Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) Infection tally in 400s for 3rd day, virus-prone facilities under further curbs

SEOUL -- The daily number of new coronavirus cases in South Korea stayed in the 400 range for the third day in a row Tuesday, despite tightened antivirus curbs, such as shutdowns of virus-prone facilities, being in place in the greater Seoul area amid the deepening worries over the third infection wave.

The country added 451 more COVID-19 cases, including 420 local infections, raising the total caseload to 34,652, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It reported no additional coronavirus fatalities, bringing the total to 526.

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(3rd LD) Exports rebound in Nov. on solid chip sales amid virus resurgence

SEOUL -- South Korea's exports rebounded by rising 4 percent in November on-year on the back of strong sales of chips, data showed Tuesday, though a resurgence in new virus cases still poses risks of delaying a full-fledged recovery.

Outbound shipments came to US$45.8 billion last month, compared with $44 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea's economy grows faster than estimated at 2.1 pct in Q3: BOK

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy expanded at a faster-than-estimated pace in the third quarter on the back of a modest recovery in exports amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.1 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

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IHO finalizes agreement on marking global sea areas in numbers amid East Sea naming row

SEOUL -- The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has officially adopted new guidelines to identify seas by numbers instead of names, officials said Tuesday, a decision expected to help ease a long-running row over what to call the body of water between South Korea and Japan.

IHO member states had reached a consensus during last month's General Assembly on the proposal to adopt a new digital dataset, known as S-130, as a standard for a world map of oceans. Under the proposal, the current standard, named S-23, will be outmoded and kept available only as an IHO publication.

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(2nd LD) BTS makes history as 'Life Goes On' becomes first Korean song to top Billboard main singles chart

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- K-pop megastar BTS has achieved another milestone with its new song "Life Goes On," becoming the first Korean song to land at No. 1 on the Billboard's main singles chart.

"'Life Goes On' officially debuts at No. 1 on this week's Hot 100," Billboard said in a Twitter post Monday (U.S. time), one day before the weekly chart will be refreshed.

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(LEAD) LG Energy Solution sets sail to target growing EV market, but challenges lie ahead

SEOUL -- LG Chem Ltd.'s battery business officially launched its standalone company Tuesday to take a bigger chunk of the growing battery market, but a bumpy road lies ahead to stay on top of the highly competitive industry.

Kim Jong-hyun, who served as president of LG Chem's battery unit, takes the helm of LG Energy Solution Ltd., setting a goal of raising over 30 trillion won (US$27 billion) of annual revenue by 2024 from an estimated 13 trillion won this year.

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S. Korea, U.S. hold first defense cost talks since U.S. election

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States held defense cost talks for the first time since the U.S. presidential election and reaffirmed their principle to seek a fair and mutually acceptable deal, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

During the video talks held Monday night (Korea time), South Korea's chief negotiator Jeong Eun-bo and his U.S. counterpart Donna Welton agreed to "closely work together to swiftly reach an agreement that is fair and mutually acceptable," the ministry said.

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