eFM News

≡ Trump Confirms Xi Meeting At G-20 Amid Trade War

U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week at the Group of 20 Osaka Summit. In a tweet Tuesday, Trump said he had a "very good" telephone conversation with Xi and that trade talks with China would resume prior to their extended meeting. The White House said in a statement that the two leaders discussed "leveling the playing field" for U.S. farmers, workers, and businesses through a "fair and reciprocal" economic relationship. The announcement has raised hopes the world's top economies will reach a truce after exchanging steep tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in exports.■ [2019.06.19]

≡ Investigation Into Danube Boat Collision Likely To Be Prolonged

The investigation into the deadly tour boat sinking on the Danube River in Hungary is expected to be drawn-out due to an extensive amount of evidence that needs to be reviewed. Police in Budapest said Tuesday that it secured 2 terabytes of data from the Viking Sigyn cruise ship that collided with the smaller Hableany tour boat, killing 23 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members. Seven people survived the accident while three are still missing. Police revealed that the captain of the cruise ship, the only suspect in the case so far, tested negative for drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident on May 29th.■[2019.06.19]

≡ Google, Facebook May Increase Fees For Services In S. Korea

Foreign tech giants like Google and Facebook are expected to increase their subscription and advertisement fees for South Korea following the government's decision to slap value added taxes on the companies. A revision to the VAT Act that is set to take effect next month calls for imposing a 10 percent VAT on foreign tech firms, including YouTube, Amazon Web Services and Airbnb. Once implemented, the companies are likely to shift costs directly onto consumers. The revision was made to level the playing field for local and foreign companies and monitor the revenue of foreign companies doing business in the country.■ [2019.06.19]

≡ Seoul Stocks In Midday Trade

Turning to the local bourse, stocks in Seoul are trading _______ at this hour. As of noon, the benchmark KOPSI was up/down/flat _____ percent at _______ while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ was up/down/flat _____ percent at _______. The Korean currency was trading at _______ won against the U.S. greenback, up/down/unchanged _____ won from yesterday's close.■1,186[2019.06.19]

≡ San Francisco Set To Become First US City To Ban E-Cigarettes

San Francisco is moving to become the first city in the United States to ban all sales of electronic cigarettes. The city's board of supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of a measure to stop the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration completes a review of the effects of e-cigarettes on public health. They also supported a ban on manufacturing e-cigarettes on city property as they move to crack down on teen vaping. The introduced measures will require a final vote before becoming law. Since 2014, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among young people in the United States and last year, according to a government survey, 1 in 5 high school students reported vaping in the previous month.■[2019.06.19]

≡ Moon To Host Dinner For S. Korea's U-20 Squad

President Moon Jae-in will host South Korea's Under-20 World Cup team at Cheong Wa Dae tonight. Moon has invited the young football players and staff to the presidential office to celebrate their runner-up finish at the U-20 World Cup in Poland, the country's highest finish at any FIFA men's tournament. While having dinner with the team, the president is expected to offer words of encouragement and praise their performance, including head coach Chung Jung-yong and midfielder Lee Kang-in, who won the Golden Ball Award at the competition.■[2019.06.19]

≡ Seoul City, Chicken Franchises Team Up To Cut Disposables

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and popular fried chicken franchises in the capital have agreed to work together to curb the use of disposable packaging. The city said it is teaming up with Kyochon F&B, Kkanbu, BHC and four others. Under the joint project, the franchises will try to phase down their use of disposable products for delivery orders, such as wooden chopsticks and plastic bags, and run related awareness campaigns.■[2019.06.19]