Yonhap News Summary

The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday.

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(2nd LD) LG Display's 2014 net hits 4-year high

SEOUL -- LG Display Co., the world's top maker of liquid crystal displays (LCD), said Wednesday it posted its highest profit in four years in 2014 on the back of a pickup in TV set demand and robust sales of Apple's new iPhone 6 series.

Net profit more than doubled to 917.4 billion won (US$852.2 million) in the January-December period of last year, compared with 418.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

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(2nd LD) SK hynix performance all-time high in 2014

SEOUL -- South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, SK hynix Inc., on Wednesday reported all-time high earnings in 2014, marking the second consecutive year of a record-breaking performance.

Net profit came to 4.1 trillion won (US$3.87 billion) in 2014, up 46 percent from the 2.87 trillion won posted a year earlier, the company said in its regulatory filing.

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Bomb threat suspect says he wanted to talk to high-level official

SUWON, South Korea -- A 22-year-old man who called in threats to bomb the presidential house Cheong Wa Dae last weekend said Wednesday he did it because he wanted to talk to "a government official with power."

The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency investigating the case, however, said the man did not explain why he wanted to speak to an official.

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(LEAD) State-run lender KDB eyes 63 tln won in financing for local firms this year

SEOUL -- South Korean policy lender Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Wednesday it plans to extend 63 trillion won (US$58 billion) to local companies in 2015 to help foster their investment and support the government's stimulus drive.

The planned amount marks a 12.7 percent increase from the 55.9 trillion won earmarked for last year, according to the policy lender, which recently merged with state-run financial firm Korea Finance Corp.

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(LEAD) Ex-Navy chief's son arrested over alleged graft

SEOUL -- The son of a former Navy chief was arrested Wednesday over allegations that he and his father took bribes from a shipbuilding conglomerate four years ago, investigators said.

Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun and his son allegedly took bribes from STX Group, a now financially troubled shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, in the form of sponsorship to a yacht event in October 2008, a government anti-corruption task force said.

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Ex-rear admiral in alleged graft case jumps off bridge

GOYANG, South Korea -- A former Navy rear admiral under investigation over his alleged involvement in a defense industry graft case jumped off a bridge in a Seoul suburb on Wednesday, police said.

The Gyeonggi Goyang Police Station said an unidentified person called at 8:10 a.m. to say the 61-year-old man, identified only by his surname Ham, plunged off the bridge over the Han River that flows through Seoul into the Yellow Sea.

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Newspaper editor gets fines for defaming President Park

SEOUL -- A Seoul court on Wednesday imposed fines on the chief editor of an Internet-based newspaper for reporting unfounded rumors about President Park Geun-hye and her brother ahead of the 2012 presidential election.

Baek Eun-jong, the chief editor of The Voice of Seoul, was found guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and defaming the president and her younger brother, Park Ji-man, by publishing two articles.

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(LEAD) S. Korean slugger Park Byung-ho signs with U.S. agency in hopes of landing MLB contract

SEOUL -- South Korean slugger Park Byung-ho, hoping to reach Major League Baseball (MLB) next year, has signed on with the same U.S. agency that represents his ex-teammate and current Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho, an informed industry source told Yonhap News Agency Wednesday.

The source, privy to big league player movements, said Park, the hard-hitting first baseman for the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), has joined Octagon, and that the agency has been in touch with at least two MLB clubs, the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox, regarding Park's status.
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