Daily Kor for November 30, 2009: A case of the Mondays

Mondays suck. You have to go to work. There's no good excuse to drink until Wednesday (if that's your preferred method of anesthetizing yourself enough to dull the painful reminder that you hate your job) at the earliest. And if you're someone who has been panicked about a possible second free fall in the global economy (or just the peninsular economy), then you've probably been dreading what bad news lies ahead as we analyze the fallout from the Dubai debt moratorium crisis.

But first, you have to actually get to work. And with trains running at only 60% capacity, that's 66.7% more headache getting to work (0.6 and 1.667 are inversely proportional, in case you're wondering what orifice I pulled that out of).

President Lee is mad about the trains, but he's got bigger fish to fry. And he needs to figure out where he's going to meet the Dear Leader during their North-South summit. He says he's prepared to meet Kim Jong-il "anywhere," even if he has to take the bus.

1. Seoul downplays expectations for next week's Washington-Pyongyang talks (AP via WaPo, Yonhap, AFP, Korea Herald, Chosun Ilbo)
2. South Korean government vows to be vigilant over impact of Dubai debt moratorium (CNBC Asia, Reuters, Yonhap, Korea Herald); KOTRA says Dubai fallout unlikely to trigger global crisis (Yonhap); effect on South Korean markets "limited" (Yonhap, Bloomberg, Korea Herald)
3. Rail workers' strike disrupts passenger train service, causing reduction to 60% capacity, President Lee concerned (Yonhap, UPI, AFP, Korea Times, Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)
4. Ministry of Gender Equality to be expanded to emphasize importance of women and childcare-oriented policies, will take over jurisdiction of some areas currently under Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Family Affairs (Yonhap, Korea Herald, Korea Times)
5. ROK President Lee Myungbak flexible on venue of upcoming North-South summit, saying he cold hold it "anywhere" (Joongang Daily)
6. Seoul to send doctoral-level researchers and lawyers to diplomatic missions abroad to help them cope with global issues (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
7. Japan launches fifth spy satellite, aimed at gathering intelligence on North Korea (AP via WaPo, Chosun Ilbo)
8. South Korean fishing boat sinks off Uruguay; all 38 Korean, Vietnamese, and Indonesian crew members are safe (AP via WaPo)
9. President Lee asks ruling part to back revisions to Sejong City plans (Yonhap); President plans to visit countryside to monitor public opinions (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
10. South Korea says it will send back North Korean soldier who drifted into ROK waters off the west coast (Yonhap, AFP)
11. At International Maritime Organization meeting in London, North Korea tells the UN agency that "certain" countries are threatening its freedom of navigation (Yonhap)
12. Lotte Department Store announces recall of Big Horse™ brand cookies (Yonhap)