PPP NOMINATION REVIEWS

PPP NOMINATION REVIEWS

[Anchor Lead]
The ruling People Power Party has commenced its nomination interviews for the upcoming general elections. Following these interviews, decisions will be made regarding the cutoff of current members and the designation of priority recommendation areas, a concept related to strategic nominations. Starting today, the party has decided to announce regions with a single applicant or where other applicants significantly lack competitiveness, known as exclusive recommendation areas.

[Pkg]
The interviews began in Seoul, one of the key battlegrounds for the party. The first task of the so-called "winning nominations" is to adjust constituencies.

[Soundbite]
Chung Young-hwan (Chief, PPP Nomination Committee): If there are too many applicants, we'll have to re-assign them to win. This applies especially to Seoul.

Constituencies where adjustment could be carried out include the dominant Gangnam area as well as the Hangang River Belt, such as Mapo, Yongsan and Seongdong. The key point is how to persuade those concerned.

[Soundbite]
Ha Tae-keung (PPP (applied for Jung·Seongdong-eul candidacy)): I will dedicate the rest of my political career to the Jung·Seongdong-eul district.

[Soundbite]
Lee Hye-hoon (Former PPP (applied for Jung·Seongdong-eul candidacy)): I was the first to apply, so I have no plans to move elsewhere.

[Soundbite]
Lee Young (Former SMEs Minister (applied for Jung·Seongdong-eul candidacy)): I am willing to cooperate on that.

Areas with single recommended candidates will be announced the day after the interviews, while cutoff candidates and priority areas are expected to be announced later. That's because the party needs to consider not only public sentiment, but also strong opposition and the possibility of some of the candidates running independently. What draws particular attention is the nominations in the southeastern region. With party candidates missing in more and more districts because senior lawmakers who do not support President Yoon Suk Yeol are running in districts with low chances of winning, primaries will remain a basic principle there for now. The scope of preferential recommendations will likely be small due to the controversy over pro-Yoon favoritism in candidacy nominations.

[Soundbite]
Han Dong-hoon (Chair, PPP Emergency Committee): To win, we will make sure to nominate applicants who are likely to win.

On Wednesday, interviews are to be held in Gyeonggi, Jeonbuk and Incheon regions, where the party has low approval ratings.

DP CHAIR SWAYS NOMINATIONS

[Anchor Lead]
In the Democratic Party, the bottom 20% of incumbent members are soon to be notified, with Chairman Lee Jae-myung personally requesting former assemblyman Moon Hak-jin not to run. Moon's strong pushback suggests intensifying nomination conflicts. Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk plans to create a new party, with the Democratic Party clearly separating itself from electoral cooperation.

[Pkg]
It was reported that Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung personally asked some sitting and former members not to run in the upcoming general election. The DP chief personally called ex-assemblyman Moon Hak-jin to tell him to give up his candidacy. He also met with three-time legislator In Jae-keun to talk about nomination and In reportedly told the DP leader that she would not run for office. Lee met with these legislators as the party is poised to notify the DP representative in the lower 20% of the assessment ranking. Meanwhile, the DP held its first meeting on the founding of a proportional satellite party. The major opposition party urged the Justice Party, which failed to show up due to internal disagreement, to join the cause. The DP emphasized, the party created by ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk does not qualify for allied support. The DP appears to be concerned about the moderates departing from the liberal camp. The party asked the ex-minister to act prudently for the sake of the progressive reform forces' victory. Earlier, Cho had announced in his hometown of Busan that he would form a new party. He said he would cooperate with the DP and, as for the likelihood of him joining the proportional party, he said nobody knows what would happen at the end. The former minister has been saying that the April general election should be the judgment day for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and gave the following answer when asked if the new party's objective is the impeachment of the president.

[Soundbite]
Cho Kuk (Former Justice Minister): I will follow the people's will if they don't think they can wait three and a half more years.

The DP faces several thorny issues such as fair nominations and a smooth launch of a joint proportional party. The opposition party again stands at a critical juncture as Cho Kuk is getting ready to form a new party.

NK HACKING & MONEY LAUNDERING

[Anchor Lead]
Amid international warnings that North Korea is funneling hacked cryptocurrency into its nuclear missile program, it has been revealed that the suspected hacking activities amount to a whopping 4 trillion won, over 3 billion U.S. dollars, over the last six years. We sat with Ryu Hyun-woo, the former Deputy Ambassador of North Korea to Kuwait to discuss the specifics of these hacking methods to uncover the details of their operations.

[Pkg]
This is a wanted leaflet issued by the FBI for North Korea's Sim Hyon-sop. The reward is 5 million dollars. Sim is accused of transferring foreign currency earned by North Korean hackers to the North. Former North Korean acting ambassador Ryu Hyun-woo says he oversaw hackers dispatched to Dubai along with Sim when he was serving in Kuwait.

[Soundbite]
Ryu Hyun-woo (Former N. Korean acting ambassador to Kuwait): There were 19 people working for IT firms in Dubai. They all used to work for the Reconnaissance General Bureau, so they were all hackers.

Sim, who was affiliated with the North Korean Kwangson Bank, worked in China for five years before he was relocated to Dubai to oversee money laundering.

[Soundbite]
Ryu Hyun-woo (Former N. Korean acting ambassador to Kuwait): Once virtual currencies are stolen, cashing them becomes a problem. Not all virtual currencies can be converted to cash.

Sim reportedly laundered cryptocurrencies stolen through hacking in the Middle East and China twice before sending the funds to the North.

[Soundbite]
Ryu Hyun-woo (Former N. Korean acting ambassador to Kuwait): The hacked money was apparently laundered and sent to China, where it was laundered again and cashed to transfer to N. Korea.

Due to sanctions, North Korea could not use the international banking communication network, known as 'SWIFT.' Therefore, the regime covertly cashed out the hacked money and directly delivered it to the North. Pyongyang is suspected of carrying out 58 hacking attacks over the past six years using this method, raking in three billion dollars, or about 4 trillion won. The funds are believed to have gone into North Korea's nuclear and missile development.

NO PROGRESS IN 'MINING BLOCK 7'

[Anchor Lead]
Located south of Jeju-do Island, the continental shelf known as "Mining Block 7" is believed to harbor significant quantities of oil. Although South Korea and Japan have entered into a joint development agreement, exploration efforts have come to a halt due to Japan's lack of cooperation. There is growing concern that a substantial portion of Block 7 could snatched by Japan.

[Pkg]
A joint development agreement struck between South Korea and Japan regarding a continental shelf known as "mining block 7" expires on June 22, 2028. Only 4 years left. Under the accord, starting next June, either side can unilaterally notify a termination of the deal. This is why the South Korean parliament last year passed a resolution urging Japan's swift implementation of the agreement.

[Soundbite]
Lee Yong-sun (Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee): I express regret over the joint development agreement's lack of implementation and strongly call for its execution.

A civic group has even filed a lawsuit as the Japanese government continues to maintain a lukewarm stance over the project's joint exploration. The group argues that Japan refusing to cooperate, claiming the project lacks economic sense constitutes a breach of agreement, and noted that China produces oil and gas in an area near the continental shelf. However, Japan has not responded to the litigation in any way. The court has conveyed intent for judicial cooperation to the Japanese government several times but the country has not submitted a written response. Many speculate that Japan is simply buying time with the aim of terminating the deal. Under revised international maritime laws creating the new notion of an exclusive economic zone, Japan may be relying on the chance that it could take over most of "mining block 7", which is geographically closer to Japan than Korea once the joint agreement expires in 2028. If the deal ends, it's also possible that China could interfere in the name of "setting clear boundaries," resulting in a trilateral dispute. Some pundits say South Korea and Japan must coordinate efforts to prevent such a complicated situation from occurring.

[Soundbite]
Oh Sung-ik (OECD Regional Development Policy Committee): If the project is viewed as meaningful not only in developing resources but also in security ties and regional stability, Japan may become more active.

The leaders of the two countries held 7 summit talks since bilateral relations began to improve in March of last year. However the continental shelf development issue has not once been discussed.

EASIER PLASTIC RECYCLING

[Anchor Lead]
Here in Korea, we follow quite a specific recycling method even at homes. When disposing of trash at home, we had to separate clear PET bottles for recycling as food containers. However, moving forward, these can now be disposed of alongside general plastics.

[Pkg]
A garbage separation site for recycling at an apartment complex. Residents ignore the sign that says only clear plastic bottles should be thrown away.

[Soundbite]
Recycling separation doesn't work very well here.

Transparent bottles, with little coloring and foreign materials, are easy to recycle and turn into other food containers, but they account for a mere 7.5% of total discharge volume. The government has decided to allow the discharge of clear bottles together with regular plastic waste. Instead, regulations on sorting and cleaning will be stepped up so that plastic bottles meet higher standards for recycling. According to government inspection results obtained by KBS, five randomly selected recycling companies all met such quality standards. Under the changed rules, garbage separation is expected to be less cumbersome while the collecting companies will acquire more recyclable materials.

[Soundbite]
Park Yong-beom (Ministry of Environment): Currently, supply is not enough to expand the recycled materials market, making it difficult to set regulations on their mandatory use.

The government has also decided to use the unmanned bottle collecting machines installed at local communities more actively. Bottles collected this way will also be recognized as separate waste.

[Soundbite]
Kim Jeong-bin (Recycling firm CEO): The analog way of separating and recycling waste can now be digitalized.

The government plans to increase the usage of recycled materials, such as plastic bottles, to 30% by the year 2030.

NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]
The state will now subsidize funeral services for patriots and veterans in financial difficulty or without family. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced that the revised Act on Persons of Distinguished Services to the State and Veterans proclaimed yesterday are to be enforced starting on August 14th. Those eligible for the subsidized funeral services include veterans and patriots of national merits, persons of special services, distinguished members of the May 18 Democratic Movement, and veterans suffering from aftereffects of defoliants who are without kin or receive the national basic livelihood stipend.
The European Union's antitrust regulator partially approved the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger yesterday evening. That now leaves only the United State to give a nod to the merger of Korea's two major carriers that has dragged on for more than three years. Korean Air announced that it will wrap up the merger deal before too long.

SALTED SHRIMPS AGED IN CAVES

[Anchor Lead]
Naturally aged in a natural cave, the shrimp paste from Gwangcheon, Chungcheongnam-do Province, is a traditional fermented food with a history spanning over 70 years. Due to its eco-friendly production method, its conservation value is recognized as high, and it is currently undergoing procedures to be designated as an important national fisheries heritage.

[Pkg]
Inside a labyrinth-like passageway of an underground cave, there are hundreds of containers filled with salted shrimp. This top quality condiment is made from shrimp caught in the West Sea which is pickled with bay salt and fermented for 3 months. The salt used is sun dried for one year to remove the brine. Milky white liquid oozes out from a ladleful of pink shrimps. After maturing inside a cave, the shrimps lose any bitter, unpleasant taste and develop a unique, savory flavor. There are 40 of these caves in Gwangcheon-eup township alone where salted shrimps are placed to age. The 100-thousand square meter site was a former gold mine with a 75 year history dating back to 1949.

[Soundbite]
Sin Tae-seong (Owner of shrimp-maturing cave): The digging of cave tunnels began when boats from west coast islands landed here in Gwangcheon. It was all done manually 70 years ago.

The Gwangcheon cave-matured pickled shrimps age in the natural traditional way in temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius year round and humidity levels above 85%. Thanks to such conditions, the final product, unlike their counterparts made using extra additives, boast a unique flavor and longer shelf life.

[Soundbite]
Kim Yeon-hyeong (Gwangcheon market vendors association): In the old days, our mothers kept shrimps in jars and sprinkled salt on them. That's how the fermentation tradition began.

The Gwangcheon salted shrimps are a leading product of Chungcheongnam-do Province racking up annual sales of 4,000 tons. Noted also for its eco-friendly production method which many experts agree must be preserved and passed down through generations, it is also undergoing procedures to be designated as an important national fisheries heritage.