Yonhap News Summary

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

-----------------

(LEAD) Koreas buy time for talks on wage at factory park

SEOUL -- North Korea has accepted South Korea's tentative offer of wage payments for North Korean workers at a joint industrial park, allowing the two sides to buy time for talks on Pyongyang's unilateral wage hike, officials said Friday.

The two Koreas have been embroiled in the wage dispute as North Korea unilaterally decided in February to the hike minimum wage by 5.18 percent to US$74 per month for about 53,000 North Korean workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the border city of the same name.

-----------------

(2nd LD) Ex-Korean Air executive freed over 'nut rage'

SEOUL -- A former Korean Air executive was freed from jail Friday as an appeals court acquitted her of the charge of changing a flight route carrying heavy penalties in the so-called "nut rage" case.

The Seoul High Court sentenced Cho Hyun-ah to 10 months in prison but suspended the term for two years.

-----------------

Gov't budget frontloading overshoots target

SEJONG -- The government's budget frontloading well exceeded its earlier target as of late April thanks to its efforts to prop up economic growth through state spending, official data showed Friday.

According to the data from the finance ministry, budget spending reached 123.3 trillion won (US$113 billion) as of end-April, topping the 118.5 trillion target set earlier in the year.

-----------------

S. Korea keeps importing fish from Japan after Fukushima disaster

SEJONG -- South Korea has imported more than 100,000 tons of fish from Japan even after the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused local consumers to shun products from the neighboring country due to health concerns, government data showed Friday.

According to the data by the Korea Customs Office (KCS), South Korea brought in 130,973 tons of fish products from Japan between March 2011, when a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami crippled a nuclear power plant, and last month, with their value topping US$420 million.

-----------------

S. Korea, Japan hold talks over UNESCO row

TOKYO -- South Korea and Japan began talks Friday to resolve a row over Tokyo's push to win world heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime Korean slave labor.

Japan has applied to list a package of 23 coal mines, shipyards and other early industrial zones as UNESCO world heritage sites. South Korea is strongly against the bid as the facilities include seven sites where nearly 60,000 Koreans were forced to work during World War II. Japan colonized Korea from 1910-45.

-----------------

(LEAD) Park vows to support small solar firms

SEOUL -- President Park Geun-hye pledged Friday to help small South Korean solar companies compete in the global market as she opened a new innovation center.

The move comes as South Korea is pushing to go green by slashing carbon emissions, switching to renewable energy sources and ending its heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

-----------------

(LEAD) Monthly household income grows 2.6 pct in Q1

SEJONG -- The monthly income of South Korean households increased 2.6 percent on-year in the first quarter thanks to more employment and increased wages, a government report showed Friday.

The monthly income of households consisting of two members or more averaged 4.51 million won (US$4,131) in the January-March period, according to the report by Statistics Korea. When adjusted for inflation, income increased 2 percent.
(END)