center-right government's austerity budget plans... that aim to balance the country's budget deficit by 2013. the package of tax increases and spending cuts has whipped up anger among italy's opposition parties. italian "we are protesting against this austerity package because they are trying to take money away from where there is none and not taking money from where it despite domestic opposition to the measures, their approval could positively affect

moody's upcoming announcement on italy's credit status,... slated to come out by the end of this week. moody's has been closely monitoring italy's credit rating since mid-june... after it warned italy it could be downgraded. meanwhile, two major french banks were downgraded earlier wednesday... due to their 56 billion us dollar exposure to debt-laden greece. moody's lowered the credit rating of france's credit agricole and societe generale by one level. fitch ratings also downgraded five regions of spain due to their fiscal problems. as the european debt crisis continues to affect more and more countries, concerns are growing about the possibility of a global recession. park ji-won, arirang the leaders of france and germany have moved to reassure greece that it is an integral part of the eurozone. in a conference call wednesday night with german chancellor angela

merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy, the greek prime minister said greece would meet all the deficit reduction plans it agreed to... in exchange for its two eu bailouts. after the call, merkel and sarkozy said carryiyi o bailout commitments is essential for the greek economy... to return to a path of lasting growth. in july, european leaders agreed... in principle... to provide another 1-hundred-9 billion euros in emergency funding for greece, which was on the verge of default. the latest bailout will be voted on... by the governments of individual eurozone nations over the next several weeks. china says it is still willing to buy european bonds... to prop up europe's ailing economies. zhang xiaoqiang, the vice president of china's main economic planning agency, said thursday.... that china is ready to lend a helping hand to countries experiencing sovereign debt crises. chinese premier wen jiabao said a day

earlier... that it was important to prevent the debt crisis in europe from spreading further. china, the world's second largest economy, has around 3-and-a-quarter trillion us dollars in foreign exchange reserves, about a quarter of which are estimated to be in euro assets. world bank president robert zoellick claims... emerging economies... will account for more than half of the world's economic growth by 2025. speaking at george washington university in washington on wednesday, zoellick said... korea, brazil, china, india, russia, and indonesia accounted for one-fifth of global growth in the 1990s... but have now become and will continue to be... economic powerhouses. referring to china,... the world bank chief said... the country needs to be a "responsible stakeholder" in an interdependent global economy. he added that china, as the world's second- largest economy, should also "move

toward a responsible with korea-japan relations having hit a rough patch after japan's recent series of sovereignty claims over korea's dokdo islets, seoul has suggested the two sides discuss the compensation of wartime sex slaves. choi you-sun has the details. the unsettled compensation of wartime sex slaves, better known as "comfort women," is expected to further widen the gap between korea and japan. just two weeks after the constitutional court of korea ruled that the government violated the constitution for not doing its best to help protect the women's rights by demanding compensation from japan, korea's foreign ministry officially suggested bilateral talks on the steps to bridge the two sides' differences.

korean "our director-general for northeast asian affairs bureau has summoned japan's deputy chief of mission in seoul to deliver a verbal note proposing a bilateral negotiation and to explain our position on the matter. we anticipate the two sides will promptly address the issue and to carry out an earnest discussion." " . , ." thursday's proposal was the first by seoul to bring up the section containing procedures to resolve disputes under the 1965 compensation agreement with tokyo. japan has been claiming that all compensation issues were settled with korea through the 1965 agreement, to which korea disagrees. refusing to take a direct responsibility on the "comfort women" issue, tokyo had attempted to indirectly settle through a civilian fund in 1995, only to face harsh criticism from the victims in korea and other countries in the region. and if the japanese government turns

down the proposal, seoul will likely take the next step to bring the matter to an arbitration panel. although rightful compensation of comfort women has long been a subject of debate between the two countries since the 1990s, the constitutional court stated last month that the government fell short of doing its job by not following the procedure set by the 1965 agreement. stand up "with uncertainties over how japan will respond, the korean foreign ministry has set up a task force to examine appropriate diplomatic and legal counteraction in resolving the bilateral dispute. choi you-sun, arirang news." president lee's nominee for health minister, rim che-min faced lawmakers at the national assembly on thursday in his confirmation hearing. he said he will adhere to the existing policies on foreign-owned hospitals to be established in jeju free international city. hwang ji-hye reports. at korea's national assembly,... the

confirmation hearing for health minister nominee rim che-min was held on thursday. nominee rim,... a former ministerial-level official of the prime minister's office,... said in his opening remarks,... that the government should pursue a sustainable welfare system based on balance and principles. korean "an individual's well-being cannot be guaranteed solely by government support or social care. the best welfare policy is providing the social vulnerables with more job opportunities, so that they can further participate in social activities." in response to a question about the foreign-owned hospitals,... rim said that he will adhere to the government policies already in place. korean "the government's policy or the guidelines laid out by the national assembly is to allow establishing foreign- owned hospitals in free economic zones including jeju free international city. and such principle has not changed." since 2003,... the korean government has been pushing to invite foreign investors to operate hospitals in free economic zones and earn profits. while those in favor of the policy say that such hospitals will boost advancements in

korea's medical industry,... the opposing side claims that profit-seeking hospitals will cause medical costs to rise for the citizens. hwang ji-hye, arirang news. seoul will elect a new mayor in just over a month... and a new poll shows... that ruling grand national party lawmaker na kyung- won is catching up to park won-soon ... who represents the progressive parties. kang seok-ho reports. with around 40- days to go before the october by-elections, the race to become the next seoul mayor is heating up, with park won-soon, a lawyer tu rned civic activist... who has been backed by the popular ahn cheol-soo ,... leading in the polls. but a survey conducted on tuesday shows that park's lead over the second place na kyung-won of the ruling grand national party... who has not even declared her intention to run,... has decreased from a week before. the survey conducted by korean daily chosun ilbo and media research showed that park received 46-point-5

percent approval to na's 36-point-2 percent, which is a lead of about 10-percent. it means park's margin has tightened by more than eight-percentage points from a poll conducted last wednesday, which had 51-point-1 percent of respondents supporting park and only 32-point-5 backing na. a breakdown of the polls reveals that support for na increased among women and in seoul's southeastern areas, the traditional stronghold of the gnp. analysts say support for park skyrocketed above 50-percent due to the so called "ahn cheol-soo fever" last week, which even drew some supporters from the conservative gnp. analysts note, however,... following the chuseok holidays, the gnp's base support for na has returned, and her rating is expected to increase if she decides to run and wins the party's nomination to become the gnp's official candidate. the polls had a pool of 5-hundred adult respondents from

seoul, and the margin of error was 4-point-4 percent. kang seok-ho, arirang news. the united states and the european union have condemned north korea's refusal to cooperate with the international atomic energy agency. lee ji-yoon tells us more. the united states and the european union have strongly criticized north korea's lack of cooperation with the international atomic energy agency. the criticism came during a board meeting of the un atomic agency on wednesday where washington raised "serious concerns" regarding north korea's nuclear activities,... calling north korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its record of proliferation deeply troubling. just last november, pyeongyang disclosed its uranium enrichment program and the construction of a light -water reactor. the eu also expressed concern over north korea's decision to ban iaea inspectors from entering its nuclear plant in 2009. the agency now relies

on information on north korea's nuclear activities from other sources. north korea abandoned the six- party talks aimed at scrapping its nuclear arsenal in april 2009 and conducted its second nuclear test just one month later. however, last month, russia announced that north korean leader kim jong-il had expressed his will to unconditionally re- engage with the five other parties during a summit with russian president dmitry medvedev. but the us says that pyeongyang's readiness to declare a moratorium on its missiles and nuclear weapons program is insufficient adding that washington is not interested in talks for talks sake. lee ji-yoon, arirang news. 61 years ago on this day, us general douglass macarthur led american and south korean troops in the incheon landing, the battle that helped drive the north koreans out of the south and turned the tide of the korean war. our kim han-ul reports from a commemoration ceremony onboard the r-o-k-s dokdo.

on september 15, 1950, an amphibious attack led by us general macarthur at the port city of incheon during the korean war... rescued the south korean and un forces deperately defending the pusan perimeter from the north korean troops who pushed down all the way south. the rok-us joint operation led to recapturing the capital city of seoul two weeks later. 61 years later, on thursday, more than 11-hundred war veterans, military officials, families and friends gathered on board a 14-ton landing ship "dokdo"... to remember the victory of that day. sailors paid tribute to those who lost their lives during the the war dead by throwing flower reefs into the sea... remembering their sacrifice and heroism. the navy official in charge says this is the first time this annual event was held on a ship... giving citizens a unique experience on the 14-ton ship "dokdo".

korean "last year we had the ceremony on land and this year we have invited the war veterans and citizens to ship dokdo. this will be an opportunity to honor the veterans and raise awareness of national security for citizens." the ceremony marking the 61st anniversary of the battle of incheon was also attended by south korea's chief of naval operations, kim sung-chan, and the commander of the us marine corps forces korea, major general michael regner... along with representatives from other un member states who fought in the war. stand-up "the highlight of the day was the reinactment of the "battle of incheon" which showed an amphibious mission involving ships, tanks and helicopters." the reenactment event involved three landing ships including "dokdo", three landing crafts, 16 amphibious vehicles carried on top of ships, and rubber boats. moreover, the event also featured the marine special operations unit who flew down in parachutes from helicopters. korean war veterans who fought in the

battle of incheon were especially moved by these efforts to commemorate their sacrifices. korean "i am a marine, and i appreciate my junior marines for not forgetting us and holding such ceremonies every year." decades have passed since the victory achieved in incheon... and while us-manufactured amphibious vehicles were used in the battle 61 years ago... the rok marine corps now relies on its self- developed kav7 amphibious assault vehicles, showing the development of korea's military prowess. kim han-ul, arirang news, incheon. taking a look at thursday's stock market action,... the benchmark kospi closed higher... despite rumors of a possible downgrade of italy's credit rating. moody's will announce later this week whether it will keep or cut its rating for italy. the kospi rose 1 -point-4 percent to close at 17-74. the it industry saw gains,... with hynix semiconductor jumping more than 6 percent... and samsung electronics and lg display both rising about about 2 percent.

the tech-heavy kosdaq, meanwhile, added 6-tenths-of a percent. on the fx counter,... the korean currency weakened by 8 won... to close at 11- 16 against the us dollar. the south korean national basketball team crushes malaysia 89-42 in the first round at the fiba asia championship in china. nine teams will fight for a single spot at next summer's olympics in london. and with other sports news, here's jimmy yu. hello, i'm jimmy yu and welcome to world sports. starting off with the champions league...manchester united showed its resolve by rallying for a 1-1 tie at benfica in group c on wednesday. benfica pretty much controlled the pace in the first half as oscar

cardozo put the side ahead in the 24th minute. however, ryan giggs equalized in the 42nd minute with an unexpected left-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area. meanwhile...aleksa ndar kolarov's late free kick also gained city a 1-1 draw against napoli in the english team's first match since 1968 in europe's top club competition. napoli, who were also in their first match in the competition since 1990, had gone ahead five minutes earlier on a goal by edinson cavani. with more football news... it was announced that the country of egypt has officially appointed former us coach bob bradley as national team manager. bradley replaces long- standing coach hassan shehata who left in june after egypt struggled to qualify for the 2012 african nations cup finals. bradley, fired by the u.s. in july, will now be given the task of getting egypt to the world cup finals for the first time since 1990. wrapping up....with the second formula one korean grand prix a month away, organizers said thursday they've prepared to stage another successful and

exciting race this year. the f1 race will be from oct. 14th to 16th in yeong-am, south jeolla province and the world's most prestigious open-wheel racing circuit will make 19 global stops throughout the year. the korean grand prix is currently under a seven-year deal with f1, plus a five-year option. it will be yet another amazing to chance to catch the world's best drivers in action, including defending champion fernando alonso of spain. well, that's it for sports. next up is your weather update. hello i'm yang un jung with your weather forecast. taking a look at friday's forecast high pressure will continue to affect us with hot and dry conditions for most of the day. but northern gyeonggi province and gangwon's yeongseo regions may wake up to a few morning sprinkles, so keep that in mind. as for the inland areas you guys will see a little bit of patchy fog early in the morning, so drive safely if you're there. now for the weekend, i actually have some very good news for

you. a large area of low pressure was supposed to affect the whole peninsula this weekend but luckily most of us will stay away from it. only gangwon's yeongdong regions will see a few showers. so, how about making some outdoor plans this weekend? here are your highs for friday seoul and busan both will hit 31 degrees. and couple higher in daegu and gwangju at 33 degrees... at the hottest. daejeon will climb another degree to 32 tomorrow, and jeju at 29. dokdo and mt. geumgang will remain at 27 and 23, respectively. taking a look at the international weather... most of japan's still hot and humid highs are in the low 30s, but skies will turn partly to mostly cloudy on friday. meanwhilebeijing's expecting a cool afternoon with highs only reaching low 20s accompanied by some showers. meanwhile... thailand, vietnam and laos will experience some heavy showers, which will spread into northern philippines as well. down under... a big dome of high pressure's still

dominating over much of australia... but southeastern coastal regions including melbourne and victoria... will start off with some morning showers on friday. in the meantime... unsettle conditions in new zealand will ease down a bit. into north america... as a cold front is bringing cool air into most of the northeast and the midwest regions, temperatures in many cities will fall dramatically into the teens on friday. only 19 degrees top are expected in new york and washington d.c. chicago's dropping even further to only 17 and there's a chance of some showers in the evening as well. but los angeles is still remaining in the 20s with partly cloudy skies. down in south america... as you can see there are a lot of clouds in the picture but luckily no precipitation. cluster of clouds will pass by southeastern brazil sometime during friday afternoon. and a long band of clouds in southern chile will affect santiago and buenos aires as well. into europe... moscow and london

will see a partly cloudy day on friday with cooler than average temperatures. but pretty much everywhere else is looking sunny and clear, so enjoy it. lastly in africa... triopoli will rise another degree to 37 for friday afternoon, under lots of sunshine. dakar has another dry day instore with around 29 degrees. and heavy rain in addis ababa will slightly taper off for tomorrow. cape town downsouth... nice and sunny with around 21 degrees. that's all for today's weather. have a great evening and i'll see you