2006.03.23

Tear jerker musical potrays life in DPRK prison. [Radio Australia] A tear jerker musical in South Korea has divided the country over its graphic portrayal of life in a North Korean prison camp. Written and directed by a North Korean defector, Yoduk Story story is a romantic tale of a female inmate and a prison guard in a camp 110-kilometres northeast of Pyongyang. Jung Sung San, whose father died in one of the camps, interviewed survivors in order to project an accurate depiction of its horrors. He claims the South Korean government tried to interfere in the production process. 2006.03.23

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Japan-U.S. Bases (Kyodo) Two-days of working talks between senior officials of the United States and Japan are underway in Tokyo to try to hammer out a final agreement before end-of-the-month deadline to realign U.S. military bases in Japan. 2006.03.23

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Australia-DPRK Drug Ship Australia bombs impounded North Korean heroin ship. 2006.03.23

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Samsung execs 'admit' price fixing. [BBC] Three executives at South Korea's Samsung plead guilty on charges of conspiring to fix the price of computer memory chips. 2006.03.23

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Media baron weighs into Japan PM succession (Financial Times). The chairman of Japan's largest newspaper sets downs conditions for chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe to win his support to be the next prime minister. 2006.03.23

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Japan-WBC Lesson (Reuters). Government spokesman says Japan can learn a lot from the national baseball team's never-say-die spirit. 2006.03.23

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Next ROK PM could be a woman as field narrows. [Channel News Asia] South Koreans welcome reports that the country's new prime minister might be a woman. 2006.03.23

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Tokyo Stock Exchange to Upgrade Computers (AP). The Tokyo Stock Exchange, still reeling from a recent computer overload and embarrassing computer glitch, says it'll spend 62 billion yen (US$531.5 million) to strengthen its trading system. 2006.03.23

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