Yonhap News Summary

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

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S. Korea submits extradition request for crypto fugitive Kwon earlier than U.S.: authorities

SEOUL -- South Korea asked the Montenegrin government to extradite Do Kwon, the wanted co-founder of Terraform Labs arrested and detained in the Balkan country, earlier than the United States did, South Korean authorities said Thursday.

According to South Korea's justice ministry and diplomatic authorities, the government submitted an extradition request for Kwon last Friday, about a day earlier than the U.S. government filed its extradition request.

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KA-1 crash in Dec. caused by maintenance error, pilot's ineptitude: Air Force

SEOUL -- The South Korean Air Force on Thursday attributed the crash of a KA-1 light attack aircraft in December to a maintenance error that caused an engine abnormality, as well as the pilot's ineptitude.

Wrapping up a monthslong investigation into the Dec. 26 crash, the armed service concluded the maintenance error led an engine fuel control system to malfunction, while the pilot was inept at handling the emergency situation.

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(LEAD) LG Chem breaks ground for 310 bln-won plastic recycling, aerogel plants
(ATTN: ADDS more info in paras 3-4, UPDATES photos)

SEOUL -- LG Chem Ltd., a leading chemical producer in South Korea, said Thursday that it began the 310 billion-won (US$238 million) project to build facilities for plastic recycling and producing a next-generation thermal insulator component.

The envisioned plastic pyrolysis plant in the city of Dangjin, some 78 kilometers southwest of Seoul, will recycle plastic waste using high-temperature steam, known as supercritical pyrolysis, to produce pyrolysis oil used for making petrochemical products.

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Trade chiefs of S. Korea, U.S. discuss IRA, Chips Act

SEOUL -- Top trade officials of South Korea and the United States discussed U.S. acts on semiconductors and electric vehicles (EVs) on Thursday, as well as a range of pending bilateral issues, Seoul's industry ministry said.

Seoul's Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai held a meeting in Seoul, as Tai is in South Korea to attend the two-day Summit for Democracy that began Wednesday.

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Main opposition calls for explanation on replacement of nat'l security adviser

SEOUL -- The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Thursday called on President Yoon Suk Yeol to explain why former National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han resigned ahead of Yoon's state visit to the United States next month.

On Wednesday, Yoon accepted Kim's resignation offer and tapped Cho Tae-yong, Seoul's ambassador to the U.S., as the new national security adviser.

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S. Korea voices concern over abolishing of Aung San Suu Kyi's party in Myanmar

SEOUL -- South Korea expressed "deep concerns" Thursday over the dissolution of Myanmar's former ruling party headed by ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi while calling for a peaceful solution to the deepening crisis in the Southeast Asian nation.

Earlier this week, Myanmar's military abolished the National League for Democracy and 39 other parties for failing to meet a deadline to register for a general election.
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