lee ji-yoon, arirang news. north korea could hold its first-ever joint military exercise with russia... before the end of the year. the japanese daily asahi shimbun reported monday,... citing an unnamed north korean source,... that the two countries' navies and air forces will engage in search and rescue training at sea. it is extremely rare for north korea to stage a joint military drill with another country. north korean leader kim jong-il is known to have proposed a full- scale joint military exercise to russian president dmitry medvedev last month,... but sources say moscow was reluctant... so both sides settled on rudimentary search and rescue training exercises. construction has resumed on a naval base in the small fishing village of gangjeong in southern jeju island... after the regional court ruled that protesters who interere with the contruction will be fined. our kim han-ul reports from gangjeong. on august 29th, the jeju district court granted the injunction from the government and the navy... to ba

lee ji-yoon, arirang news. and as ji-yoon mentioned,... south korea's chief nuclear negotiator wi sung-lac,... has debriefed his chinese counterpart wu dawei on the inter-korean denuclearization talks... held wednesday in beijing. the korean and chinese officials also exchanged ideas on resuming the six-party talks. at the meeting,... mister wi reportedly spoke positively about the prospects of north korea moving forward with denuclearization,... then requested that beijing pursuade pyeongyang to accept preconditions to the six-way negotiations,... including the north suspending its uranium enrichment program. attention has now shifted to when and where pyeongyang and washington,... will follow up on their meeting in july in new york... and whether and how soon the two koreas will push for a third meeting. the world's top memory chip supplier, samsung electronics, says... it has become the first company to mass produce memory chips... using 20- nanometer technology. the company has also started production on the world's largest memory fabr

lee ji-yoon has more. us president barack obama will make a speech on his long-awaited jobs plan next week. obama asked congressional leaders on wednesday to call a joint session of the senate and house of representatives for his speech on september 8th... stressing that the country must deal with "unprecedented economic challenges." english "the president feels that we are at a moment where we need to take significant action to spur economic growth and to create jobs." obama said he would lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that congress can immediately enact to rebuild the american economy while reducing the deficit and getting washington's fiscal house in order. during his speech, obama may propose introducing tax credits for companies that hire more workers, and possibly new spending on public infrastructure. the president also urged lawmakers to extend legislation to fund highways and mass-transit projects, saying a failure to do so will cost thousands of construction jobs and delay much- needed

our lee ji-yoon tells us more. this genetically- modified virus is designed to kill cancer cells in humans. but what's amazing about this engineered virus, called jx-954, is that it selectively kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissues. a group of scientists in canada made the breakthrough by administering the experimental viral therapy to 23 patients with a variety of advanced cancers. results showed that healthy tissue in seven of the eight patients in the two highest-dose groups was unaffected while the virus replicated itself in patients' tumors. traditional treatments include chemotherapy, which uses chemical injections to kill rapidly dividing cells, but such treatments have severe side-effects and limited effectiveness. english "so we think with this selective approach we may be able to treat cancers continuously with the virus until we've hopefully effected complete remission of the disease." the virus is delivered to tumors through the bloodstream, which is better as intravenous delivery is much m

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 wi

lee ji-yoon has the details.ith growing speculation over whether the united states will hold another round of high-level talks with north korea,... us assistant secretary of state for public affairs michael hammer said monday that,... washington is consulting with south korea, china, russia and japan about the "opportunity" of holding additional talks with north korea. talking to reporters in new york, hammer said the us is trying to see if there is the possibility of holding talks with north korea after last week's nuclear talks between south and north korea in china. he said however that in order for the talks to take place, pyeongyang must take a number of necessary steps,... including abiding by its nuclear commitments and making credible moves toward denuclearization. regarding us secretary of state hillary clinton's meeting with her chinese counterpart in new york monday,... hammer said, clinton called on beijing to redouble its efforts to urge pyeongyang into taking those steps. meanwhile, us state departm

lee ji-yoon has more. while the fate of the long-delayed free trade deal between korea and the us still hangs in a cloud of partisan wrangling,... the us chamber of commerce has expressed confidence that the deal will be approved in the next six to eight weeks. john murphy, vice president for international affairs at the chamber told reporters thursday,... that he expects president obama and congress to approve the three pending deals with korea, colombia and panama soon,... saying that the standing of these deals is actually quite high in terms of growing bipartisan consensus. noting how the chamber has been laying the groundwork for years on the trade pacts, murphy also said,... the uscc will step up efforts to ensure that the deals are approved before obama hosts the annual meeting of leaders from the asia- pacific region in mid- november. he also emphasized that the chamber of commerce supports a bipartisan trade adjustment assistance program compromise negotiated by the white house and two key members

lee ji-yoon, arirang . tens of thousands of italians went on strike on tuesday... to protest against the country's 45-point-5- billion-euro austerity package. the strike was organized by italy's biggest trade union,... and saw disruption to flights, buses, trains as well as hospitals, schools and other government services. demonstrations were held in several cities around the country with extra police being drafted in... to stop any potential disorder. the austerity package will see cuts in education, health and widespread pay freezes. italy is on the brink of a greek-style financial crisis... with its debt approaching 120 president lee myung-bak will appear live on television broadcast thursday night at 10 p.m to discuss his views on a wide range of topics. during the 80- minute program,... president lee will speak with a four- member panel... including two professors and two tv announcers... about his so-called "ecosystemic development" drive,... as well as pending issues involving economic and social mat

lee ji-yoon, arirang news. meanwhile,... the governor of the bank of korea has stressed that... the central bank will try to meet its inflation goal of four percent for this year. the bok said, however, that... it would keep its policies flexible... to control rising prices. arirang's song ji-sun has more. bank of korea governor kim choong -soo has stressed that the central bank will try to meet its inflation goal of four percent for this year,... but it will not put pressure on the economy in doing so. during a visit to washington for annual world bank and imf meetings, kim said... the bok's inflation goal remains at four percent... with plus or minus one percent of range for the next three years. kim, however, underlined the importance of flexible policies in achieving the targets,... noting that unyielding policies always fail... in periods of economic volatility. citing inflation control as one of the central bank's major roles, kim added that the economy evolves dynamically,... and that inflation comes as

lee ji-yoon has the latest. japanese authorities confirmed wednesday,... that nine people found aboard a boat off the noto peninsula in japan early tuesday are north korean defectors. the passengers, including three men, three women and three children, reportedly said that they're all related to each other and that they had set off from the eastern coast of north korea with the intention of going to south korea. japanese media also reported that one of the passengers claimed to be a member of the north korean people's army,... but there's no official confirmation of this as of yet. for now, the japanese central government is considering their case,... while the south korean government said it will discuss the matter with tokyo so that the defectors are treated in a humanitarian manner. earlier wednesday, the immigration bureau granted a provisional landing permission for the nine to transfer them to an immigration facility in nagasaki. there, immigration officials are expected to interview the defectors to see w

lee ji-yoon, arirang news. meanwhile, the south korean government will send the first batch of flood aid to help the north on the 15th of this month. in an official letter sent through the south korean red cross,... seoul said it will send 200-thousand packets of baby food. and unless pyeongyang shows strong opposition to the idea,... these items will be delivered to flood-stricken areas in the north korean provinces of hwanghae and gangwon gradually,... once or twice a week until mid -october. the total amount of aid is worth 5-billion won,... or roughly 4- point-6 million us dollars... which includes items such as biscuits, instant noodles, and rice- based baby food. ahn cheol-soo, the founder of ahnlab, korea's leading internet security firm, has decided not to run for seoul mayor. and now that the question of who will run in next month's by -election has cleared up a bit, both the ruling and opposition parties getting ready. laah hyun-kyung reports. the so-called "ahn-fever" that has shaken not only korea's

lee ji-yoon has more. south korea and the united states are waiting for a proper response and action from north korea to restart the six-party nuclear talks. this is according to south korea's chief nuclear envoy wi sung -lac, who left for washington wednesday,... to hold talks with us deputy secretary of state nicholas burns and the us envoy on north korea, stephen bosworth. the meeting comes just two weeks after north korea reportedly suggested a moratorium on its nuclear testing and production if the six- way talks resume. after the meeting, wi told reporters that although there are no signs yet that north korea is prepared to meet the conditions to restart the talks,... south korea and the us are both hopeful that pyeongyang will respond properly to what's asked of it. he also added that the us is supportive of inter-korean dialogue and improving relations between the two koreas. meanwhile, the former special coordinator for north korea policy, wendy sherman,... who is also the nominee to hold the thir