[News Briefing] Alonso of Ferrari wins F1 Korean Grand Prix

[한겨레] Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won the inaugural Formula One Korean Grand Prix on Sunday in the rain soaked Yeongam circuit. The race was delayed and suspended for an hour due to heavy rain.

Alonso started third on the grid in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, but touched finish line first after driving 309.155km in 2-hours 48-minutes and 20.81 seconds, 4.9 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in second.

This season's championship leaders Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, winner of this preliminary race, were forced to give up after a respective spin out and blown engine.

Lee sends first governmental aid to N. Korea　　

South Korea will send five thousand tons of rice and three million cups of noodles to flood-stricken North Korea as a humanitarian aid on Monday.

Ships carrying food will leave Gunsan and Incheon port this afternoon for China's Dandong Port which will then be carried to North Korean city of Shinuiju by truck. It is the first food aid to North Korea using money from the South Korean government's budget.

Eleven representatives from South Korea's Unification Ministry and Red Cross are scheduled to cross the border to the North Korea's Mt. Kumgang resort on Monday to prepare for the upcoming inter-Korean family reunions. The team is expected to remain at the site until the final day of the reunions on November 5th.

DP derails Lee's campaign of unification tax

Democratic Party lawmakers in the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee have announced that they will pursue legal measures, including a possible injunction suspending execution, on a Unification Ministry decision to use 3.8 billion Won ($3.4 million) from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund for efforts to conduct policy research and pursue a public debate on the unification tax proposed by President Lee Myung-bak in his Aug. 15 celebratory address.

The lawmakers are charging that the decision violates the Inter-Korean Exchanges and Cooperation Act and Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Act.

In a press release issued late Friday evening, they criticized the move as "a bypassing of the National Assembly with a willful legal interpretation by the executive, and the actions of people repudiating a constitutional state and aiming for an administrative dictatorship."

China-Japan conflicts increase tourism to S.Korea

More that three thousand anti-Japan protesters rallied in several cities of China over the weekend, in the latest of a series of demonstrations proclaiming China's sovereignty over the disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Protesters gathered in downtown districts and chanted anti-Japanese slogans in Sichuan Province, Lanzhou of Gansu Province, and Baoji of Shaanxi Province, among other locations.

Chinese authorities moved to halt student anti-Japan protests and to tighten control of foreign media coverage of the movement, reported Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on Monday.

In Japan, about 300 anti-China protesters rallied in western Japan's Takamatsu City on Saturday marching through streets waving their national flags.

As the conflicts between China and Japan worsens, a growing number of tourists from both countries have chosen South Korea as their vacation destination.

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