During South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye’s summit meeting with her Indonesian counterpart Sushilo Bambang Yudhoyono on October 12 at Jakarta, both the leaders agreed to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) by the end of this year. Through that agreement, South Korea hopes a higher level of trade liberalization than what its trade agreement with the ASEAN mandate. Indonesia, on its part, expected to see more investment and technological cooperation from South Korea. 1
In another development, South Korean Intelligence Service Director Nam Jae-joo, has reportedly told the Parliament on October 8 that North Korea has already restarted its 5 megawatt nuclear reactor that is capable of producing weapon-grade plutonium since August this year. He further claimed that the North is seeking to gain the status of a nuclear weapon state and hopes to gain an upper hand in the nuclear talks in case of an unconditional resumption of the Six Party Talks. 2