Threats from North Korea - A Week in Review (June 8, 2013)

And now, the week in review of what's what at the Korean peninsula...

June 3, 2013

- South Korea and the United States began extended negotiations on renewing their civilian nuclear pact, with Seoul pushing for the right to produce its own nuclear fuel.

The current accord, signed in 1974, had been due to expire in 2014, but was extended in April for two years after failing to make progress on the South's demand to reprocess spent fuel rods.

June 4, 2013

- South Korean president Park Geun-hye pledged to raise the employment rate to 70 percent since before coming to office earlier this year.

- South Korean president Park Geun-hye met with visiting Mozambican counterpart Armando Guebuza...with the two agreeing to strengthening bilateral cooperation on energy, natural resources, trade, and investment.

- Korea and USA finished their seventh round of negotiations on the revision of their bilateral civilian nuclear pact

June 5, 2013

- The Korea Power Exchange raised the power shortage alert level to two at 11:20 am KST after the country's power reserves dipped below 3.5 million kW. Roughly 40 minutes later, it brought the warning level back down to one, and kept it there for the rest of the afternoon.

- Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced its plans to spend some 40 trillion Won over the next 5 years to foster the so-called creative industries.

- Military leaders of South Korea and China jointly voiced their commitment to not tolerate North Korea's nuclear program.

- North Korea condemned Seoul for trying to help nine young North Koreans who were repatriated after trying to defect...characterizing it as an attempt to "lure and kidnap" them.

June 6, 2013

- North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea released a statement that proposing government-level talks on normalizing the halted Kaesong complex and stalled tourism business near Mt. Geumgang.

June 7, 2013

- South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kil-jae proposed a ministerial-level meeting with the North in Seoul for next week. The proposed talks on June 12 will be to resolve inter-Korean issues such as the Kaesong complex, Mt. Geumgang tourism, and the reunions of separated families.

- South Korea accepted government-level working talks proposed by North Korea but called for the meeting to be held at the truce village of Panmunjom.