ARIRANG NEWS 12:00
Coming up today,... prosecutors begin their probe into allegations a recently deceased businessman had given huge sums of money to senior politicians. The scandal is expected to dominate this week′s questioning sessions of government officials at the National Assembly.
Korea′s traditionally strong manufacturing sector is limping along in the zero-percent growth range,... but in terms of manpower,... the number of people employed in the sector stands at a 17-year high.
Plus,.. the Korean government is convening an inter-agency meeting today to assess the security situation in Libya... after the Korean embassy in Tripoli came under a deadly armed attack. These stories and more coming right up.
Hello... it′s noon on Monday the thirteenth of April... you are tuned in to our midday newscast here on Arirang TV.
Thanks for joining us,... I′m Mark Broome.
Title: Brewing scandal to dominate National Assembly′s four-day interpellation session
Our top story this afternoon...
The brewing corruption scandal surrounding several heavyweight politicians is expected to dominate a four-day interpellation session at Korea′s National Assembly... which kicked off around an hour ago.
The main opposition party has vowed to use the session to probe deeper into the scandal, which centers around allegations that politicians including Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo, two former key aides to President Park Geun-hye and several ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers took bribes from former Keangnam Enterprises CEO Sung Woan-jong,... who committed suicide last week.
The prosecution launched a full-scale investigation into the allegations on Monday.
On Sunday,... President Park Geun-hye called on the prosecution to be thorough in its investigations.
The two key former aides to the president that are on the list have vowed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Title: Korea to hold emergency meeting on deadly Libya embassy attack
The government is convening an emergency meeting after two Libyan police officers were killed on Sunday in an armed attack on Korea′s embassy in Tripoli.
An official says the government will hold a meeting of relevant authorities on Monday afternoon to discuss how to best protect the 30 or so Korean nationals staying in Libya.
The official added that the two Korean diplomats and one embassy staffer in Tripoli may be moved to Tunisia, where a temporary office has been set up.
Officials in Seoul have been scrambling to confirm whether or not the gunmen were trying to directly target the Korean embassy.
However,... a local source told Korea′s Yonhap News Agency that the attack was most likely aimed at killing the embassy′s guards.
A group which says it′s the Tripoli branch of the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Title: Leaders of Korea, Turkmenistan seek to bolster economic cooperation
The leaders of Korea and Turkmenistan have been seeking ways to bolster bilateral cooperation, during the
