Yonhap News Summary

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

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Surviving forced labor victims reject S. Korea's foundation-based compensation plan

SEOUL -- Surviving Korean victims of wartime forced labor will soon deliver their formal position to reject the government's compensation plan to a public foundation in charge of the controversial process, according to their legal representatives Monday.

They are among those who won compensation cases against Japanese companies at South Korea's Supreme Court over their forced labor during World War II, when Korea was under Japan's brutal colonial rule.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea fired 2 'strategic cruise missiles' from submarine Sunday: KCNA

SEOUL -- North Korea fired two "strategic cruise missiles" from a submarine in waters off its east coast over the weekend, the country's state media said Monday.

The North's first known firing of cruise missiles from a submarine is widely viewed as an apparent show of force against a major South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise.

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(LEAD) Key S. Korea-U.S. military exercise begins; N. Korea likely to respond with more provocations

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States kicked off a regular combined military exercise Monday amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea's missile tests and hardening rhetoric against the allies.

The computer simulation-based Freedom Shield (FS) exercise began its 11-day run under "realistic" scenarios reflective of the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats, Seoul officials said. It is to proceed with the concurrent field training exercise, called the Warrior Shield.

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(LEAD) BOK closely monitoring impact of SVB collapse on financial markets, economy

SEOUL -- The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday that it will closely monitor any impact of last week's collapse of a U.S. tech startup-focused lender on domestic financial market and economic conditions, though it dismissed worries that the issue could turn into a systemic risk.

On Friday, U.S. banking regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and took control of its customer deposits in the largest failure of a U.S. bank since the 2008 financial crisis. It was followed by the collapse of another U.S. bank, Signature Bank.

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(2nd LD) Large fire engulfs tire plant in Daejeon; no serious injuries reported

DAEJEON -- A huge fire has engulfed a tire plant in the central city of Daejeon, but no serious injuries have been reported, fire officials said Monday.

The fire broke out at 10:09 p.m. Sunday at the plant operated by the nation's leading tiremaker, Hankook Tire & Technology Co., according to the Daejeon Fire Headquarters.

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(LEAD) Rep. Lee Chul-gyu takes over as PPP's new secretary general

SEOUL -- Rep. Lee Chul-gyu was appointed the ruling People Power Party's new secretary general on Monday, as the party fills key posts with those close to President Yoon Suk Yeol after Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon was elected new leader last week.

The secretary general is a key position that supervises the party's budget and organization affairs. As secretary general, Lee will also work as vice chair of the party's committee handling nominations for next year's parliamentary elections.

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(LEAD) Exports down 16 pct during first 10 days of March

SEOUL -- South Korea's exports fell 16.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of March, data showed Monday, due to sluggish shipments of chips.

The country's outbound shipments stood at US$15.8 billion in the March 1-10 period, compared with $18.8 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

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