Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Seoul stocks sink almost 5 pct on another looming wave of virus outbreak

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks sank almost 5 percent amid rising concerns of a second wave of the new coronavirus pandemic, extending their losing streak to a third consecutive session and dashing hopes for a sharp rebound in the global economy. The Korean won sharply fell against the U.S. dollar.

After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,030.82, down 101.48 points, or 4.76 percent, the sharpest fall since March 23. Trading volume was high at about 1.06 billion shares worth some 18.02 trillion won (US$14.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 837 to 55.

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(LEAD) After 75 days on furlough, USFK Korean employees return to work

SEOUL -- Thousands of South Korean employees for the U.S. Forces Korea returned to work Monday following months of unpaid leave, after Seoul and Washington agreed upon a wage deal amid their stalled defense-cost sharing negotiations.

More than 4,000 South Korean workers had been on the furlough since April 1, as Seoul and Washington failed to reach an agreement on a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) that stipulates how much Seoul will pay for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong USFK.

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(LEAD) Military beefs up surveillance on N.K. following provocation threats

SEOUL -- South Korea's military has strengthened its monitoring of North Korea, but no unusual moves have been detected so far, a source said Monday, after Pyongyang threatened to take military action against the South.

In a statement Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, said its military will be entrusted with the right to take the "next step" against the South in the latest in a series of threats made by the North in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by activists here.

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(LEAD) Moon urges N. Korea not to backtrack on agreed-upon peace efforts

SEOUL -- President Moon Jae-in called on North Korea on Monday not to stop a peace journey despite some troubles, making his first official remarks on North Korea's renewed saber-rattling.

"The direction the two Koreas should go together is clear," he said during a weekly meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae aides. "We should not stop the current inter-Korean relations again, which have overcome a longtime severance and the crisis of a war with difficulty."

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(LEAD) S. Korea calls in Japanese ambassador, voices 'deep regrets' over Meiji site info center

SEOUL -- South Korea called in Japan's top envoy in Seoul and voiced "deep regrets" Monday after Tokyo failed to honor wartime forced labor victims at an information center on industrial revolution sites registered on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho called in Japanese Ambassador Koji Tomita, hours after the Industrial Heritage Information Center in Tokyo opened to the public following a monthslong closure due to the new coronavirus.

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(3rd LD) New virus cases below 40 for 2nd day, spread in greater Seoul still uncontrolled

SEOUL -- South Korea's new virus cases stayed below 40 for the second straight day Monday, but cluster infections and untraceable cases continued to haunt the Seoul metropolitan area.

The country added 37 new cases, including 24 local infections, raising the total caseload to 12,121, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
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