Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) BOK delivers unprecedented 0.5 percentage-point rate hike to combat inflation

SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank on Wednesday delivered an unprecedented 0.5 percentage-point rate hike in a preemptive bid to fight fast-growing inflation pressure pushed up by high energy and commodity prices.

In a post-meeting press conference, Rhee Chang-yong, head of the Bank of Korea (BOK), said that the central bank will likely maintain its rate-hike stance for the time being, saying that one or two more rate increases could be possible before the end of this year if the path of inflation remains within its expectations.

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(2nd LD) 'Squid Game' wins 14 nominations including best drama series at Emmys

SEOUL -- The survival drama "Squid Game" earned 14 nominations including best drama series at this year's Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the first South Korean TV show to compete at America's biggest honor for the broadcasting industry.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on Tuesday (U.S. time) unveiled the final list of nominations for the 2022 Emmys awarded to best primetime TV programs from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022.

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Presidential office vows to uncover truth behind controversial repatriation of N.K. fishermen

SEOUL -- The presidential office on Wednesday slammed the controversial repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019 as a potential "crime against humanity" and vowed to uncover the truth behind the case.

The statement came a day after the unification ministry released 10 photos of the two North Koreans being dragged across the inter-Korean border in November 2019 apparently against their will.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit over 40,000 for first time in 2 months

SEOUL -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose to over 40,000 for the first time in two months as the country has experienced a resurgence of infections amid the fast spread of a highly contagious new omicron subvariant.

The country added 40,266 new COVID-19 infections, including 398 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,602,109, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea's job growth slows in June amid increased economic uncertainty

SEOUL -- South Korea reported job additions for the 16th consecutive month in June, but the pace of job growth slowed from a month earlier amid heightened economic uncertainty, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people came to 28.49 million last month, up 841,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

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Kakao to remove external payment link in Android app after standoff with Google

SEOUL -- Kakao Corp., operator of South Korea's most popular messaging app KakaoTalk, has decided to remove an external payment link from the Android version of the software, following a standoff with Google over the U.S. tech giant's new in-app payment policy, sources said Wednesday.

The standoff between the two companies has continued for nearly two weeks, after Google turned down Kakao's submission for the latest 9.8.6 version of KakaoTalk for Android on June 30, apparently for maintaining an external payment link against Google's new policy.

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(LEAD) Gov't to expand eligibility for 4th coronavirus vaccine shot to people aged 50 and older

SEOUL -- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that the government will expand eligibility for the fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot to people aged 50 and older as well as people aged 18 and older who have underlying health conditions.

The move comes as the nation is facing another wave of virus resurgence, driven by the fast spread of the highly contagious mutation of the omicron strains, BA.5, which is known to be more contagious and better able to escape immunity compared with earlier versions.
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