Yonhap News Summary

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

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(3rd LD) New virus infections fall below 30 for 5th straight day

SEOUL -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 30 for the fifth straight day Friday, but health authorities warned against complacency and urged people to keep up social distancing.

The 22 new cases, detected Thursday and unchanged from a day ago, brought the nation's total infections to 10,635, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

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Coronavirus relapse cases continue to rise in S. Korea

SEOUL -- South Korea's health authorities vowed Friday to better monitor people who retested positive for the novel coronavirus, as relapse cases of the disease are rising steadily in the country.

The number of people who tested positive again for COVID-19 after making full recoveries has reached 163 since the first such case was identified on April 8, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

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(LEAD) Coronavirus batters S. Korea's demand, employment, exports: finance ministry

SEOUL -- The coronavirus pandemic has battered South Korea's domestic demand, job market and exports, with uncertainties from the highly contagious virus still expanding, the finance ministry said Friday.

In a monthly report, called Green Book, the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a bleaker picture of the economic impact from the virus pandemic compared with its March report.

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(LEAD) Marine Corps to help guard naval bases in wake of security breaches

SEOUL -- The defense ministry announced a series of measures to beef up the security of military bases in the wake of embarrassing civilian intrusions, including improving CCTVs and other surveillance systems and mobilizing Marine Corps troops to help guard naval bases.

The ministry unveiled these measures after Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo held a videoconference with around 30 top military commanders to discuss how to prevent any recurrence of such security breaches.

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(LEAD) Former DB Group chief gets suspended sentence over sex offenses

SEOUL -- A former South Korean conglomerate chairman was given a suspended prison sentence Friday for sexually assaulting two women.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim Jun-ki, former chairman of DB Group, to an imprisonment of 2 1/2 years, suspended for four years, after finding him guilty of raping his housemaid and sexually assaulting his secretary.

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(LEAD) S. Korean stocks jump more than 3 pct on hopes of virus outbreak peaking

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks climbed more than 3 percent Friday as foreign investors scooped up major large-cap shares amid hopes that the global coronavirus outbreak is peaking, analysts said. The Korean won gained ground against the greenback.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 57.46 points, or 3.09 percent, to close at 1,914.53. Trading volume was heavy at 1.6 billion shares worth 13.9 trillion won (US$11.4 billion), with gainers far outpacing losers 719 to 144.

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S. Korea to hold briefing session for exporters on humanitarian trade with Iran

SEOUL -- South Korea was set to hold a briefing session Friday for local firms about resuming exports to Iran, a foreign ministry official said, after receiving U.S. approval for humanitarian trade with the Middle East country.

The briefing, to be co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), comes after Seoul obtained a U.S. special license designed to authorize aid-related transactions with Tehran through Iran's central bank.

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S. Korean star directors, actors head to Netflix

SEOUL -- South Korea's renowned movie and television directors and actors have been heading to Netflix, which has been strengthening original Korean content.

Director Lee Jae-kyoo will return with the Netflix original "All of Us Are Dead" about high school students trapped in their school during a zombie apocalypse, after his last film "Intimate Stranger" (2018).
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