Yonhap News Summary

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

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(3rd LD) Japanese company to appeal S. Korean court decision on asset seizure: reports

SEOUL/TOKYO -- A Japanese company plans to appeal a South Korean court decision on the seizure of its assets here to compensate victims of wartime forced labor, reports said Tuesday, a move that would defer the judicial process feared to worsen tensions between the two countries.

Nippon Steel Corp. will file an appeal immediately, as a branch of the Daegu District Court has become able to kick off the procedure to liquidate some of its stake in PNR, a joint venture established with Korea's top steelmaker, POSCO, according to Japan's Kyodo News and NHK.

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(2nd D) New virus cases again over 30, imported cases still on high plateau

SEOUL -- South Korea reported 34 more cases of the new coronavirus Tuesday, with the number of imported cases almost twice that of local infections, health authorities said.

The new cases -- 21 imported cases and 13 local infections -- raised South Korea's total cases of COVID-19 to 14,423, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

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(2nd LD) Damage from heavy rain continues to grow in S. Korea, leaving 13 dead, 13 missing

SEOUL -- Damage from heavy rain that pounded the country's central region earlier this week continued to grow, leaving 13 dead and 13 missing as of Tuesday.

More than 1,000 were forced to leave their homes, while some 5,751 hectares of farm land were swamped or buried as of 6 a.m., according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

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(News Focus) Seoul's last-ditch home supply plan still in doubt over its viability

SEOUL -- South Korea on Tuesday unveiled an unprecedented plan to supply more than 130,000 homes in Seoul and adjacent areas over the next eight years in its latest struggle to contain a further rise in housing prices, which have even dragged down the Moon Jae-in administration's approval ratings.

But the plan's viability is being questioned by experts over its effectiveness as ample liquidity caused by rock-bottom borrowing costs can't find a place to park and the project will take a long time to be completed.

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(3rd LD) S. Korea to add 132,000 housing units in greater Seoul area to stabilize home prices

SEOUL -- South Korea plans to supply 132,000 housing units in Seoul and its neighboring area, in the latest effort to stabilize home prices and ease fears of shortages, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday.

The government will ease some construction rules, allowing redevelopment projects of aging apartment buildings to increase their floor area ratio to up to 500 percent to build more homes, Hong said.

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(LEAD) 4 pct of remdesivir-administered patients in S. Korea show abnormal response

SEOUL -- Four out of 106 novel coronavirus patients in South Korea have shown abnormal responses after being administered with remdesivir, an experimental drug conventionally used for Ebola, health authorities here said Tuesday.

The medication developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences Inc. has been supplied to 108 COVID-19 patients in critical condition since early July, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

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Private detective businesses permitted beginning this week

SEOUL -- Private detective businesses will be officially permitted in South Korea, beginning later this week, following the parliamentary passage of a relevant legal revision early this year, the nation's police agency said Tuesday.

A revision of the Credit Information Use and Protection Act is to take effect on Wednesday, removing the ban on the use of the term "private investigator," called "tamjeong" in Korean, in business or personal titles, according to the National Police Agency (NPA).

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S. Korea identifies 22 virus cases among arrivals from high-risk nations

SEOUL -- South Korea said Tuesday it has identified more than 20 new coronavirus cases among arrivals from six designated high-risk nations since requiring all foreigners from the countries to hand in virus-free certificates beginning last month.

A total of 22 infections were identified among the arrivals from the high-risk nations from July 13 through Monday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Eighteen of them were found at the screening checkpoint.
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