Yonhap News Summary

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

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Yoon names veterans minister, chief of overseas Koreans agency

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday named the minister of the upgraded veterans ministry and the chief of a new government agency for overseas Koreans, his office said.

Park Min-shik, who currently heads the veterans ministry, will continue to lead the ministry after its upgrade from sub-ministry level to full-fledged ministry status Monday.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea's consumer prices slow for 4th month in May

SEOUL -- South Korea's consumer prices growth slowed for the fourth consecutive month in May from a year ago, data showed Friday, in yet another signal that the country's inflation has passed its peak.

Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 3.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 3.7 percent on-year rise in April, according to the report from Statistics Korea.

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(LEAD) S. Korea's defense chief departs for Singapore for security forum

SEOUL -- South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup left for Singapore on Friday to attend an annual security forum, where North Korea's evolving military threats, the war in Ukraine and an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry are expected to feature prominently.

The three-day Shangri-La Dialogue is set to kick off in the city-state later in the day, bringing together senior security officials from more than 40 countries, including the United States, China, Britain, Australia and Japan, according to Seoul officials.

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S. Korea hold off Ecuador to reach quarterfinals at U-20 World Cup

SEOUL -- South Korea are moving on to the quarterfinals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.

South Korea defeated Ecuador 3-2 in the round of 16 at Santiago del Estero Stadium in Santiago del Estero, northern Argentina, on Thursday (local time), behind first-half goals by Lee Young-jun and Bae Jun-ho. Choi Seok-hyun had the third goal early in the second half.

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(LEAD) Election watchdog's probe shows 4 additional suspected hiring corruption cases

SEOUL -- Children of four retired senior officials at the National Election Commission (NEC) were additionally found to have been employed by the election watchdog, an investigation showed Friday, raising suspicions that the individuals secured the positions through their fathers' influence.

The children of the four former officials were hired for experienced positions at three different regional offices, where their fathers had previously worked, according to the results of the investigation conducted by the election watchdog, released by People Power Party Rep. Jeong Bong-min.

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(LEAD) S. Korea's economy grows 0.3 pct in Q1, unchanged from earlier estimate: BOK data

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, unchanged from an earlier estimate, largely thanks to a sustained recovery in private spending amid an extended slowdown in exports, central bank data showed Friday.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) -- a key measure of economic growth -- increased 0.3 percent in the January-March period from three months earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

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S. Korea, Japan to hold finance ministerial meeting this month in Tokyo

SEOUL -- South Korea and Japan plan to hold a bilateral financial ministerial meeting this month, the finance ministry here said Friday, as the two countries are gearing up to normalize economic ties after several years of trade tensions.

Kim Seong-wook, the deputy minister for international affairs, and Japanese Vice Finance Minister Masato Kanda reached the agreement during a meeting held in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

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N. Korea bristles at U.N., NATO criticism of its spy satellite launch

SEOUL -- North Korea on Friday slammed the chiefs of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), painting their criticism of the North's spy satellite launch as interference in internal affairs.

The North's criticism came in response to remarks by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that condemned its launch attempt as a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
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