Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Moon says campaign for 'comfort women' should go on despite recent controversy

SEOUL -- President Moon Jae-in broke his silence Monday about a simmering controversy over the decadeslong campaign led by civic activists to raise public awareness of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, saying it's not right to deny the movement's legitimacy itself.

The victims are euphemistically called "comfort women."

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(News Focus) N.K. threats signal leader Kim's push to elevate sister's status: experts

SEOUL -- North Korea's recent threats to abolish an inter-Korean liaison office and end other major summit agreements signal leader Kim Jong-un's intention to solidify the political status of his sister, Kim Yo-jong, experts said Monday.

Last week, Kim Yo-jong issued a harshly worded statement, denouncing a campaign by North Korean defectors and other activists in the South to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the communist nation as a hostile act running counter to a series of peace agreements between the two sides.

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(4th LD) New virus cases dip below 40, greater Seoul still at risk from cluster infections

SEOUL -- South Korea's number of new virus cases slowed Monday, after topping 50 for two consecutive days, but concerns are running high over a second wave of the pandemic in greater Seoul due to a continued increase in sporadic cluster infections.

The country added 38 new cases, including 33 locally transmitted cases, raising its total caseload to 11,814, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). It marked a decrease from 57 cases announced a day earlier and 51 on Saturday.

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BTS fans raise US$1 mln in Black Lives Matter donations: charity project

SEOUL -- International fans of K-pop giants BTS have raised over US$1 million in donations for the Black Lives Matter cause in the United States, matching the amount donated earlier by their idols toward the human rights movement, according to a fan charity project Monday.

One In An ARMY, an organization of BTS fans involved in charity projects, announced that it has raised over $1 million in donations Monday after first launching a donation drive on June 1.

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Table tennis clubs asked to close, as coronavirus cases top 1,000 in Seoul

SEOUL -- All table tennis facilities in Seoul were recommended Monday to close temporarily to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, after a new cluster of infections broke out at a ping pong club in the city's western ward of Yangcheon.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said his government ordered all 350 table tennis clubs in the city to shut down for the time being or to operate on the condition that they thoroughly follow government guidelines on preventing the spread of COVID-19.

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Monthly unemployment benefits above 1 tln won for 1st time amid coronavirus

SEJONG -- The amount of state funds paid out as unemployment benefits surpassed 1 trillion won (US$830 million) for the first time last month, data showed Monday, due largely to the negative economic impact of the new coronavirus outbreak.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the government paid 1.16 trillion won in benefits to those struggling to find jobs in May, marking a 33.9 percent increase from 758.7 billion won paid in the same month last year.

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(LEAD) Seoul stocks extend winning streak to 7th session despite Samsung losses

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks closed higher Monday, extending a winning streak to a seventh consecutive session despite losses in Samsung Electronics and other Samsung affiliates' shares. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.42 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 2,184.29. Trading volume was heavy at about 842.9 million shares worth some 12.9 trillion won (US$10.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 444 to 393.
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