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≡ Lawmaker Moon To Attend Eurasia Parliamentary Speakers' Meeting
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang is embarking on a three-nation tour of Eurasia today to boost ties with his counterparts there and attend an annual meeting of European and Asian parliamentary leaders.
Moon will first visit Slovakia and then fly to Hungary on Friday to meet with his counterparts to discuss ways to strengthen ties between South Korea and the so-called Visegrad Group countries of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
While in Budapest, Moon will visit the scene of a deadly tour boat sinking in the Danube River in May to pay tribute to the 26 South Koreans that died in the accident.
On Monday, he will head to the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, to attend the 4th Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments that will open the following day.
Parliamentary leaders from 46 European and Asian countries will take part in the meeting themed "Greater Eurasia: Dialogue. Trust. Partnership."■[2019.09.18]
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≡ Singer B.I Admits To Drug Allegations
K-pop artist B.I has admitted to some of the drug allegations against him.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Tuesday summoned the former leader of the boy band iKon, whose real name is Kim Han-bin, and grilled him over whether he consumed marijuana he purchased from an acquaintance in 2016.
During the 14-hour questioning, police said he admitted to some of the suspicions and his status was converted from reference witness to suspect.
Kim's admission is expected help police accelerate their probe into the drug scandal involving him and Yang Hyun-suk, the former chief of the group's music label YG Entertainment.■
[2019.09.18]
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≡ China Chooses Panda As 2022 Beijing Olympics Mascot
China has chosen its most iconic animal, the panda, to be the official mascot of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The mascot, named "Bing Dwen Dwen," is a giant panda wearing a suit of ice.
The Beijing Organizing Committee revealed on Tuesday that the black and white bear has a "heart of gold and a love of all things winter sports."
For the Paralympic Winter Games, the mascot is a blushing red lantern named "Shuey Rhon Rhon."
Beijing will be the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympics.
In 2008, it held the Summer Games.
For the next Winter Games, China will have to rely on widespread use of artificial snow and has said it will budget 1.5 billion dollars for investment in Olympic villages, sports venues and other infrastructure.■
[2019.09.18]
