it's a lot itn news. new data from korea's central bank shows that nationwide household debt grew at a faster clip in two thousand thirteen as kareem hassles plunged further and further into debt concerns are rising that a growing financial burden may hurt domestic demand. polly has to be kept then think of korea released data on tuesday showing that the country's households it reached an all time high last year. outstanding household lending by local banks and non bank financial institutions total a record six hundred thirty nine point five billion us dollars as of the end of november the increase of four point seven billion dollars from october marks the largest monthly gain in five months since in nearly six point two billion dollar on monday advance in june. the central bank says the growth in mortgage loans extended due in part to an increase in housing transactions during the cited period. the latest tally shows that korean households are feeling the burden of massive debt to the nation's household c

here's the sharm land and welcome to a special holiday broadcasts from the itn news for him. after a tug of war between the nations rival parties that lasted into the wee hours of the new year the national assembly finally approved theation's bget r two thousand fourteen series of other key bills were also passed arly five hours aft the clock struck midnight. our team and he'll start to sell. there will be no additional budget necessary as the t cells in the fourteen national budget was approved by the national assembly on early wednesday morning. the budget bill which is worth three hundred forty billion us dollars was part of the package deal with two of the bills one to reform the national intelligence service and the other to attract more foreign investment into the country. the nis reform package that agents from gaining access to government offices and media outlets and also calls for stricter punishments for agents that do not abide by the new regulations. those found guilty of breaking the rules will face a maximum of seven years in prison off from the current two yea

government will work closely with private sector to effectively carry out targeted reforms in ca itn news. the president talks visit to lay the groundwork for a creative and innovative economy the world's most wired country is stepping up its game to invigorate the software sector for more on the multi year plan or seasoning has to detox the korean government is seeking out ways to make the software industry a new growth engine for the economy to be announced on wednesday a long term plan for boots and a scepter. it includes making soft requested the part of regular school curriculum. increasing the competitiveness of small and midsize softer companies to that they have an increased presence in the global market and strengthening regulations to protect the i t industry under the first part of that claim student in elementary school detox software development as part of their current curriculum starting this year with the other grade levels training later all in an attempt to cultivate a younger generation of innovators to propel the competitiveness of software companies the government has

neil conroy, itn news. >>> join us tomorrow on air and online. college students going after computer hackers. >> is it ever the case that you have a student discover something that nobody knew about in the middle of the se mountain wester? -- semester? >> that's actually a course remir requi requirement. >> i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. "pbs newshour weekend" is made possible by lewis b. cullman and louise hirschfeld cullman. judy and josh westin. joyce hale, the wallach family, in memory of miriam and ira d. wallach, cheryl and philip milstein family. bernard and irene schwartz. rosalind p. walter. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america. designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >>> be more. >> blenko: the name is so widely recognized by people, and how much they think that this is a really unique product

itn news nobody has made sparse use of presidential pardons and in fact since taking office she has now issued just her first set but it's only for people who committed minor crimes related to trying to make a living at the sis minister of hunger one cents tuesday that a total of five thousand nine hundred twenty five people were part in the head of the lunar new year holiday which starts thursday. in addition about two point nine million traffic violators will be exempted from their penalties however the list of benefits trees will not include people caught driving under the influence. prominent politicians businessmen and offenders and violent crimes will also be excluded from the list of those parties and korean presidents traditionally issue pardons to commemorate major national holidays. well korea's overall labor market conditions have improved considerably since the global financial crisis of two thousand seven. the pace of job creation for the nation's youth remained sluggish in the prospects are gloomy to explain why and what's being done about it we're now joined by our pond g

itn news career has its sights on and then worry no more foreign direct investment to boost the local economy from tax breaks to visa extensions. i came in she outlines how the government is swinging the offer the government on thursday i did another set of measures to draw more foreign backed investment to the nation in a bid to spur economic growth but these production and creating jobs the ministry of trade industry and energy blueprint includes the relaxation of regulations on foreign investment and incentives to encourage global companies to set up their headquarters in korea. first the government actually you should clarify foreign investment regulations. any economist pointed out that one of the biggest obstacles to foreign investment in korea the maze of competing regulations on an overseas investors. the government also plans to encourage global enterprises to establish regional headquarters and research and development centers in korea for all foreign employees at the headquarters the government will fix the income tax rate at seventeen percent and extend their visa status t

new weaponry, etcetera. of course, we are not doing itn. for just for fun. but this is our view of security that also small country needs to be net provider of the security. this should be a cornerstone of the way to show also european allies the way forward. the second, i think, where clear and sound message what the u.s. has given. secretary hagel very clearly put to the message that europe has to understand that this will not be sustainable that domestic scene in u.s. will one day just block it because of the viewpoint of fairness. we are european alñies together have to understand it and not to turn to the nato, such a nega negative scenario. those are the cornerstones now. >> that brings to mind smart defense and how countries can contribute and nordic state had this great example.at l what lessons do you think that nordic cooperation -- what lessons can that provide to ot$er states in europe who areei looking at smart defense approach? >> to be honest, i'mre a little bit worried about the over using the word smart defense in a way of excusing the defen