yang ji-woo has more. the fuel pipeline burst into flames in a densely populated nairobi slum village near the kenya pipeline company depot monday morning.... killing scores of villagers and destroying lines of tin- shack shelters. swahili "there was a lot of smoke and there were people around that area who were fetching petroleum remains... then they inhaled the smoke and they collapsed when those around there inhaled it, then smoke turned into fire and all around there including houses were burnt." survivors say people gathered with cans when oil from a nearby depot spilled into a sewage ditch. they say the fire began without warning when a man tossed away a cigarette butt... with the ensuing blaze engulfing dozens of people who had been filling containers with oil. meanwhile, rescuers at the scene... say the death toll, which stands at around 75, could rise even further due to the severity of some of the victims' burns. kenya's prime minister raila odinga... who paid a visit to a nearby hospital to see

yang ji-woo reports. according to an anonymous source in washington thursday...the us house of representatives has tentatively agreed to vote on the country's three pending trade deals with korea, colombia and panama in mid-october. but observers say... the belated move on the korea-us fta could lead to more delays in the latter half of this year. the protracted battle over the us debt limit... as well as other major national events such as the ten-year anniversary of the september 11th attacks this month... have held up plans to ratify the deals. meanwhile, another source on capitol hill has expressed optimism about the swift ratification of the pending korea-us fta, ... saying us house republican leaders have set a legislative agenda for this fall to vote on the pact...and us president barack obama's speech before congress next wednesday to shore up job creation and boost the federal government's fiscal sustainability are signs of momentum toward approving the trade agreement this month. according to re

yang ji-woo has more. many fashion designers and brands seek to break into china the world's biggest manufacturing powerhouse... with a burgeoning economy that is largely contributing to the rapid development of its domestic fashion market. chinese "haining city has been continueously benchmarking fashion trends in korea and japan. that was why we have gained heart of chinese consumers." striving to become a fashion powerhouse, china is showing its immense appetite for global fashion designs, including the field of fashion illustration. and at the 2012 haining leather expo chinese organizers courted one of korea's leading fashion illustrators, lee mi-jung to allow the public enjoy her inspiring work. korean "when the chinese committee invited me to the fair.. i knew that i could use such opportunity to introduce korea's fashion illustration to china's market." chinese "professor lee's fashion illustation has a great influence in a global fashion arena. we staged her work at the previous exhibition with a g

yang ji-woo reports. former ceo of renault samsung motors, jean marie hurtiger held a press conference thursday evening to say farewell to his korean counterparts and the country in which he has enjoyed living in for nearly six years. "i will always remember gosa , a traditional event that we did for the launch of an engine plant in busan. i was very moved because i could feel that korea has this unique quality of being able to bring the hearts and minds of people collectively together to their best. this is the great quality of korea and this is what i love with korea." hurtiger, who was also the former chairman of the european union chamber of commerce in korea, ... said his successor at the automaker... francois provost will carry on his legacy and maintain the company's key position in asia's auto industry. an industry with chronic overcapacity and abundant brands usually reins in operations especially when there is the prevailing mood that the global economy is slipping into recession. however, despi

yang ji-woo, arirang news. the us chamber of commerce says it's confident that the korea-us free trade deal will be approved by congress... in the next six... to eight weeks. 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- novembe

yang ji-woo has more. the emerging economies of eastern europe, which boast a vast growth potential, have enticed many korean companies to focus on local european markets. an increasing number of korean firms is now committed to local communities in eastern europe... due to their location near the greater market that represents the entire european continent. this lg group factory cluster located in wroclaw in southern poland... hires 13-thousand polish workers to produce liquid crystal display modules and lcd tvs. manufactured goods from this area are widely distributed to not only retailers in eastern europe... but also other regions of europe... highlighting the strategic importance that this region has. other korean companies... such as samsung electronics and korean automaker giant, hyundai motor company have also gained much popularity among local consumers. czech "samsung smartphones are well- sought after by the customers due to its high operability based on android-os with an abundant source of app

yang ji-woo has more.nce regarded as a mere asian manufacturer of bland and cheap cars, korea's largest automaker... hyundai- kia automotive group has rebuilt its design and quality to become one of the major players in the global auto industry while others have struggled to overcome the global financial crisis. according to the korea automobile manufacturers association on tuesday... the domestic automaker exported nearly one- point-four-five million vehicles in the first eight months of this year, up 13 percent from the same period last year. the automaker, made up of hyundai motor and its affiliate kia motors, also saw export revenue jump 30 percent to 20-point-6 billion us dollars over the same period. strong sales of both brands on foreign soil... were largely led by a series of new models... including the avante and tuscan for hyundai motors... while kia's k5 and sorento r as well as its smaller models like the rio and piccanto... have catapulted overseas market demand this year. the automaker also s

yang ji-woo reports. prosecutors summoned seoul education superintendent kwak no-hyun for further questioning on tuesday afternoon... over suspicions that he paid off a rival candidate to bow out of last year's election... to give himself a better shot at winning the superintendent post. a day earlier, the education chief reportedly denied all the accusations against him... and while leaving the prosecutor's office in southern seoul tuesday morning... kwak refused to respond to a flood of questions from reporters. he is currently facing allegations that he handed over 200 million won,... about 188-thousand us dollars,... to rival liberal candidate park myoung-gee last year... in exchange for park's withdrawal from the election. prosecutors are expected to question kwak until midnight... and from there... determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for him by wednesday. the questioning will likely focus on how kwak managed to come up with the 188- thousand dollars to bribe park. prosecutors, however, susp

through bold and collective action by the world economies... can there be a way out of the turmoil yang ji-woo reports. amid fragile market confidence and escalating debt woes in both continents across the atlantic ocean... imf chief, christine lagarde has called on world leaders to take global collective action. english "overall growth is continuing to slow down. the advanced economies in particular are facing an anemic and bumpy recovery with unacceptably high levels of unemployment. the euro area debt crisis has worsened. financial strains are rising and again without collective bold action there is a real risk that the major economies slip back instead of moving forward." speaking at the woodrow wilson center in washington dc... the former french finance minister said... advanced economies are now in a period of "weak growth and weak balance sheets"... which reverberate into a crisis of market confidence, and prolonged lukewarm demand and investment. at the same time... emerging markets in general... have been overheating... causing inflationary pressure and upward credit growth. under the