Korea news links for November 7, 2009: The biggest thing to happen between Korea and India since Akom Studios created Apu

I've already gone into considerable detail about the Korindo FTA (that's, um, Korea-India Free-Trade Agreement) yesterday and in August, so I'll just reiterate that it's a pretty big deal. It's not a perfect deal (as in the sense that it's not 100% free trade), but I think it goes hella far toward removing barriers.

Frankly, I've always thought that it's not a bad idea in places like, say, the WTO, to give each country one "gimme" area where they can impose all the tariffs they want (and expect them imposed back). South Korea and Japan could have rice, America could have automobiles, etc., etc. It seems to me that would help grease the wheels of productive free trade without leaving vulnerable groups, well, vulnerable.

I'm not sure if that's a workable solution, though. After all, I'm not a trained economist with the skills and know-how to successfully tank the world economy by avarice and a lack of ethics.

1. South Korea ratifies free-trade agreement with India (links here)
2. Stephen Bosworth, US envoy on North Korea, says he will visit North Korea by year's end (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
3. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk says passage of ROK-US free-trade agreement requires a new deal on automobiles that will "level the playing field" (Bloomberg, Reuters via WaPo, Yonhap, Donga Ilbo)
4. ROK Foreign Minister says South Korea's obligations as a responsible member of the international community necessitate playing a bigger role in Afghanistan (Yonhap)
5. Deaths of a two-year-old boy, a 29-year-old woman, and a 54-year-old woman bring H1N1 toll to forty-eight (Yonhap, Xinhua, Korea Times)
6. Seoul selected as venue for next year's G20 summit (Korea Times, Joongang Daily)
7. Samsung Electronics makes fifteen-year licensing deal, worth $1.3 billion, to renew its contract with Qualcomm for use of Qualcomm patents (Chosun Ilbo)
8. Growth in mortgage lending slows for third consecutive month (Reuters via Forbes)
9. Heads of Korean Air and Delta see recovery for airline industry but note uncertainties due to H1N1 (Reuters)
10. South Korea advances to quarter finals at U17 (under-17) World Cup in Canada (Korea Times)
11. An embarrassed Chongno-gu administration announces contest for a new design after yesterday's discovery that the ward's current logo is actually a smiling condom; highly paid foreign graphics designer is reportedly on the lam (Yonhap)