Yonhap News Summary

The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday.

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(Yonhap Interview) Nobel physics laureate emphasizes stable funding

SEOUL -- Michael Kosterlitz, a British physicist who won last year's Nobel Prize, said Wednesday that fundamental research will eventually lead to revolutionary results in the long run, emphasizing the importance of stable funding.

Kosterlitz, a professor of physics at U.S.-based Brown University and currently a visiting scholar in South Korea, made the remarks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.

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(LEAD) BIGBANG chosen among Forbes' '30 Under 30' musicians

SEOUL -- South Korean boy band BIGBANG has made it to the Forbes' list of the world's 30 most popular musicians under the age 30 for this year.

The members were the only Koreans on the U.S. economic magazine's "30 Under 30 Music Class of 2017," which was unveiled on the magazine's official website Tuesday (on U.S. local time).

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(LEAD) Seoul stocks end slightly higher on foreign buying

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished slightly higher on Wednesday as foreign investors remained net buyers, while Samsung Electronics retreated from an all-time high in the previous session. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,045.64. Trade volume was moderate at 368 million shares worth 4 trillion won (US$3.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 477 to 334.

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Fans want Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo to become real-life lovers: poll

SEOUL -- South Korean actors Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo from the sensationally popular drama "Descendants of the Sun" were voted by local fans as the most wanted on-screen couple to become lovers in real life, a survey showed Wednesday.

The couple garnered 16.4 percent of the popularity vote conducted on 2,000 South Koreans in their 20s and above, according to the survey by the local polling agency Panel Marketing Interactive (PMI).

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(LEAD) Police seeking indictment of MLB player on DUI charges

SEOUL -- Seoul police said Wednesday they're seeking to indict Pittsburgh Pirates' infielder Kang Jung-ho on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Police have handed the case over to prosecutors after investigating Kang for leaving the scene of a DUI accident in the nation's capital on Dec. 2.

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(LEAD) Saenuri grandees throw weight behind interim leader's reform drive

SEOUL -- Top officials of the ruling Saenuri Party on Wednesday threw their weight behind the interim leader's aggressive personnel reform drive, which has targeted core loyalists to President Park Geun-hye and triggered strong resistance.

Chung Woo-taik and Bak Maeng-woo, the party's floor leader and secretary-general, respectively, called on In Myung-jin, the interim leader, to determine their fate, lending their support to his campaign to shore up public trust and overhaul the party's image in the wake of a corruption scandal involving Park and her longtime friend.
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