Yonhap News Summary

The following is the first summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Friday.

----------------
(2nd LD) N.K. leader orders more nuke tests, readiness for nuclear attacks

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his officials to get ready to carry out nuclear attacks and conduct more nuclear tests, the North's state media said Friday, raising tensions on the divided peninsula.

The North's leader stressed the need to further develop nuclear weapons and diversify the means for delivering nuke warheads so as to "make nuclear strikes at the enemies from anywhere on the ground, in the air, at sea and underwater," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

----------------
(LEAD) Samsung's Galaxy S7 preorders better than predecessor's: CEO

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's tech powerhouse, is seeing greater than expected preorders for its latest high-end smartphones -- the Galaxy S7 and its offbeat sister Galaxy S7 Edge -- as it started shipping them out in its home turf and other countries with the hope that they will help revitalize its mobile business.

"Preorders for the Galaxy S7 series are greater than the predecessor -- the Galaxy S6 series," Samsung's co-chief executive officer J.K. Shin said during an annual shareholder meeting, although he did not provide specific figures. "We had some mistakes in the past, but are rapidly making them up."

----------------
Actress Ku Hye-sun confirms dating 'My Love From the Star' heartthrob

SEOUL -- Actress and film director Ku Hye-sun has been in a romantic relationship with actor Ahn Jae-hyeon, the darling of the mega-hit Korean rom-com series "My Love From the Star," Ahn's talent agency confirmed on Friday.

The top actress and the South Korean leading man started out as good colleagues while co-starring in KBS 2TV's fantasy-medical series "Blood" in 2015. Then, their relationship turned to romance, HB Entertainment said.

----------------
(LEAD) Orioles' Kim Hyun-soo ends drought, picks up first U.S. hit, RBI

SEOUL -- Baltimore Orioles outfielder Kim Hyun-soo ended a long drought at the plate to pick up his first U.S. hit and RBI in preseason action Thursday.

Kim snapped out of a 0-for-23 funk with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh against the New York Yankees left-hander James Pazos in Sarasota, Florida.

----------------
U.N. chief urges N. Korea to honor U.N. resolutions after missile firings

NEW YORK -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges North Korea to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and halt destabilizing acts, his spokesman said Thursday, after Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles in its latest provocation.

The North fired the missiles early Thursday morning (Seoul time), the latest in a series of provocative statements and acts the North has engaged in as South Korea and the U.S. have been conducting annual joint military exercises Pyongyang has long branded as a rehearsal for invasion.

----------------
(3rd LD) U.S. commander: N. Korea can 'range continental U.S.' with ICBM

WASHINGTON -- North Korea can "range the continental United States" with an intercontinental ballistic missile and it would be prudent to assume Pyongyang can also miniaturize a nuclear warhead to put on an ICBM, the U.S. northern commander said Thursday.

"I assess that they have the ability to put an ICBM in space and range the continental United States and Canada," U.S. Northern Command Commander Adm. William Gortney said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

----------------
(LEAD) Minor opposition party member resigns from party post over merger

SEOUL/DAEJEON -- A senior member of the minor opposition People's Party resigned from his post Friday, deepening an internal feud over a possible merger with the main opposition party ahead of the April 13 general elections.

Rep. Kim Han-gil, the head of the party's election planning committee, said he will step down after he failed to persuade the party's co-chairman Ahn Cheol-soo to join forces with the Minjoo Party of Korea to win more seats in the upcoming polls.

----------------
Hyundai Motor to intensify efforts to improve shareholder interests

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, said Friday that it will intensify efforts to enhance the interests of its shareholders this year through transparent and responsible management.

The pledge came at an annual shareholder meeting held earlier in the day at its headquarters located in southern Seoul. Hyundai Motor received approval for its 2015 financial statements and other key business-related issues from its shareholders.
(END)