January 4, 2003

Police arrest Moo Chul Shin, charged with murdering ex-lover Sook Kim and her seven-year-old daughter Clara in their Queens apartment; police find him in nearby hotel, where he slit his wrists; photo (M)

Family from China's Fujian province endures cramped quarters in New York for a decade, learning English and restaurant trade, and then makes move to Hiawassee, Ga, to run a Chinese restaurant; pay same rent on 1,250-square-foot apartment with two bedrooms in Hiawassee as they did for 250-square-foot room in New York; their story is similar to that of other Fujianese, who have come to New York in waves over last decade and are now fanning out across the country; photos (L)

Democrats hoping to be party's presidential nominee in 2004 are unusually active this early in game because field is absent a front-runner now that Al Gore has returned to private life; are mindful that they may be pushed to side of public stage for some time if nation goes to war against Iraq; are also hoping that news organizations, in midst of a slow time, may be willing to lower their standards for what might be considered 'news' (M)

Growing crisis on Korean peninsula provokes anxiety and debate among 36,000 Korean-Americans living in and around Palisades Park, NJ; they are troubled by anti-American tempest brewing in streets of Seoul and think protests are misguided, even reckless; are quick to recognize America's sacrific defending south during and since war; some Korean-Americans fear they will be stigmatized, while others are concerned that they will not be welcome in country of birth; photo (M)

Oil-rich Kazakhstan is suffering growing pains; oil consortium recently halted long-planned $3.5 billion expansion at largest oil development project in Kazakhstan, in standoff with government over terms of contract; US is investigating charges that Kazakhstan's Pres Nursultan Nazarbayev took bribes from American companies to award oil fields; disagreement, separate criminal probe and new toughness toward foreign investors have shown that Kazakhstan is not as risk-free for investors as it likes to present itself; difficulties come in region that US has long said is central to its efforts to find alternatives to Middle East as source of oil; consortium, known as TengizChevroil, includes ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, LukArco of Russia and Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGaz; photos (M)