Daily Kor for Monday, May 21, 2012

It's a lovely Sunday morning in Honolulu, coming on what has been a relatively slow news day (typical of weekends). In the coming days, expect the Apple-Samsung feud to produce a few more headlines, while Korea Inc prepares for more bad news from Europe. There are a lot of lessons all the players could learn from South Korea's successful recovery back in 1997-98 and beyond (including the benefits of shifting adeptly from credit tightening to ending austerity), but it seems no one is paying much attention.

1. Beijing-Pyongyang dispute over captured Chinese fishermen accused of fishing in North Korean waters appears to be over, though details are scarce (Reuters, WSJ)
2. G-8 leaders issue declaration saying sanctions against North Korea are possible if North Korea threatens the region again (AP via WaPo, Yonhap)
3. Partial eclipse will be visible over South Korea and much of East Asia (LAT)
4. Government report says exports to US rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier in first two months of free-trade agreement's implementation (Yonhap)
5. Korea Development Institute says Bank of Korea should hold rates steady at 3.25 as Europe's debt woes worsen (Bloomberg)
• KDI cuts growth forecast from 3.8 percent to 3.6 percent (Yonhap)
6. Samsung Electronics says it is looking for options, including possibility of cross-licensing, to end international patent war with frenemy Apple (Reuters)
• Apple and Samsung headed for "court-ordered playdate" (CNBC)
7. Medium-sized Sungdong Shipbuilder wins US$556 million in new orders for livestock carriers, a first for any South Korean shipbuilder (Reuters)
8. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wows Pyongyang crowd with perfect 45° angle (AFP)

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