Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) New infections again on slide, but Seoul still on alert over clusters, imported cases

SEOUL -- South Korea saw a slight decline in new coronavirus cases Monday, but cluster infections in Seoul and the surrounding area continued to emerge, coupled with a continued rise in cases involving arrivals from overseas.

The 78 new cases of COVID-19, detected Sunday and down from 105 new cases a day earlier, marked the 18th consecutive day that new infections have hovered around 100 or fewer additional cases, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The death toll rose by six to 158.

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(LEAD) S. Korea to grant 'disaster relief money' for households, vows extra budget plan

SEOUL -- The South Korean government will grant "emergency disaster relief money" to a majority of the country's households in a one-off stimulus program to help with the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, President Moon Jae-in said Monday.

He also unveiled a plan to seek another supplementary budget during a third session of the emergency economic council at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

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Korea's March exports tipped to rise 1.2 pct: poll

SEOUL -- South Korea's exports are expected to have edged up 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier, a poll showed Monday, but the global spread of the new coronavirus is expected to hurt outbound shipments by Asia's No. 4 economy down the road due to the global spread of the new coronavirus.

The country's outbound shipments are estimated at US$47.5 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was carried out on eight local brokerage houses.

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More than half of BOK's rate setting body to be replaced

SEOUL -- The Bank of Korea (BOK) will soon receive four new members of its seven-member monetary policy board, a change that may also lead to a shift in the central bank's future rate policies, market observers said Monday.

The four new members will replace those set to step down April 20.

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COVID-19 mortality rate for elderly patients feared to rise further

SEOUL -- Most victims of the novel coronavirus spreading across South Korea have been elderly patients aged 80 and above, with the virus estimated to have claimed the lives of around 1 in 6 patients in the age group, data showed Monday.

The mortality rate of COVID-19 patients aged 80 or older stood at 17.51 percent as of Sunday, compared with an average fatality rate of 1.59 percent for all infections, according to the data compiled by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

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TWICE cancels Tokyo Dome concerts over COVID-19

SEOUL -- K-pop girl group TWICE has canceled its Japanese concerts, originally scheduled for mid-April, amid the global COVID-19 outbreak.

An announcement on the band's official Japanese website last week said "Twice World Tour 2019 'Twicelights' in Japan," scheduled to be held at Tokyo Dome on April 15 and 16, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Korean stocks sharply down late Monday morning

SEOUL -- South Korean shares remained down late Monday morning after opening sharply lower on fears of the new coronavirus outbreak further slowing economic activities throughout the globe, limiting demand at home and abroad.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 40.74 points, or 2.37 percent, to 1,676.99 as of 11:20 a.m.

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Seoul subway to run reduced services starting in April

SEOUL -- Subway services in the capital area will end an hour earlier starting in April, operators said Monday, to better contain the new coronavirus that has infected more than 900 in the wider Seoul area.

Under the plan, subway lines No. 1 to 9, as well as the Ui-Sinseol line, will operate until midnight starting April 1, operators said in a press release. Subway services currently run until 1 a.m.
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