■ Trade
S Korea, US talks stalled
South Korea has rejected a US demand that talks on forging a free trade agreement (FTA) include a dispute over US beef exports, officials said yesterday. The disagreement prompted Washington to postpone a working-level FTA session on sanitary conditions for the import of agricultural products, the Ministry of Agriculture said. "The session planned for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington will not take place because of a dispute over the agenda," it said in a statement. The fifth round of full FTA talks was clouded by South Korea's decision to ban three shipments of US beef over small bone fragments, even though it has lifted a three-year import ban imposed over US cases of mad-cow disease. In a heated response, US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement earlier this month that "the rejection of the third shipment clearly illustrates that South Korean officials are determined to find an excuse to reject all beef products from the US."
■ Brokerage
Nikko Cordial fined
Japan's trading watchdog recommended a ?500 million (US$4.24 million) fine, the largest in Japanese corporate history, against Nikko Cordial for allegedly padding profits, Kyodo News agency said yesterday. The company, one of the nation's top brokerages, said earlier yesterday it would correct its earnings reports for fiscal 2004 and 2005, as inappropriate booking of proceeds from derivatives trading helped inflate its earnings. The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it has placed shares of Nikko Cordial Corp on its supervisory post for review until the bourse finishes examining a correction in the firm's financial statement and rules whether it violated listing rules. The accounting irregularities stemmed from the August 2004 purchase of Bellsystem24 Inc by Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd, a Nikko Cordial subsidiary, Kyodo said.
■ Telecoms
Firms ink cable deal
KT Corp, South Korea's biggest fixed-line operator, yesterday said it signed a deal with US telecom firm Tyco Telecommunications to lay a trans-Pacific undersea fiber-optic cable. Under the deal signed in Beijing, an international consortium led by KT plans to build an 18,000km cable linking South Korea, China and Taiwan with the US. The consortium links KT and five other telecom firms from the US, China and Taiwan. KT said it would complete laying the cable in the second half of 2008 to meet growing demand for trans-Pacific Internet services. "The new undersea cable will help South Korea become a telecommunications hub in Northeast Asia," managing director Park Tae-il said in a statement.
■ Real estate
Apollo to buy out Realogy
A major private equity firm is set to purchase real estate giant Realogy Corp, the parent company of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, for more than US$6.6 billion, the companies announced. Apollo Management, based in New York, agreed to purchase the company in a US$9 billion deal while assuming Realogy's debt and other liabilities of about US$2.4 billion. The private equity firm also is in the process of acquiring Harrah's Entertainment, the world's largest operator of casinos in the world by revenue. Under the terms of the agreement between Apollo and Realogy, stockholders would receive US$30 per share in cash, a news release said on Sunday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. “To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. “With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
China is trying to set a "red line" for the incoming Trump administration and US allies by stepping up military activities in the region, a senior Taiwan security official said, including likely war games this weekend around Taiwan. China has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan so far this year, and its forces operate nearby on a daily basis. The official confirmed concerns expressed by other security officials in the region who have previously told Reuters that China could launch new drills to coincide with Taiwan President William Lai's (賴清德) trip to the Pacific this week which included visits to
‘UNITED FRONT’: Beijing provides Internet ‘influencers’ with templates and directions, such as criticizing Taiwanese politicians, the rapper said Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) in a video showed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bribes Taiwanese online influencers in its “united front” efforts to shape Taiwanese opinions. The video was made by YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” and published online on Friday. Chen in the video said that China’s United Front Work Department provided him with several templates and materials — such as making news statements — with some mentioning Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politician Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and asking him to write a song criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party. He said he had produced
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