Yonhap News Summary

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

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Regulator approves travel platform Yanolja's takeover of Interpark

SEOUL -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has approved travel platform operator Yanolja Co.'s purchase of e-commerce firm Interpark Corp.'s travel business

In 2021, Yanolja acquired a 70 percent stake in Interpark's e-commerce business, including travel services, performing arts and online shopping, for 301.1 billion won (US$231.3 million), and reported the deal to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) last year.

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Grandson of ex-President Chun apprehended at Incheon Int'l Airport over drug use

SEOUL -- Police apprehended a grandson of late former President Chun Doo-hwan at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday over suspected illegal drug use.

Chun Woo-won, the 27-year-old grandson, was detained by officers from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency upon his arrival at the airport at 6 a.m. from New York and transported to the police agency for investigation.

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader urges more production of weapons-grade nuclear materials; photos of tactical nuclear warheads released

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has "guided" the country's nuclear weaponization project, calling for expanding the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials for an exponential increase in its nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday.

Kim also inspected what appeared to be tactical nuclear warheads Monday, with South Korea and the United States staging combined naval exercises, involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

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S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases continue on-week growth amid eased curbs

SEOUL -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases rose to over 12,000 on Tuesday to report on-week growth for eight days in a row amid the relaxation of most antivirus restrictions to regain pre-pandemic normalcy.

The country reported 12,129 new COVID-19 infections, including 14 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,785,589, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

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(LEAD) USS Nimitz carrier in S. Korea amid N. Korea's saber-rattling

SEOUL -- A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday, in yet another show of America's military might against growing North Korean threats.

The USS Nimitz carrier docked at ROK Fleet Command in the city, 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after its strike group trained with the South Korean Navy in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju the previous day.

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Seoul shares up late Tue. morning on easing banking crisis

SEOUL -- Seoul shares traded higher late Tuesday morning due to the eased banking crisis in the wake of tightening monetary policies in major economies.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had moved up 9.36 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,418.58 as of 11:20 a.m.

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(LEAD) Yoon calls for full disclosure of N.K. human rights violations

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that North Korea's human rights abuses should be fully laid bare around the world, as the government prepares to publish a report on the North's human rights situation for the first time.

"The reality of the appalling human rights violations against the North Korean people must be fully revealed to the international community," Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting

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Wage workers' debt rises 7 pct; loans to young people jump 15 pct in 2021

SEOUL -- Debt held by South Korean wage workers in their 20s jumped 15 percent on-year in 2021, much higher than 7 percent growth on average for all wage workers, data showed Tuesday.

Bank and nonbank loans extended to paid workers in the country averaged 52.02 million won (US$40,107) per person as of end-2021, up by 3.4 million won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

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