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Prosecutors are still on the trail of the leak of a 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript. In the latest development they called Chung Moon-hun of the Saenuri party to the stand.

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Ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Chung Moon-hun was grilled by prosecutors for over ten hours after being accused of leaking the minutes of the 2007 inter-Korean summit. While leaving the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office after the investigation on Wednesday, Chung said when he was serving as the unification affairs aid in the presidential office. He claimed to have read the original summit transcript but denied revealing the contents to Rep. Kim Moo-sung.

[Soundbite] Rep. Chung Moon-hun(Saenuri Party) : "What I raised in last year's audit went public. You asked if that part was true so I'm saying yes."

He argued that he never mentioned late President Roh Moo-hyun using the phrase "abandoning the Northern Limit Line" during the summit with Kim Jong-il. But he clarified that the North Korean leader called for abandoning the NLL several times in return for creating a peace and cooperation zone in the Yellow Sea and that President Roh just responded to these remarks a few times. Prosecutors questioned the lawmaker on how he was able to read the transcript and on what grounds he raised speculations that President Roh made such statements about the NLL. During a parliamentary audit on the Unification Ministry in October of last year, Chung raised the allegation that Roh mentioned giving up the maritime border during the 2007 summit.

2. Electricity Hike

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Electricity charges are due to rise an average 5.4 percent tomorrow in an effort to prevent power shortages during the winter. It’s the fifth spike in prices in two years, drawing public backlash.

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The monthly electricity charges for urban households will go up about a dollar and 20 cents. That's up 2.7 percent. The regular electricity charges applied to large buildings and commercial facilities will rise 5.8 percent, while those applied to industrial sites will surge 6.4 percent. Electricity charges for educational facilities will remain unchanged. The overall average increase this time is 5.4 percent. It's the fifth and largest increase in two years and three months.

[Soundbite] Han Jin-hyeon(Trade, Industry & Energy Vice Minister) : "We want to rationalize the price structure of electricity and other kinds of energy to fundamentally solve problems caused by excessive power consumption."

Electricity charges will be raised from June, when demand for air conditioning rises. Morning peak-hour charges will be applied from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. year-round. Peak-hour charges will be increased up to 15 times. Instead, electricity charges will be cut during the other time slots so that businesses can choose when they want to use power. The business community was upset with the government's decision to raise electricity charges because that means higher costs for industrial sites.

[Soundbite] Yu Hwan-ik(Federation of Korean Industries) : "They raised it once earlier this year, and they did it again now. If they keep doing this at their own discretion, companies will have a hard time devising their business plans."

Critics say the government is simply handing the consequences of the corruption at nuclear power plants over to the public to make up for the power shortages. The government says it will continue to raise electricity charges in the future to minimize power consumption in the nation.

3. Revealing Archives

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The National Archives are analyzing newly uncovered documents discovered during the relocation of the Korean embassy in Tokyo. The names of many Korean victims of Japanese Colonialism have been revealed for the first time.

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This is the newly found register of those who died in the independence movement of March 1, 1919. 53-year-old Kim Sang-won from Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province was shot dead by the Japanese on March 1 that year while crying out for Korea's independence. The register contains details of 630 victims including the name, age, address and even the time, place and situation of each death.

[Soundbite] Park Kyung-guk(Director, National Archives of Korea) : "The roster is significant in that it has never been found in or outside Korea until now."

This register lists the names of 290 Koreans that were massacred after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The number was estimated to be around 6,000 to over 20-thousand. But it's the first time a detailed list has been confirmed. Recorded are the victims' names, their permanent addresses and details of how they died. In one incident, what's believed to be an entire family of four was murdered. Still another register comprising of 65 books shows that the colonial era had forced some 229-thousand victims to do labor. The government will use this new data to designate patriots and use the information as materials pertaining to historical evidence. These will all be unveiled to the public early next year.

4. NK Policy Seminar

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An international seminar on how to handle North Korea has opened. Participants of China and Japan urged proactive North Korea policies.

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Chinese scholars say North Korea should adopt China's market-opening policies and that the international community must also prompt the Stalinist state to follow in China's footsteps.

[Soundbite] Prof. Zhao Huji(Central Party School of China) : "I believe the international community must find ways to persuade the North to open up by using diverse approaches."

Meanwhile, Japanese scholars say they hope the issue of Japanese abductees will be resolved soon. They also say Japan is closely watching the latest changes in the North.

[Soundbite] Prof. Atsuhito Isozaki(Keio University) : "North Korea is stressing the importance of economic development. It's a huge change from the past 11 years."

The participants agreed that by involving North Korea in various undertakings carried out by its neighbors, such as the Najin-Hassan project, the Stalinist state will be able to abandon its nuclear program and open its doors to the outside world. They also said that North Korea must resolve its nuclear issue by any means in order to improve its economy. South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae stressed that it's against logic for North Korea to expect investment from the international community without giving up on its missiles and nukes.

5. New Radar Tech

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Korean researchers have developed new radar technology. Detecting small objects from as far away as 10 kilometers, they’re pushing the limits of state-of-the art Korean weapons.

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The F-35 eurofighter is known as a "dream fighter jet." The U.S. sea-based radar SBX-1 can detect ballistic missiles. All these state-of-the-art weapons have high-tech radars. Korean researchers have finally developed a high-power semiconductor chip, the core component of such devices. The new radar was made of gallium nitride and has more than twice the resolution of existing radars. It can detect objects as small as 70 centimeters long located 10 kilometers away even in poor weather conditions. The radar's long-distance detection capabilities can reach 180 kilometers.

[Soundbite] Im Jong-won(Electronics & Telecommunications Research Inst.) : "This chip has a higher power density and power conversion efficiency compared to existing silicon or gallium arsenide semiconductors. It can be used in aircrafts, ships and power amplifiers for mobile communication repeaters."

The new radar is also just a tenth the size of existing vacuum-tube radars, while the life span of its components is ten times as long.

[Soundbite] Mun Jae-gyeong(Electronics & Telecommunications Research Inst.) : "Korea has so far imported radars. But the domestic radar is expected to have profound effects on costs."

The global radar market is expected to reach 83 billion U.S. dollars by 2018. With this new development, Korea will be able to save enormous costs.

6. Smartphone Addiction

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Many, if not most, school kids own a smartphone anymore. A new study shows that one out of ten Korean teens face addiction to smartphones, a condition even more severe than internet addiction.

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You can access the Internet with your smartphone at any time any place. Teenagers these days tinker with their phones even when they're in the company of friends.

[Soundbite] Hwang Jun-ha(Student) : "I do Facebook, KakaoStory and play games with my smartphone four to five hours a day."

Symptoms of addiction usually refer to obsessive behavior, which lead to fewer hours of sleep and less family time. A study has surveyed around one thousand students from 4th to 12th grade. One out of ten are diagnosed as smartphone addicts. Girls were more addicted than boys, and the older the student, the stronger the addiction. The study also shows that those at risk of growing addicted to smartphones is 2.4 times higher than those at risk of Internet addiction. With a low level of life satisfaction, smartphone addicts displayed not only ADHD (or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) but also depression.

[Soundbite] Bae Ju-mi(Korea Youth Counselling & Welfare Institute) : "Rather than trying to enforce measures, it's been found to be more effective to first bond with your children and let them decide how much they should be on their phones."

Parents can also study smartphone jargons and applications as part of their efforts to better communicate with their children.

7. Dried Persimmons

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Gotgam, or dried persimmon, is a specialty of Gwangyang, South Jeolla province. Residents there are busy at work preparing gotgam for next year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

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The first snow of the season has covered Eokbul-bong Mountain behind Baekhak-dong Village. Village residents are busy peeling persimmons from early in the morning. Even this old man who turns 80 next year is doing his share. He has a knack for picking out the best fruits and peeling them on a machine. A giant persimmon is quickly peeled, exposing its golden flesh.

[Soundbite] Lee Han-bong(Village Resident) : "We use big persimmons so our gotgams taste much better than those from other places. Also the region's temperatures and climates make them more favorable."

A neighbor still insists on using smaller persimmons to make gotgam, although they require more care. Women are engaged in a friendly chatter while the gotgam peelers spin loudly.

[Soundbite] Kim Jae-sim(Village Resident) : "These persimmons have been indigenous to Mt. Baekun for 500 years. We grafted those persimmons to our trees and have been cultivating them ever since."

The peeled persimmons are sent up to the top floor to be dried until the Lunar New Year's holiday next year. Temperatures plunge below zero degrees at night and climb back up during the day repeatedly. The persimmon harvest is truly over only when the delicious gotgams are all dried and ready to ship.

8. Star Donations

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Today’s fans show their love by making donations in the name of their favorite stars. It’s become commonplace to see rice donations instead of flowers at the stars’ concerts or movie premiers.

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This is a production briefing for a TV show starring one of the hottest hallyu stars. In addition to the star-studded cast, standing wreaths made up of rice grab people's attention. Fan club members from 40 countries around the world donated the rice to express their wish for the show's success. The rice weigh more than a staggering 16 tons. Donations include other goods as well, such as coal, diapers, and baby formulas. These items will be sent to welfare facilities.

[Soundbite] Hiroko Sukimura(Japanese Fan) : "I think Jang Geun-suk will be happy if we send baby formula and diapers to welfare facilities."

Fan clubs are showing how they can help society in various ways. Fans of K-pop group Shinhwa planted over one thousand trees to make a forest and 2NE1's fan club planted thousands of mango trees in South Sudan, Africa. Some fan clubs set up scholarship funds or build schools for needy children.

[Soundbite] Ha Jae-geun(Culture Critic) : "It doesn't end with giving gifts to the stars. The fans feel proud and rewarded through such socially responsible activities."

Some fanatic fans were blasted for their obsessive behaviors toward their favorite stars, but now, today's fan clubs are channeling their love and energy to more worthy causes.

9. Remastering Flicks

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Development of digital and optical technologies has made it possible for theaters to breathe new life into old films in a process called remastering. Here, we take a look at this theatrical trend.

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Popular movies from the 1980s and 1990s are making a comeback. A recent trend has classic films returning to theaters. Here's a special opening in a theater in Gangnam, Seoul.

[Soundbite] Yun Ji-hye(Moviegoer) : "I’m excited to see the old movie. It’s a legendary romance movie. I have high expectations for it."

The film "Christmas in August" debuted in 1998. It was a box office smash selling 400 thousand tickets in Seoul alone.

[Soundbite] Lee Yong-bok(Movie Theater Official) : "People savor their memories while watching old movies at movie theaters. Parents and their children come together to see the movies."

Remastering 80s and 90s movies makes it possible to release them to a whole new generation. This is a remastering studio. Remastering refers to the process of making new digital masters of old movies. The master, of course, is the definitive copy of the film.

[Soundbite] Gang Sang-u(Remastering Expert) : "Remastering is the process of making new masters from old works. We use computers and hi-tech devices to adjust colors and enhance the image quality."

An observant eye can easily pick out the effects of remastering old films. It enhances the image quality of old movies, for example, brightening scenes that are too dark. People often go to movies on special occasions. Movie fans are delighted to see their favorite films of the past take another turn in the theater. The French film "La Boum" starring actress Sophie Marceau was a big hit in the 1980s. It has recently made a comeback in theaters. The famous movie "Cinema Paradiso" reopened in theaters in September. Movie fans will also be treated to Hong Kong films from the 1990s and 2000s in cinemas. Remastered versions of "Chungking Express" and "In the Mood for Love" are on the horizon.

[Soundbite] Ha Jae-geun(Culture Critic) : "Cultural contents from the past are enjoying popularity these days with the retro trend in fashion. Those who are in their 30s and 40s are the big fans of the movies from decades ago."

The re-release of old films gives people the opportunity to savor their fond movie-going memories.