PRESS DIGEST - South Korean newspapers - June 3
SEOUL, June 3 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of major South Korean newspapers on Wednesday, prepared by Reuters in Seoul. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy.
KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY
New York Life Insurance Co plans to invest $200 million in South Korea over the next three years, President and CEO Ted Mathas said on Tuesday at a press conference in Seoul.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will allow financial companies to launch new insurance businesses to help promote restructuring in the sector, a senior FSC official said Tuesday. Banks planning to set up new insurance ventures, including Industrial Bank of Korea (024110.KS) and SC First Bank, a unit of Standard Chartered (2888.HK) are considering mergers and acquisitions with existing insurance firms, officials from the banks said.
DONG-A ILBO
U.S. Forces Korea Deputy Commander Jeffrey Remington said on Monday that Global Hawk, a unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance plane, would be deployed to South Korea soon to counter a possible North Korean attack.
JOONGANG ILBO
South Koreans paid up to 28.5 percent more for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports than the Japanese over the past 9 years, according to the newspaper's research. A state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) official said it had failed to make long-term orders for LNG since 1998-1999, when global LNG prices were at their lowest levels, due to disputes over KOGAS's privatisation.
THE HANKYOREH
South Korean companies running factories in the Kaesong industrial park in North Korea have been moving facilities to the South or looking for alternative production bases in Southeast Asia, according to sources from the companies.
The United States has taken issue with the South Korean government's leakage of sensitive information on North Korea's missile movements to the media, according to a source familiar with military matters.
