Xinhua Asia-Pacific News Summary at 0600 GMT, Dec. 15

CANBERRA -- The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) Friday announced the establishment of a high-level advisory body.

The body consists of prominent republicans including former Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader Kim Beazley, former Nationals leader Tim Fischer, former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks in addition to a host of academics, businesspeople and lawyers. (Australia-Republican Movement)

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NEW DELHI -- Indian police Friday said they have launched a major manhunt to track down the country's sole happiness minister, a suspect in a murder case.

Lal Singh Arya, the minister for happiness in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has been missing since early this week after a local court ordered his arrest in connection with the murder of an opposition politician in 2009, police said. (India-Manhunt)

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SYDNEY -- The Australian State of New South Wales (NSW) unveiled its first "rapid-build prison" on Friday, in an effort to combat a sharp increase in the prison population.

Part of a 2.9-billion-U.S. dollar prison infrastructure program, the Macquarie Correctional Center will house 400 inmates in the state's central west, who are due to arrive in the coming days. (Australia-Prison)

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SEOUL -- Corporate revenue growth in South Korea hit the highest in six and a half years in the third quarter due to brisk exports in the semiconductor and petrochemical sectors, central bank data showed Friday.

Revenue of non-finance profit-making companies gained 13.8 percent in the July-September quarter compared with the same period of last year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). (S.Korea-Corporate Revenue) Enditem