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About this Episode
The latest news from home and abroad, with a close eye on Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula in particular
Hosts & Guests
Transcript
From Seoul, Korea, KBS World Radio News today starts right now.
On today's broadcast, President E.J.
Mayor just a government to prepare responses to every foreseeable issue as the Middle East
crisis worsens the global economic and security environment.
South Korean stocks rebound sharply, jumping nearly 10 percent on the back of intense bargain
hunting after seeing the steepest decline in history amid the Middle East crisis.
And, the U.S. government says its attacks on Iran will sever its path to nuclear weapons
and send plenty of signals to nations that have criticized the operation, including North
Korea.
This is KBS World Radio News.
I'm Daniel Che.
President E.J.
Mayor ordered the government to implement a market stabilization program worth 100 trillion
won, or roughly 68 billion U.S. dollars, and call for a proactive response to heightened
volatility in financial markets amid the war in the Middle East.
The President issued the order on Thursday during a cabinet meeting at the Presidential
Office, saying that financial markets around the world face great uncertainty and that
he expects considerable difficulties in the energy, economic, and industrial sectors.
He ordered officials to pay heed to energy supply, demand, and price instability affecting
bread and butter issues to stabilize supplies of crude oil, gas, and NAFTA, and to diversify
imports.
The President also instructed his cabinet to address hoarding and excessive profiteering,
pointing to sharp fluctuations in fuel prices despite the lack of serious disruptions to supply
so far.
He also ordered the government to plan to evacuate South Korean nationals from the Middle
East and mobilize all available means, including coordination with allies, military aircraft,
charter flights, and land routes, if necessary.
South Korean stocks rebounded sharply on Thursday, jumping nearly 10 percent as investors snapped
up bargains a day after the Borses' steepest drop in history.
Key stocks, such as Samsung electronics and SK Heinecks, led the comeback as investors
calmed after jitters over the Middle East crisis.
Pigeon has the details.
The benchmark Korea composites stock price index made a comeback on Thursday as investors
went bargain shopping following the Borses' steepest tumble in history.
The index jumped by as much as 12.2 percent in intradate trading, but later narrowed its
gains closing at 490.36 points or 9.63 percent higher at 5,583.90.
The rest of the day's jump partially made up for Wednesday's 12.06 percent tumble that
came amid investor worries that the Iran crisis could weigh heavily on the export-driven
South Korean economy.
The jump of more than 490 points was the largest in the Borses history.
In terms of percentage gains, it was the second largest following an 11.95 percent jump
on October 30, 2008.
The rally prompted the Korea Exchange, the country's main Bors operator, to halt program
buy orders tied to Cosby 200 and Costac 150 futures for 5 minutes during intradate trading.
The tech heavy cost stack also shot up 137.97 points or record 14.1 percent to close
at 1116.41, Pigeon Kibis World Radio News.
U.S. Secretary of War, Pidhaxeth, told reporters that his government's efforts to deal with
Iran's nuclear ambitions both to end signals while addressing North Korea's criticism
of the ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said bad things happen when crazy people have nuclear weapons
prompting speculation that the remarks may have been an indirect message to Pyongyang.
Rosin Baak has more.
This is something that has to be dealt with.
U.S. Secretary of War, Pidhaxeth, says Operation Epic Fury will send plenty of signals to
North Korea and other nations, critical of the military action.
During a press briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Hexeth addressed accusations
brought against Washington.
They don't really bear on the case of Iran.
We're going to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions, and that will send plenty of signals in
the process.
The day after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, North Korea condemned the military
strikes as an unlawful act of aggression and a gross violation of sovereignty.
We're going to continue to do what we have the greatest military in the world by far.
From a roundtable at the White House, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his stance that
had the U.S. not intervene, the Iranian regime would have had a nuclear weapon within weeks.
If we didn't hit within two weeks, they would have had a nuclear weapon.
And if we didn't do the B-2 attack a number of months ago, they would have a nuclear weapon.
And when crazy, people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.
Trump continued to defend attacks on Iran as necessary to end Iran's nuclear ambitions,
adding that Washington's great display of military strength will continue to move forward.
Rosine Park, KBS World Radio News.
The Iranian and Israeli ambassadors to South Korea both held news conferences on Thursday,
regarding the current crisis in the region.
The Iranian ambassador to South Korea, Said Kuzaci, called the U.S.
Israeli attacks on his country a war crime committed before the eyes of the world, while
warning that Iran will not hide and will boldly face his aggressors.
He accused the aggressors of ignoring international laws and regulations as well as basic moral
principles.
During his news conference around the same time, Israeli ambassador to South Korea Rafael
Harpas argued that the attacks were a preemptive defensive measure.
As Said, Israel has the duty to defend itself because Iran continues developing nuclear
weapons with the aim of destroying certain countries.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a new destroyer's test firing of strategic cruise
missiles and inspected the vessel for the second day in a row, out of its commissioning.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Kim had checked up on
the 5,000-class Cheyenne at a shipyard in the western port city of Nampo on Tuesday
and Wednesday.
After reviewing the troops' vessel management and operational capabilities, Kim determined
that the destroyer had satisfied operational requirements and called it a new symbol of
the regime's maritime defense power.
He ordered the construction of two vessels of the same class or higher each year under
the regime's new five-year development plan and said the Navy's nuclear armament was
proceeding satisfactorily.
The regime leader also observed the firing of strategic cruise missiles from the destroyer.
New data show that South Korea's life satisfaction ranks among the lowest in the organization for
economic cooperation and development.
A report released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Thursday raided South Korea's
life satisfaction in 2024 at 6.4 out of 10 points, the same grade the nation earned in
2023.
The world happiness report raided South Korea's life satisfaction at 6.04 points from 2022
to 2024 placing it 33rd among the OECD's 38 members.
The Ministry also found that South Korea's suicide rate rose by 1.8 deaths from the previous
year to 29.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024.
The figure was the highest since 2011 when a rate of 31.7 was recorded.
Chawade will open the Mount Boga area behind the presidential compound to 24-hour public
access.
The Presidential Security Service said in a statement Thursday that the move aimed to provide
more convenience for people wishing to visit the area by removing the time restrictions
on hiking trails which had only allowed access to certain areas during fixed daylight hours.
The Security Service said it plans to maintain tight security and surveillance in the area
in cooperation with the Capitol Defense Command.
In line with the move, the National Heritage Administration plans to set up six information
centers this month at trail entrances around Mount Boga.
The mountainous area behind the presidential compound had been heavily restricted for more
than five decades following the so-called Blue House Raid or the January 21st incident
in 1968, during which North Korean commandos infiltrated the South and tracked through Mount
Boga in an attempt to assassinate then President Pak Jong-hee.
Snow or rain is expected across most parts of the country on Thursday night and Friday
with heavy snowfall forecasts and some endless areas of the central region.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday, more than 15 centimeters of snow
is forecast for the mountainous areas of Kangwon Province, two to eight centimeters in
Inland Kangwon and Northeastern Kyeongi Province, and one to five centimeters in Inland
Kyeongi and northern North Chungcheong Province.
About one to three centimeters of snow is also expected for Seoul, Incheon, the best coast
of Kyeongi Province, other parts of the Chungcheong region, and eastern North Jeolla Province.
And that's the news from KBS World Radio's new centriene Seoul, the Sesame Daniel Trail.
