UN chief slams Israeli settlement expansion plan

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Friday arrived in Chicago, starting a two-day visit that is expected to strengthen the country's economic ties with Chicago and Illinois State. South Korea, with strong IT and electronics industries, is hoping to forge stronger economic ties with the Illinois state, said Chul Huh, the South Korean Consul General in Chicago. On day after U.S. Congress approved an important trade pact between the United States and South Korea, Lee arrived in Washington on Thursday and then accompanied President Barack Obama during a tour of a General Motors plant in Michigan on Friday. Lee was scheduled to meet with about 300 representatives of the Chicago's Korean-American community before he leaves on Saturday.