and on chuseok... korean families mark the time of harvest by gathering together to share food, stories and gifts. arirang's kim yeon-ji paid a visit to jeonju, north jeolla province to show us scenes of happy family reunions over the choicest of the year's harvest there. chuseok is celebrated every year on august 15th of the lunar calendar..., and is one of the biggest and most important holidays in korea. record numbers of koreans return to their homes far and near, as the three-day chuseok holiday offers a rare opportunity for family reunions with full-moon harvest celebrations. and a massive influx of chuseok visitors was also no exception in jeonju, north jeolla province, some 200 kilometers south of seoul. many packed the city's big outdoor markets and shops well into the eve of chuseok. and jeonju, a city boasting korea's historical charms, offered various cultural events in its hanok village, including experience corners for making songpyeon, a half-moon shaped rice cake steamed with pine needl

korean "i truly hope and wish that everyone will enjoy the chuseok holidays. we will do our best to improve people's livelihoods, so that next year they can buy more gifts to take back to their hometowns." and when the holiday comes to an end next week,... the two major parties will be back in business, beginning with the confirmation hearing for unification minister nominee yu woo-ik ... scheduled for wednesday. kang seok-ho, arirang news. with the so-called "ahn cheol-soo syndrome" sending shockwaves through korea's political circles,... ruling and opposition parties are striving to find a powerful candidate... who can bring victory to their respective parties in next month's election for seoul mayor. laah hyun-kyung has the details. after it tycoon ahn cheol-soo, who received more than 50 percent support in a recent poll of potential seoul mayoral candidates, announced his decision not to run for mayor,... both the ruling and opposition parties have been trying to come up with the powerful candidate to win next month's race. but it doesn't look like it is g

local farmers are busy harvesting the apples... ahead of chuseok. hwang ji-hye has more. korea's premium apples have traditionally come from the country's southern city of daegu in north gyeongsang province. however,... due to global warming... the major growing area has moved north... to gangwon province. farmers in yanggu county are busy harvesting apples... ahead of one of korea's biggest traditional holidays, chuseok. although they expected shipments to be delayed due to the frequent heavy rain this summer,... the late summer heat that korea has basked in for the past few weeks meant they were able to harvest top-grade apples in time for the holiday. korean "our apples are in good quality despite the bad weather. apples produced in yanggu county are famous for their high sugar content." as summer temperatures continued to stay high, even overnight, down in the southern regions,... it was difficult for the apples grown there to build up nutrients. this resulted in the apples to have a lower sugar content than those produced in the northern part of the country. so natur

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, e

and is one of the main dishes during korea's thanksgiving holiday, chuseok,... which will take place from september 11th to the 13th this year. korean " it would be good for the foreign participants to know about what korean eat this holiday and why we celebrate it." english " kind of share the same culture in rice cake-making. i think it's the one of important tradition in asia that can be shared by asian, throughout we have common thing to share." many lessons to be learned from observing and experiencing this korean-style of cooking... included... accuracy, precision, speed, cleanliness,... and also a little bit of patience. last but not least, and stand-up "human beings are naturally creative... and from observing the making of traditional korean cuisine, participants of the cpi program were certainly taught to think outside the box, but also about the spirit to be their very best. aria dhanu, arirang news." the fifth world festival of national theaters has begun in seoul. the opening performance has got a lot of attention with its attempt at a new art genre called "pansori opera

traffic on korea's major highways has eased up on the last day of the chuseok holiday. compared to last year, more people left the capital this to visit family in their hometowns. according to the korea expressway corporation,... nearly 1 -point-6 million cars left seoul from friday to tuesday,... up 100- thousand from last year. as of tuesday night only parts of the gyeongbu and seohaean expressways were seeing slight congestion... as the number of cars on the road returned to normal. as of tuesday night,... it took a little over five and a half hours to drive from busan to seoul. the government plans to create more jobs next year... for those who often face discrimination -- mainly senior citizens, youths and the disabled. hwang sung-hee reports. the korean government and the ruling grand national party have agreed to create more jobs for the socially- disadvantaged groups. the gnp's floor leader hwang woo-yea told reporters on tuesday... that lawmakers have decided to increase next year's budget for creating jobs for those that often face discrimination in the job ma

having any political background,... might have subsided slightly... over korea's thanksgiving, or chuseok holiday. after declaring his intention not to run in next month's seoul mayoral election, ahn also made it clear that he has no plans whatsoever to go for the presidency next year. but despite his remarks,... many still consider him a strong potential presidential candidate,... capable of creating various scenarios in 2012 elections. meanwhile, as for next month's seoul mayoral election,... both ruling and opposition parties are striving to put their most powerful candidate forward to win the race... as the election day draws near. laah hyun-kyung, arirang news. gold has performed better than any other investment... over the last three years. the price of the precious metal has jumped more than 137 percent since 2008.... far outperforming other investment options. hwang sung-hee reports. those investing in gold since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis have seen a staggering return on their investment. research conducted by yonhap news agency on local banks and financial firms on w

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