Yonhap News Summary

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

No ICBM launch anniversary in N. Korea's 2022 calendars: Seoul official

SEOUL -- North Korea's new calendars for next year have not marked its 2017 launch date of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as an anniversary unlike this year's, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.

South Korea has been monitoring North Korea's activities after its 2021 calendars marked Nov. 29 as an anniversary for rocket development for the first time. On the day in 2017, the North's leader Kim Jong-un declared the completion of his country's nuclear forces after firing a new ICBM, the Hwasong-15.

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Court orders gov't to compensate N.K. defectors over extended detention

SEOUL -- South Korea's government has been ordered by a local court to pay compensation to a North Korean couple detained by its spy agency for far longer than legally allowed, judicial officials said Tuesday.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that the state has to pay about 26 million won (US$22,000) to the defectors, who were confined at a National Intelligence Service (NIS) protection facility for nearly six months after their arrival here in 2013, the officials said.

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S. Korea in talks with Egypt to export K-9 self-propelled howitzers

CAIRO/SEOUL-- South Korea is in talks with Egypt to export K-9 self-propelled howitzers, industry officials said Tuesday, raising the prospects for the artillery system's first entry into the Middle Eastern and African market.

The negotiations are under way at the EDEX 2021, a major defense exhibition in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, which opened a four-day run Monday with the participation of major South Korean firms, including Hanwha Defense, the manufacturer of K-9 howitzers.

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S. Korea, Britain seek closer cooperation in 5G, AI

SEOUL -- South Korea and Britain have agreed to bolster bilateral cooperation in artificial intelligence and 5G on the sidelines of a tech forum, Seoul's ICT ministry said Tuesday.

Lee Tai-hee, South Korea's deputy minister for planning and coordination at the science and ICT ministry, held talks with Chris Philp, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in London on Monday (local time) as he visited the Future Tech Forum.

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No change in U.S.' nuclear umbrella commitment to S. Korea: Pentagon official

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- A U.S. defense official on Monday stressed the United States' steady commitment to offering "extended deterrence" to South Korea, voicing concerns over North Korea's "problematic and irresponsible" behavior.

Mara Karlin, the official at the Department of Defense, made the remarks after the Pentagon announced the conclusion of the 2021 Global Posture Review (GPR) on the alignment of American forces across the globe and related issues.

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'Squid Game' wins best long-form TV series at Gotham Awards

SEOUL -- The South Korean outbreak hit "Squid Game" won the best long-form TV series title at the Gotham Awards, becoming the country's first winner at the U.S. awards ceremony for lower-budget indie movies and TV series.

At the awards ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Monday (U.S. time), the Netflix original was awarded Breakthrough Series -- Long Format (over 40 minutes), beating "Small Axe," "It's A Sin," "The Good Lord Bird, "The Underground Railroad" and "The White Lotus."

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Nat'l security adviser to visit China to discuss end-of-war declaration: sources

SEOUL-- National security adviser Suh Hoon will visit China this week to meet with Beijing's top diplomat and discuss Seoul's push to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, sources said Tuesday.

Suh plans to visit the country from Thursday to Friday at the invitation of Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi, according to the diplomatic sources. Cheong Wa Dae said it had no information to share regarding the trip.

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Seoul stocks dip to yearly low amid new COVID-19 variant scare

SEOUL-- South Korean stocks tumbled to a 52-week low Tuesday as concerns over the potential impact of the omicron coronavirus variant continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted 70.31 points, or 2.42 percent, to close at 2,839.01 points.

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Household debt poses limited risks to S. Korean economy: finance minister

SEOUL -- South Korea's top economic policymaker said Tuesday the country's snowballing household debt is posing limited risks to the economy, given borrowers' capability to repay debt and banks' financial health.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks during his meeting with the delegation of S&P Global Ratings, led by Kim Eng Tan, senior director of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at the global credit appraiser.
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