Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) N.K. leader warns S. Korean gov't, military to be annihilated in event of preemptive strike bid

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned that South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol government and its "military gangsters" will face annihilation should it make any "dangerous attempt" like a preemptive strike, according to Pyongyang's state media Thursday.

Kim issued the strongly worded, direct warning against the South's conservative administration, coupled with biting criticism of the United States, in his speech the previous day marking the 69th anniversary of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang calls the anniversary "Victory Day" and commemorates it in a celebratory mood.

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(2nd LD) Fed's rate hike to have limited impact on S. Korean market: finance minister

SEOUL -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest rate hike is expected to have a limited impact on the domestic financial market as the outcome is in line with market expectations.

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho also dismissed concerns that U.S. interest rates standing higher than Korea's could trigger foreign capital outflows, citing South Korea's economic fundamentals.

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(2nd LD) Samsung Electronics logs record Q2 revenue on server chips, warns of market uncertainties

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday reported its second-quarter net profit of 11.09 trillion won (US$8.5 billion), up 15.2 percent from a year earlier, on the back of robust demand for server chips.

Operating profit for the April-June period rose 12.2 percent on-year to 14.09 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

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S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 90,000

SEOUL -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 90,000 on Thursday, cooling from the steep rise earlier in the week but continuing the worrisome uptrend weighing on efforts to restore normalcy.

The country added 88,384 new COVID-19 infections, including 425 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,535,242, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

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S. Korea's 1st lunar orbiter mission to be delayed amid SpaceX rocket maintenance issue

SEOUL -- The upcoming launch of South Korea's first lunar orbiter mission will be postponed by at least two days due to additional maintenance of a SpaceX rocket, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday.

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) -- also known as Danuri -- was initially set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, at around 8:20 a.m. next Wednesday (Korean time).

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S. Korea to take stern actions against illegal stock short selling

SEOUL -- South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it plans to take stern actions against illegal stock short selling and seek to confiscate profits that were made by such practices.

The measures were announced as some retail investors called for a ban on short selling amid a fall in stock prices and several securities firms were fined for violating related rules.

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Top court confirms conviction of ex-presidential aides for destroying 2007 inter-Korean summit minutes

SEOUL -- The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized suspended prison terms handed down to two former presidential officials for destroying the minutes of the 2007 inter-Korean summit to cover up then President Roh Moo-hyun's alleged offer to surrender the de facto western sea border.

Upholding a lower court's ruling, the top court sentenced Baek Jong-chun and Cho Myoung-gyon -- national security aides for the late former president -- to one year in prison, suspended for two years. The ruling comes nearly 10 years after indictment.

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S. Korea's total population falls for the first time in 2021

SEOUL -- South Korea's total population fell for the first time last year due to the country's low childbirths and rapid aging, along with a decline in incoming foreigners during the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The country's total population reached 51.74 million as of Nov. 1, 2021, down 91,000, or 0.2 percent, from the previous year, according to the 2021 census by Statistics Korea.

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S. Korea to ramp up deregulation drive to spur corporate investment

SEOUL -- The government said Thursday it would ease a total of 50 regulatory measures in an effort to promote corporate investment and to spur private sector-led growth.

It is the first result of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's deregulation push, as it set up a task force last month to review deregulation policy.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases fall to around 10: state media

SEOUL -- North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases dropped to around 10, according to its state media Thursday.

The number of people who newly showed symptoms of fever over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day stood at 11, the state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station said, citing data from the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters.

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