Daily Kor for November 25, 2009: And down will come baby

Too many drugs, not enough babies. Babies are hard to make; they require considerable infrastructure and from planning stages to delivery they take at least nine months. With a nineteen-month decline, it won't be until the latter half of next year before we see a turn around in the baby manufacturing sector, if then.

Perhaps "No of Newborns" is being misunderstood as a campaign against having babies. Did anyone think of that?!

Meanwhile, the state-sponsored Korea-Africa Forum is drawing to a close, with Seoul making some rather lofty promises to African nations that were represented. Like the failed Madagascar deal, this seems to represent a strong effort to engage governments there in order to secure some of the food, mineral, and energy resources of that continent. Students from Africa with whom I've talked generally have a favorable attitude toward Korea — thus far, at least — especially when compared to the Chinese, who are also making inroads. Let's just hope that South Koreans dealing with Africa can remember that the ROK was also once a starving basket case that needed sincere help, not opportunistic backstabbers. Let's hope.

1. Volume of illegal drugs smuggled into South Korea increases fourfold from a year earlier (Yonhap, Korea Times)
2. Number of newborns declines for nineteenth straight month (Korea Times)
3. At end of Korea-Africa Forum, Foreign Ministry announces plans to invite 5000 trainees from Afirca by 2012 (Korea Times)
4. South Korea returns to being a net creditor after a year in the red (Reuters)
5. ROK government to offer one thousand doses of flu vaccine for North Korean workers in Kaesŏng Industrial Complex (Chosun Ilbo)
6. Amnesty International chief urges South Korea to abide by international standards in policing protests (Yonhap, Korea Times)
7. Civil servants, including unionized workers, to be banned by law from collectively opposing government policies (Korea Herald)
8. Government proposes bill to ban ROK nationals deported from a foreign country from re-entering that country (Korea Times); denies criticism bill is aimed at curtailing missionary activities (Joongang Daily)
9. Kia launches Cadenza luxury sedan, called K7 locally, with aim of capturing 40% of South Korea's mid-size luxury market (BusinessWeek, Korea Herald) 
10. ROK Trade Minister Kim Jonghoon says American business interests will be damaged if South Korean free-trade agreement with European Union is ratified before FTA with US (Korea Times, Joongang Daily)
11. ROK President Lee Myungbak to give televised address that will include controversial Four Rivers restoration project and Sejong City (Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
12. South Korea ranks ninth in global export volume in first nine months of 2009 (Yonhap)
13. Newly appointed chief of KBS tries to assuage criticism by pledging "politically neutral" management (Yonhap)
14. Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology seeks certification from US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for South Korea-made APR-1400 nuclear reactor in hope of boosting overseas sales (Yonhap)
15. State-run Korea Development Bank backs out of role as main arranger for sale of Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Xinhua)
16. State-run Korea Gas Corporation and to study development of coal-bed methane gas resources in Mongolia (Bloomberg)
17. OECD report: South Korean army "still gayest military in the world" (AFP)