Yonhap News Summary

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

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Defense minister reiterates need for 'normalization' of intel-sharing pact with Japan

SEOUL -- South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup noted the need Monday for the "normalization" of an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, as Seoul seeks tighter security cooperation with Washington and Tokyo amid evolving North Korean military threats.

Lee made the remarks in response to an opposition lawmaker's question on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), thought to be underutilized amid the two countries' prolonged rows over wartime history and trade.

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(2nd LD) Exports up 9.4 pct in July; trade deficit extended for 4th month

SEOUL -- South Korea suffered a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month in July over high global energy prices, though its exports rose 9.4 percent on-year on solid demand for chips, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments stood at US$60.7 billion last month, up from $55.5 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

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S. Korea considering taking Japan's Fukushima plan to int'l tribunal: oceans minister

SEOUL -- South Korea is considering whether to petition an international court over Japan's decision to discharge radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, the oceans minister said Monday.

Last month, Japan's nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, formally approved the plan to discharge the radioactive waste water stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. More than 1.2 million tons of tritium-laced water is expected to be released.

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Jeonbuk withdraw contract offer to Georgian player over failed physical

SEOUL -- South Korean football club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors said Monday they had withdrawn a contract offer to Georgian forward Tornike Okriashvili following a failed physical.

The K League 1 team had first announced their signing of Okriashvili on July 15, but they said Monday the 30-year-old had not passed an additional round of medical tests. The contract offer was pulled back with the consent of the player, Jeonbuk added.

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S. Korea pushing for nearly 200 defense projects to counter N.K. threats

SEOUL -- South Korea has been working on nearly 200 defense projects to beef up its military capabilities to cope with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, its state arms procurement agency said Monday.

During a parliamentary session, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) outlined a total of 197 projects, including those related to Seoul's push to establish and firm up the "three-axis" defense system.

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Seoul to host next year's world mayors forum

SEOUL -- Seoul has been chosen as the host of next year's World Cities Summit Mayors Forum (WCSMF), which will bring together mayors and city leaders from countries all over the world to discuss global urban challenges, the city government said Monday.

The annual WCSMF is an exclusive, by-invitation-only global platform for mayors and city leaders to discuss pressing urban challenges and share the best practices.

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Ex-NIS Director Suh returns home amid probe into repatriation of N. Korean fishermen

SEOUL -- Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon has returned home from the United States recently to face allegations of wrongdoing in connection with the 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen.

Suh was accused of ordering an early end to a government debriefing of the North Koreans captured near the inter-Korean sea border when he was the country's spy chief, in a suspected attempt to send them back to their homeland despite their expression of a desire to defect to South Korea.

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BTS' J-Hope closes Chicago's Lollapalooza festival

SEOUL -- J-Hope of the K-pop superband BTS has performed as the final act of Chicago's annual Lollapalooza festival, becoming the first Korean artist to headline a major U.S. music event, his agency said Monday.

The rapper-dancer closed the four-day festival that drew a total of 105,000 music fans with an hourlong performance on its main stage Sunday (U.S. time), Big Hit Music said in a release.

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Disability advocacy group resumes rush-hour subway protest, causing 1-hr train delays

SEOUL -- A disability advocacy group resumed its rush-hour subway protest campaign Monday calling for a state budget for enhancing disability rights, leaving early morning trains on Subway Line 5 delayed by nearly an hour.

Demanding a budget for disability rights, including the right to free movement, dozens of wheelchair-bound activists of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD), divided into three groups, boarded or transferred en masse to trains at the Gwanghwamun subway station during the peak morning rush hour at 8 a.m.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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