During the first reunion of North and South Korean families in nearly two years on Sunday, the North Korean Red Cross Chief approached his South Korean counterpart to suggest that the South reward the North for resuming the reunions. Since Lee Myung-bak’s conservative government moved to suspend unconditional aid more than a year ago, the North is likely looking for food and fertilizer aid to begin again.  Probably not quite the reward the North was looking for, a Unification Ministry report sent to the National Assembly on Sunday finds that the number of North Korean defectors in South Korea rose 11% in 2008. For being such an outstanding emerging economy in the changing global economic landscape, South Korea was chosen over the weekend to host the 2010 G-20 Summit. Over the next year, the G-20 will transition into the primary coordinating body for global economic policy, away from the more centralized G-8. Despite it being a co-chairmanship with Canada in 2010, South Korea will be the first non-group of eight nation to lead global economic policy talks at this level. In terms of micro-economies, after recent criticism from the OECD, South Korea’s mobile phone companies have agreed to give the gift of lower rates to customers. While companies expect lower revenues in return, the Korea Communications Commission predicts more players in the mobile phone market and increased competition.

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