Korea news briefs (January 21, 2006)

Koizumi wants to make everything all better
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizum says Japan will push ahead with wide-ranging government changes and try to improve its relations with China and South Korea.

Welcome to the 21st century!
South Korea is going to accelerate its move toward adopting the Linux computer operating system to replace Microsoft Windows in the public sector--not Windows XP but Windows 98. Six government agencies held a meeting to craft measures in response to Microsoft's recent decision to stop issuing security patches for Windows 98 starting in July.

Korea teams up with Japan and China
South Korea's Haansoft Inc. (makers of the widely used Hangul Word Processor, or HWP) says it will set up a three-way joint venture this year with major Chinese and Japanese Linux OS vendors to develop more advanced Linux-based programs and step up their presence in the open-source software market.

Seoul and Washington jointly call for Pyongyang to return to talks
The United States and South Korea call for North Korea to return to talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons drive as China makes a new push to break the impasse over the three-year-old crisis.

US official calls for Macau to deal with North Korea issue
Daniel Glaser, the deputy assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, calls for Macau to clamp down on money laundering after a bank in the autonomous Chinese territory was accused of acting as a front for North Korean funds.

South Korea widens probe into Hwang fiasco
South Korean prosecutors who earlier searched disgraced stem cell scientist Dr. Hwang Woo-suk's home say they were barring more of his collaborators from leaving the country and raiding homes. Meanwhile, Seoul National University says it is moving to punish Hwang and six other professors over faked research.