Daily Kor for January 29 and 30, 2011 (and a little of January 27 and 28)

It's been a busy week. But I did have a chance to attend a talk by Peter Beck, which I shall blog later. I also had time to hit Waikiki for a bit of seaside reading in the 80°F warmth that is Oahu. In the meantime, here's a bit of catch-up.

1. Agriculture Minister offers to resign over foot-and-mouth disease outbreak (Bloomberg, Joongang Daily, Korea Times)
2. Seoul proposes date of talks with Pyongyang (AP via WaPo, CNN)
• South Korea relaxes apology demand (Reuters)
• South Korea says North Korean criticism "offensive propaganda" that is "unhepful" for better inter-Korean ties (Xinhua)
3. South Korea defeats Uzbekistan, 3-2, to come in third place in Asian World Cup (AP via WaPo, Yonhap, Korea Times)
4. Kim Jongnam, oldest son of Kim Jong-il, tells Tokyo Shimbun his father opposed continuing Kim Dynasty rule of North Korea (AP via WaPo, Korea Times)
5. Kia Motors posts record high profits of 2.25 trillion won for 2010 (AP via WaPo, WSJ, Joongang Daily)
6. Hyundai Motors posts record high profits of 1.4 trillion won for 2010 (AP via WaPo)
7. ROK economic growth slows slightly in 4th quarter of 2010 (AP via WaPo)
• LG Electronics posts $229 million loss in Q4 (AP via WaPo)
• Samsung reports profit of 3.42 trillion won in Q4 (WSJ, Joongang Daily)
• 2010 a good year for South Korean conglomerates (Donga Ilbo)
8. One-person businesses jump 15.7 percent in 2010 (UPI)
9. Korea and Ghana to jointly develop Ghana's port facilities (Yonhap, Korea Times)
10. Wounded captain of freighter hijacked by Somali pirates returns home (AFP, Yonhap, Korea Times)
11. Park Jisung to retire from international soccer (AP via WaPo, AFP)
12. In latest Pyongyang-TV1 series highlighting the works of Stephen King, Kim Jong-il and entourage re-enactment famous scene from Green Mile (Yonhap)