Yonhap News Summary

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

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Asiad football coach 'frustrated' with uncertainty over status of PSG's Lee

PAJU -- Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the South Korean men's Asian Games football team, said Thursday he is "frustrated" with the lingering uncertainty over the status of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) midfielder Lee Kang-in.

Hwang named Lee to his under-24 squad for the Hangzhou Asian Games in July. With South Korea's first group stage match only five days away in China, however, Lee has yet to join Hwang's team, nor is it clear exactly when the 22-year-old midfielder will do so.

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3 S. Korean institutions listed on Newsweek's latest world best specialized hospitals

SEOUL -- Three South Korean medical institutions have been listed among the world's top 10 oncology hospitals by Newsweek magazine.

According to the list of the World's Best Specialized Hospitals 2024 released Thursday, Samsung Medical Center ranked fifth in the medical field of oncology, the highest among Asian hospitals.

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3 additional releases of Fukushima wastewater planned by next March: gov't

SEOUL -- Japan is set to release additional contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant three more times by next March, according to the South Korean government Thursday.

The planned additional releases will proceed as scheduled, said Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, citing data released by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant.

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Gender minister nominee says her ministry will 'dramatically exit' in line with Yoon's abolition promise

SEOUL -- Gender Equality Minister Nominee Kim Haeng said Thursday she will help the ministry "dramatically exit" in line with President Yoon Suk Yeol's campaign pledge to abolish the ministry.

Scrapping the ministry was one of Yoon's key promises ahead of last year's presidential election amid persisting questions about the ministry's role and performance. But the pledge has not been implemented, as the proposal cannot pass through the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

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S. Korea, U.S. to hold defense talks on deterrence against N. Korea

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States will hold regular defense talks on deterrence against North Korean nuclear and missile threats in Seoul next week, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday.

The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), which will take place next Monday, is expected to touch on a range of security issues, including policy coordination on ways to respond to and deter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the strengthening of the joint defense posture and the envisioned conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control, according to the ministry.

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LG Chem, Eni join hands for potential biorefinery in S. Korea

SEOUL -- LG Chem Ltd. said Thursday it has joined hands with a unit of Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A to explore the possibility of building a biorefinery in South Korea, as it seeks to bolster the manufacturing of sustainable fuels and plastics.

If finalized, the joint biorefinery with Eni Sustainable Mobility will be established in LG Chem's Daesan chemical complex, about 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the South Korean chemical company said in a release.
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