Daily Kor for December 14, 2009: How do you solve a problem like (North) Korea?

I think people are still a bit unclear about the North Korean weapons seizure in Thailand, with people still talking about where the weapons were going. Meanwhile, President Lee is talking up ways to get the middle class feeling comfortable again.

One topic below that I would like to make a full-blown post on, however, is story #3, about seizing assets from the descendants of designated collaborators and giving the proceeds to the descendants of the designated collaborators patriots (well, that was some kind of Freudian slip). Frankly, I'm a little surprised that the right-of-center Lee administration is going along with that.

1. Speaking in Moscow, US Envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth says there's no timetable yet for North Korea talks (Reuters, AP via CNBC)
• South Korea's nuclear envoy is headed to Moscow this week (Xinhua)
2. Thai authorities and other officials seek destination of North Korean arms shipment (LAT)
• South Korean military leader says North Korea is seeking both nuclear status and normalization of ties (Yonhap)
3. ROK government to seize 100 billion won worth of assets from families of designated collaborators and redistribute it to families of "patriots" (Yonhap)
4. SK Telecom stake in Hana Card goes through to the tune of 400 billion won (Bloomberg, WSJ)
5. Agriculture Ministry confirms that pigs in South Korea have been infected with H1N1 "swine flu" (Yonhap)
• Korea's porcine community refers to deadly virus as "people flu"(Yonhap)
6. President Lee Myungbak vows efforts to improve the conditions for working people (Yonhap, Korea Times, Joongang Daily, Korea Herald)
7. USFK Commander General Sharp says US troops in Korea will be deployed as needed to meet other security needs, but while remembering that defending South Korea from North Korea is first priority (Yonhap)
8. Former Prime Minister Han Myungsook ignores summons (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
9. ROK nationals living abroad will be allowed to vote in Hannara Party primary (Korea Times)
10. Following ruling party chief Ozawa's visit to Seoul, 2CH.net poll shows that a majority of 2channel users agree that Korea should apologize to Japan for the 1910 annexation (Asahi Shimbun)