(ATTN: ADDS North Korean military's statement in paras 7-10) SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired some 130 artillery shells into eastern and western maritime "buffer zones" Monday, in what Seoul called a violation of a 2018 bilateral military agreement, amid the South Korea-U.S. live-fire drills in a border region. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the artillery firings, thought to involve multiple rocket launchers, from Kumgang County in Kangwon Province and Jangsan Cape in South Hwanghae Province, from 2:59 p.m. The shells splashed into the maritime buffer zones north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto sea border, which were set under an inter-Korean military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions. The JCS communicated warnings to the North multiple times, pointing out the violation of the military accord and calling for the immediate cessation of the provocation, the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

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By Byun Duk-kun WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States is working with its allies to prepare for all contingencies originating from North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Friday, highlighting the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test in the foreseeable future. Ned Price also stressed that a nuclear test by North Korea would constitute a "grave escalatory action" following its unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests. "We have spoken to this in recent months in some detail. We have said for some weeks now that we've seen indications that the DPRK has completed preparations for a possible seventh nuclear test," the department spokesperson said when asked about a potential North Korean nuclear test in a telephonic press briefing. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. A seventh nuclear test, Price said, "would constitute

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(ATTN: ADDS details throughout) By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's super-sub midfielder Lee Kang-in earned his first FIFA World Cup starting assignment on Friday in a must-win match against Portugal. Center back Kim Min-jae, hobbled by a right calf injury, will begin the Group H match on the bench at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. Lee had been South Korea's most dangerous offensive weapon coming off the bench in two previous matches, a goalless draw with Uruguay and a 3-2 loss to Ghana. With South Korea needing a win over Portugal, along with help from the other Group H match of the day between Uruguay and Ghana, Lee will now try to spark the offense from the opening kickoff. South Korea, though, will be missing their best defender in Kim, who hurt himself against Uruguay and played through the injury against Ghana. He has skipped recent training sessions to get treatments on his injured leg but did not recover in time to sta

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(ATTN: ADDS more details in paras 3-4) SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday promoted a female executive to the president of global marketing for its mobile business, in the first move to tap a female talent for the top post. Lee Young-hee was promoted to the president of the Global Marketing Center for Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) division that oversees its mobile business. She is the first female president at Samsung, the country's biggest conglomerate, to come from outside the founding family. Lee Boo-jin, the first daughter of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, is currently serving as the president and chief executive of Hotel Shilla, a Samsung affiliate. Lee Young-hee joined the tech giant in 2007 and was promoted to vice president in 2012. Previously working at L'Oreal, she is credited with successfully promoting the image and brand of Samsung's Galaxy mobile phones. Samsung expected the promotion to serve as a chance for o

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SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated the South Korean soccer team Saturday for the thrilling win over Portugal that sent the country to the last 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. "The challenge begins again. Congratulations on the Korean national soccer team's advance into the round of 16," Yoon said in a Facebook post. "Players and the coaches have greatly impressed the people of this country with their fighting spirit and passion. Feel free to fulfill the potential you have prepared and enjoy the game," Yoon said. Yoon added that he hopes to show the world the potential of South Korean soccer, beyond winning or losing. "I'll be rooting for you together," Yoon said. South Korea beat Portugal 2-1 Friday (Qatar time) with a late goal by second-half substitute Hwang Hee-chan, in a thrilling win that made the country advance to the round of 16 at the World Cup. It is the third time in history and the first in 12 years that South Korea has made it

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By Kim Han-joo SEOUL, Dec. 7(Yonhap) -- The government will decide whether to lift the indoor mask mandate by the end of this month, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Wednesday. The mandate is the last remaining COVID-19 restriction South Korea has kept in place following the scrapping of all other distancing rules. "(The government) will come up with the final plan by the end of this month after discussing ways to adjust (indoor) mask mandate rules,"" Lee said during a government virus response meeting. The move comes as a series of local governments, including the central city of Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province, announced their plans to drop the facial covering mandate. Lee highlighted the importance of maintaining a single quarantine system, citing lingering concerns over a surge in winter. The country reported 74,714 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, staying above 70,000 for the second consecutive day, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

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By Yoo Jee-ho DOHA, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea versus Japan in a FIFA World Cup knockout match? It would be a dream for fans of the two longtime and oft-bitter sporting rivals. It has never happened before but there is a possibility, however slim, of that finally materializing this year in Qatar. If the two countries both win their round of 16 matches on Monday, they will then clash in the quarterfinals on Friday. South Korea and Japan have never faced each other in any World Cup match. Per FIFA rules, no two countries from the same continent, with the exception of Europe, may be drawn into the same group. Also, this is only the third time that both South Korea and Japan are in the knockout round together, and the first time they are on the same side of the bracket. In both 2002 and 2010, they could only have met either in the final or the third place match. In Qatar, Japan reached the knockout round first on Thursday, clinching the top spot in Group E with a

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By Yoo Jee-ho AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korean captain Son Heung-min thanked the country's supporters for giving the team enough energy to get past Portugal and into the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Friday. Son assisted on Hwang Hee-chan's stoppage-time winner in South Korea's 2-1 victory over Portugal at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha. South Korea finished in second place in Group H with four points and advanced to the knockouts for the third time in their World Cup history, after 2002 and 2010. South Korea gave up the match's first goal in just the fifth minute, before Kim Young-gwon netted the equalizer in the 27th minute and Hwang landed the knockout punch in the dying moments. "As expected, this was a tough match, and even more so because we gave up the early goal," Son said in a televised interview afterward. "But the players never gave up and made sacrifices for the team. And our fans here and back home gave us

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SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- Seven-piece girl group NMIXX will be reduced to a sextet with the departure of member Jinni, the band's agency said Friday. "Jinni, who has been with NMIXX as a member, will leave the team for personal reasons and conclude her contract (with the agency)," JYP Entertainment said in a release. NMIXX will become a six-member group consisting of Lily, Sullyoon, BAE, Jiwoo and Kyujin following Jinni's departure. "We're sorry for causing trouble to many fans with the abrupt news," JYP said, asking for warm support from fans for Jinni and the remaining six members. sshim@yna.co.kr

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SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- RM, leader of the global K-pop sensation BTS, will release his solo debut album, "Indigo," on Friday, the band's management agency said. "Indigo" is his first individual project in about four years since October 2018, when he released a mixtape titled "mono." "RM contained his honest feelings, worries and various other thoughts in 'Indigo'," Big Hit Music said. "He led the whole production process ranging from writing and composing all the tracks to the album's concept, design, composition and to planning the music video." The BTS rapper chose indigo, a color that contrasts with the black-and-white tone of his previous project "mono," and put it throughout the upcoming album to express his changed tendencies and thoughts. Last week, RM unveiled concept photos for the album on his social media account. The photos show RM, in denim outfits with an artwork, either sitting or standing against the wall where "Blue," an artwork by late Korean pa

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