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 wedn

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. english "this island is very beautiful. in romania, we have beaches, beautiful ones also. but they are crowded, populated and not natural. so this is beautiful. you can come here and relax." after enjoying the serenity of the beach, the group visited the house featured in the popular korean drama, "stairway to heaven". there, the ladies had a tea party with rice cakes. english "i tried the sweet potatoes. they are just delicious. we grow them in kenya too, and i am happy i was able t

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 soar

famous korean pop singer in soon yi served as the chief judge for the event..., which was sponsored by incheon international airport and the city government of bucheon. more than 20 singers representing nations like mongolia, bangladesh, and morocco sang their favorite songs, many of which were melodies from their own countries. and regardless of the results, the participants were happy that they could show off their passion for singing. stand-up "noridan provides an exemplary model of social responsibility... that brings together local governments, ngos, and corporations to help the young and old realize their dreams of changing the world through art and music." kim yeon-ji, arirang the national human rights commission of korea will call on the government to try harder to protect the human rights of stateless people,... especially those who have lost their korean citizenship... after their sham marriages were discovered. hwang ji-hye reports. the national human rights commission of korea says it plans to advise the government on how to better protect the human rights of stateless people. this