21:55 ARIRANG NEWS
Welcome to Arirang News.
This is Key Kim
And we start with our top headlines at this hour.
1.
President Moon Jae-in urged the opposition parties to quickly approve the government-proposed bill on an extra budget Thursday, saying the government was running out of time to take meaningful measures to address the record-high youth unemployment rate.
The South Korean president's remarks come amid a continued disruption in the opposition-led parliament, mainly over opposition parties' objections to Mr. Moon's ministerial picks.
The minor opposition People's Party has decided to end its boycott of parliamentary and join in the review of the government's multi-billion dollar extra budget bill.
The center-left party apparently relented after Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok expressed regret over "disparaging" remarks made by the chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea about a scandal that's rocked the People's Party -- remarks that prompted the boycott.
The conservative opposition -- Liberty Korea Party and Bareun Party -- vowed to continue their boycott.
2. Moving to FTA between South Korea and US,
In response to a letter sent by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday morning, requesting a special meeting to possibly amend the current free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington, the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae once again clarified its position.
An official from the presidential office first emphasized that the USTR's letter doesn't use the term "renegotiation," but rather "amendment" or "modification."
According to the Blue House, many scholars cite structural problems in Seoul and Washington's economies as the source of the trade deficit in the U.S.
The Blue House even said there are contradicting views even within the U.S. on the FTA.
While the USTR asserts the trade deficit in goods with Korea has doubled from about 13 billion to nearly 28 billion U.S. dollars, and that its total good exports to Korea declined 2.7 percent since the FTA went into effect, the Blue House quoted the U.S. International Trade Commission's report that the Korea-U.S. FTA in fact improved bilateral merchandise trade balances by nearly 15.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.
The Presidential Office of Cheong Wa Dae is cautious to jump into any conclusions.
The Blue House official continued to emphasize the such meeting will not necessarily lead to an amendment of the standing Free Trade Agreement with Washington.
3.
Switching gears to different news,
The first-term cabinet of President Moon Jae-in is closer to being solidified.
Shortly after Labor Minister-nominee Cho Dae-yop's voluntary withdrawl from the cabinet position, the liberal leader went ahead with the appointments of three others, including Song Young-moo, his pick for defense minister whose alleged past wrongdoings along with Cho had been at the center of a political standoff.
4.
The Korean economy is set to grow by two.8 percent this year.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday raised its growth estimate by zero.two percentage points, placing it in line with analyst forecasts.
This is the second time this year that the central bank has bumped up its projection, as the country's economy grew at a
better-than-expected pace of one.one percent in the first quarter of this year, due to a strong surge of exports and investment.
Meanwhile,
Korea's main stock index, the KOSPI, closed at a new all-time high on Thursday led by overnight gains on Wall Street.
The KOSPI added three quarters of a percent, or about 18 points, to close at 24-oh-9-and-a-half.
It had touched an even higher point earlier in trading for a new intra-day high.
5.
Moving to an interesting news,
For Korea to install robotic assistants at its main airport, was only a matter of time as the nation has the highest concentration of industrial robots in the world..with more than 5-hundred multipurpose bots seen for every 10-thousand employees.
In fact, a growing number of schools are jumping on board with the idea of expanding software and IT classesin line with the government's aim to prep students for the 4th industrial revolution.
In terms of skill development, experts agree Korea is one of the leading countries in robotic technology, but as the world rapidly takes leaps toward the new industrial revolution, maintaining its stronghold will be another level of challenge.
Moving to weather forecast,
Gyeongju in Gyeongsangnam-do Province recorded its highest reading in 75 years.
And we are in for another tropical night here in Seoul with tomorrow's morning low expected to hit 25 degrees while Daegu and Busan top 25 and 24 degrees respectively.
During the day, there's some spordaic showers with Seoul topping out to 32 degrees while Gwangju and Busan make it up to 34 and 29 degrees.
The current temperatures are:
_______ degrees in Seoul
_______ degrees in Suwon
_______ degrees in Daegu
_______ degrees in Busan
And _______ degrees on Jejudo Island
You’re listening to Arirang Radio
2017-07-13
About TV Schedule Our Apps PC VersionTerms of use Privacy
Arirang Tower 2351 Nambusunhwan-ro(Seocho-dong), Seocho-gu, Seoul 06713, KoreaTel : 82-2-3475-5000E-mail : help@arirang.comCopyright Since 1996, The Korea International Broadcasting Foundation All Reserved.