Yonhap News Summary | Yonhap News Agency
The following is the first summary of the main stories released by Yonhap News Agency on Monday.
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(LEAD) Won hits 13-year low for US dollar in intraday trade on global tightening
SEOUL — South Korea’s currency fell below 1,420 won against the U.S. dollar on Monday for the first time in more than 13 years in intraday trading amid aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.
The local currency was trading at 1,428.40 to the dollar as of 10:51 a.m., down 19.10 won from the previous session’s close. The won fell to 1,429.90 against the greenback.
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(LEAD) BLACKPINK Becomes First K-pop Girl Group To Top Billboard 200
SEOUL – BLACKPINK have become the first K-pop girl group to claim the No. 1 spot on US Billboard’s Leading Albums chart, Billboard has said.
In a chart preview this week, Billboard said on Sunday (US time) that the band’s second album, “Born Pink,” released Sept. 16, topped the latest Billboard 200 with 102,000 units. equivalent album won. This made the quartet the first girl group to reach No. 1 since 2008.
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New cases of COVID-19 hit lowest level in 2 months; outdoor mask mandates fully lifted
SEOUL — South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest number in more than two months on Monday as the virus surge slows to a steady pace and the government lifted outdoor mask mandates entirely .
The country reported 14,168 new COVID-19 infections, including 220 from overseas, bringing the total number of cases to 24,634,296, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
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(LEAD) North Korea holds politburo session on agriculture without leader Kim
SEOUL — North Korea has held a meeting of the political bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party to discuss the issue of improving the country’s agricultural situation, state media said Monday.
Jo Yong-won, secretary for organizational affairs of the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, chaired the politburo meeting the day before, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the meeting.
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Operation of North Korea-China freight train appears to have resumed: ministry
DANDONG/SEOUL — A freight train from the Chinese border city of Dandong was spotted crossing a railway bridge to North Korea on Monday, marking the resumption of such a freight service operation between the two countries after a five-month hiatus.
The train with more than 10 cars was seen crossing the bridge over the Amnok River towards the northern border town of Sinuiju at 7:43 a.m.
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South Korea and the United States begin a combined naval exercise involving the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan
SEOUL — South Korea and the United States kicked off their first combined naval exercise, involving a U.S. aircraft carrier, near the peninsula in five years on Monday, a day after North Korea raised tensions with a launch short-range ballistic missile.
The four-day exercise kicked off in the East Sea with the presence of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to demonstrate the “firm will” of the South Korea-US alliance and hone their military capabilities for combined operations, Navy officials said here. said.
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(LEAD) Assembly Deputy Speaker travels to Japan to attend Abe’s state funeral
SEOUL — National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Jin-suk traveled to Japan on Monday to attend the state funeral of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Chung will make the three-day trip to Tokyo, leading a group of lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties belonging to the Korea-Japan Parliamentary Union aimed at increasing parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.
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(LEAD) 2 killed, 1 seriously injured in Daejeon mall fire
DAEJEON — A fire broke out at a shopping mall in downtown Daejeon on Monday, killing two people, another seriously injured and four others missing, officials said.
The fire broke out at 7:45 a.m. at the Hyundai Premium Outlet in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, firefighters said.
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