kim yeon-ji, arirang news, jeonju. although making songpyeon and performing the ritual charye are the main activities most families do to mark chuseok,... many people came out to enjoy the holiday with their families. our oh jee-hyun takes us to the korean folk village where traditional activities were specially organized. farmers music and dance,... acrobatics on a tightrope... these are some of the widely- known korean traditional performances. but even local residents rarely have the chance to see them these days,... so visitors from home and abroad at the korean folk village gathered and watched excitedly at the performers' detailed yet upbeat moves. stand-up "the village offers visitors the opportunity to play traditional games and to see some north korean folk performances." more than anything, people enjoyed their day out spending time with their families,... sitting back and relaxing with music playing in the background. and as several traditional games were prepared near the main performance stage,... children

kim yeon-ji has more. russia opened a new pipeline thursday that is designed to provide gas to its far eastern territories and, potentially, asian consumers. the 18-hundred kilometer-long pipeline, the largest in the far east region, connects the untapped gas fields off sakhalin island, khabarovsk..., and the pacific ocean port vladivostok. russian prime minister vladimir putin attended the pipeline's opening ceremony... saying that residents in the nation's far eastern territories will benefit from the link that will provide natural gas at cheap prices. however, he added that the long-term goal of the pipeline is for it to grow into a hub that serves the energy needs of neighboring asian countries, including korea and japan. russia's national gas giant gazprom owns and operates the pipeline... which it says will be capable of transferring up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually. in the long-term, russia plans to build a new line that sends natural gas to south korea via north korea and connect it to

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 g

kim yeon-ji, arirang news. the korean government has invited the parents of foreign women married to korean men for a week -long visit. this event is aimed at giving these women... who rarely get to fly home mainly due to financial problems... a chance to see their families. oh jee-hyun has this story. 25-thousand foreign women marry korean men every year. but once these women get married,... they rarely get the chance to see their families back home. therefore the government decided to bring their parents here. 80 parents from vietnam, cambodia and the philippines were invited to spend time with their daughters' family... and they will be able to soak up korean culture by visiting some popular tourist sites in seoul. english "i feel so excited and i feel so happy. my first daughter actually doesn't know them but my last daughter knows them. and my parents too, they really miss her, so it is a great chance." ifugao "i used to take care of hana when she was young,... and it's been a while since i last saw her, b

kim yeon-ji, arirang news. latest data shows... that around 490-thousand more jobs were added as of august,... compared to the same month last year. officials attribute the growth to steady economic recovery,... backed by korea's solid exports and industrial activities. our hwang sung-hee has more on this. korea's jobless rate fell in august from a year earlier... as the number of newly created jobs in the country rose. statistics korea said on wednesday... that around 490- thousand new jobs were created on-year last month, raising the total number of workers in korea to some 24-million. and backed by steady economic recovery, korea's unemployment rate dropped point-3 percentage point to three percent during the cited period, while the nation's youth jobless rate also fell from 7 percent to 6- point-3 percent. korean "the number of unemployed dropped by 69- thousand on-year last month to 762- thousand. this is because more people were employed due to the country's robust exports and increases in production and

kim yeon-ji explains. the korean economy has been buffeted by the escalating european debt crisis and the slowing us economy..., but analysts say korea is least likely to suffer a currency crisis in asia in terms of economic fundamentals. according to the financial times, the korean won has fallen by about 9-percent against the us dollar since august 1st..., and the country's stock market has also dropped about 15- percent. citigroup says korea's stock market was among the hardest hit by foreign fund outflows last week... as foreign investors kept withdrawing funds at the news of the financial turmoil in the eurozone. analysts say foreign investors have reasons to be sensitive about their korean holdings... as korean banks rely heavily on wholesale financing from european banks, leaving the korean market highly vulnerable to any credit sqeeze in global markets. while korea's open capital markets are indeed reacting vehemently to external shocks, causing concerns for the government..., kwon young-sun, an ec

our kim yeon-ji reports. maestro chung myung-whun says the seoul philharmonic orchestra will have a joint concert with north korea's top orchestra members by the year's end both in seoul and pyeongyang. at a press conference on friday in seoul, chung and the ceo of the prominent orchestra revealed what they did while in north korea and what they aspire to do in months ahead. maestro chung said it was his life-long dream to visit the north and that the trip was purely driven by his desire to meet with north korean musicians, and help discover young musical talents there. in pyeongyang, chung was introduced to the country's two orchestras. he had the opportunity to conduct the musicians, playing beethoven's 9th symphony as wewell as pieces from tchaikovsky and brahms. it was a first-time experience for the orchestras...as classical music repertoires are rare in the north. chung said the musicians there boasted a high level of musical proficiency and talents, and expressed his desire to introduce them to his own

kim yeon-ji has more. noridan is a pioneering social enterprise in art and culture. as the korean word "nori", meaning "play", suggests..., this company envisions bringing change to the world through their fun performances. noridan performers are known as eco musicians because they make their instruments with junk items like used plastic bottles and pipes and turn them into objects that can create great sounds. this group of eco musicians performs about 200 street and stage concerts a year in their local community in seoul, around the nation, and even abroad. and although noridan started out as a band, it is now investing in nurturing a professional group of vocalists representing all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. this project, called the "intercultural and transnational chorus", is noridan's attempt at achieving inclusive development through the means of art and music. korean "one of the reasons we started the intercultural chorus project is because we wanted to present a more innovative social venture model that can work in our multicultural society." candidates

kim yeon-ji explains. conflicting territorial claims over the south china sea by a host of sovereign states have fueled fresh tension in the region. the south china sea is a body of water rich in resources south of mainland china, west of the philippines, east of vietnam, and north of malaysia, brunei and indonesia. claiming its indisputable sovereignty over virtually the whole sea, china recently objected to an indian company carrying out an oil and natural gas exploration in the contested waters. mandarin "regarding the exploration of oil and gas resources in relevant waters, our stance has been consistent. that is, we oppose any country exploring oil and gas in waters under china's sovereign right." although the chinese spokeswoman was adamant that the indian company had encroached into china's territory, india's hindustan times said that the area belonged to india's ally, vietnam. and on the same day of china's warning, the external affairs minister of india left for hanoi to attend the 14th india-viet

our kim yeon-ji reports. the wives of foreign ambassadors to korea... representing 27 countries got a chance to experience traditional korean culture on friday on muuido... an island off the coast of incheon. the ladies wore traditional korean vests... specially designed for both traditional beauty and comfort. and a group of traditional musicians welcomed the guests with upbeat korean folk music, poongmul. korean "today's event is to show these world representatives the beautiful landscapes of incheon... a jewel city not so widely known among foreigners. more importantly, we wanted to have them experience korean traditions." after the host's welcoming remarks, the wife of uzbekistan's ambassador to korea offered a speech in appreciation. english "we will make a great contribution to promote mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation between our people and our countries." the ladies visited the island's popular attraction, hanagae beach,... and there they enjoyed walking on the soft mud flats barefoot.

kim yeon-ji reports. deputy defense secretary nominee ashton carter has stressed that north korea's missiles and wmd programs pose a direct and serious threat to washington and its allies. in a written statement to congress ahead of a confirmation hearing at the senate armed services committee on tuesday, carter said the us must closely monitor north korea's asymmetrical defense build-up through its uranium enrichment and wmd programs... and potential proliferation. he said the north is capable of launching another attack any time... highlighting pyeongyang's two attacks on south korea last year carter said he will actively cooperate with other government agencies... and devise contingency plans with the help of washington's allies. a long-time us national security professional, carter directed military planning during the 1994 crisis over north korea's nuclear weapons program..., while serving as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy in the clinton administration. he is current

kim yeon-ji has the details. standard and poor's ratings services on monday downgraded italy's long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch from a+ to a, while its short-term rating was lowered from a-1+ to a-1..., citing the mediterranean country's heavy debt load and tepid political leadership. italy is the eurozone's third largest economy... and currently suffers a deficit to gross domestic product ratio of 120-percent, one of europe's highest. the european central bank had called for stiff austerity measures from italy, for which prime minister silvio berlusconi submitted a proposal consisting of higher taxes, pension reform and spending cuts. while berlusconi received the parliament's final approval for his austerity measures last week..., s&p projects that italy's reduced pace of economic activity is likely to limit the effectiveness of the government's plan. the ratings agency forecasts that the country's gdp will grow at an annual average of zero-point-7 percent between this year and 2014..., well below

our kim yeon-ji takes a look... at a vibrant corbina market. this is a marine produce market managed by the korea fisheries cooperative association... in the port city of mokpo in south jeolla province. early in the morning, brokers are busy auctioning off freshly caught yellow corbinas. a crate of the highest quality corbinas sells for at least 360- thousand korean won, which is roughly 336 us dollars,... and a crate of lower quality corbinas usually goes for at least 90-thousand won, or 84 dollars. these prices reflect a 10 to 20-percent hike compared to the same period last year. korean "the price of yellow corbina has risen by about 10 to 20-percent compared to last year." since they started corbina fishing this fall, quite a few fishermen have enjoyed good hauls. and some fishing boats returned with corbinas worth as much as 200 million won, or 187- thousand dollars, from just one trip out to the sea. and these bumper hauls are giving breathing space to ship owners who have been suffering from the effects of inflation... which has made the