Yonhap News Summary

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

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(3rd LD) N. Korea fires 3 SRBMs, one flying over NLL : S. Korean military

SEOUL -- North Korea launched at least three short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea on Wednesday, one of which flew across its de facto maritime border with South Korea for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to the South's military.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile firing from a site in or around the North's eastern coastal city of Wonsan was detected at around 8:51 a.m.

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S. Korean fighter jets fire 3 air-to-surface missiles into waters north of NLL over N.K. provocations

SEOUL -- South Korean fighter jets on Wednesday fired three air-to-surface missiles into high seas north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto maritime inter-Korean border, in response to North Korea's latest provocations, the South's military said.

The Air Force's F-15K and KF-16 jets fired the precision-guided missiles into waters north of the NLL in the East Sea, hours after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile southward across the NLL, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

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(LEAD) N. Korea's 1st firing of missile into area near S. Korean territorial waters 'intolerable': Seoul military

SEOUL -- South Korea's military on Wednesday denounced North Korea's launch of its first missile into an area close to the South's territorial waters since the division of the peninsula more than seven decades ago, calling it an "intolerable" act.

Earlier in the day, the North launched at least three short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea, one of which flew across its de facto maritime border with South Korea, according to the South's military.

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(2nd LD) Yoon calls for swift action to make N.K. pay price for missile launch

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned North Korea's latest barrage of missile launches, one of them close to South Korean waters, as a de facto violation of the South's territory and ordered swift action to make the North pay for the provocations.

Yoon also called on the military to be ready against additional and high-level provocations by North Korea as he presided over an emergency National Security Council meeting following the launch.

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(LEAD) (News Focus) Police under fire for lax response to emergency calls hours before Itaewon crush

SEOUL -- A lax police response to emergency calls on the night of the Itaewon crowd crush came under growing scrutiny and criticism Wednesday following revelations that police snubbed a series of emergency calls about overcrowding in the neighborhood hours before the disaster.

The National Police Agency released Tuesday police documents chronicling those reports as the country delved into what went wrong and who is responsible for the deadly crush amid criticism that the accident could have been avoided or minimized if police had responded in a timely manner.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea says S. Korea, U.S. will pay 'terrible price' if they use force

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- North Korea on Wednesday said the U.S. and South Korea will pay a terrible price should they decide to attack the North, arguing the allies' ongoing joint military drills are aimed at preparing for a potential invasion.

Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, also called on Seoul and Washington to halt what he claimed to be military provocation against Pyongyang.

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(LEAD) Hyundai, Kia's U.S. sales up 7.9 pct in Oct. amid chip shortage

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday its overall vehicle sales in the United States rose 7.9 percent last month from a year earlier despite the extended chip shortage.

Hyundai Motor Co., its independent Genesis brand, and Hyundai's smaller affiliate Kia Corp. sold a combined 123,233 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market in October, up from 114,128 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data.

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(3rd LD) S. Korea's consumer prices up 5.7 pct on-year in Oct. on higher utility bills

SEOUL -- South Korea's on-year growth in consumer prices accelerated from the previous month in October, data showed Wednesday, staying above the 5 percent level for six consecutive months amid higher utility bills and lingering global economic uncertainties.

Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 5.7 percent last month from a year earlier, picking up speed from a 5.6 percent rise in September, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
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