Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) New COVID-19 cases above 7,000 for 3rd day amid persistent omicron fears

SEOUL -- South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 7,000 for the third straight day Monday amid deepening concerns over the fast spreading omicron variant that has become the dominant strain in the country.

The country added 7,513 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,159 local infections, raising the total caseload to 741,413, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

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S. Korea says it's closely monitoring N. Korea's nuclear, missile activities

SEOUL -- South Korea's unification ministry said Monday it is keeping tabs on North Korea's nuclear and missile activities after Pyongyang hinted last week at lifting its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

On Wednesday, North Korea held a politburo meeting of its ruling Workers' Party, presided over by leader Kim Jong-un, and decided to consider restarting "all temporally-suspended" activities, citing Washington's "hostile policy" against its regime.

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Yoon leads Lee 42 pct to 36.8 pct: poll

SEOUL -- Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent public support against Lee's 36.8 percent, a survey showed Monday.

Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 1.4 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party edged up 0.1 point, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,046 adults from Jan. 16 to 21.

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(LEAD) Public firms to hire over 26,000 new regular workers this year: gov't

SEOUL -- South Korea's public institutions plan to hire more than 26,000 new regular workers this year in an effort to help buttress job creation, the finance minster said Monday.

The move is aimed at meeting growing demand in the public service sector, including public health, safety and New Deal policy initiatives, according to Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki.

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Biz hour curbs cause largest drop in in-person spending among all measures: BOK report

SEOUL -- Curbs on business operation hours have resulted in the biggest shrinkage in the "consumption of in-person services" among various antivirus measures introduced to combat the coronavirus pandemic, an internal central bank report showed Monday.

The report suggests that easing a curfew on business operations while imposing a stricter ceiling on the number of people at private gatherings could be more conducive to consumption than the current measures at a time when the government has been seeking to find an optimal policy mix of minimizing damage to pandemic-hit small merchants, while remaining vigilant against COVID-19.

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Jeju Air to adopt cargo plane for 1st time among budget airlines

SEOUL -- Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest low-cost carrier, said Monday it will adopt a cargo plane for the first time among local LCCs to ride out the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeju Air plans to begin operating a cargo plane in the first half of this year to offset a sharply declined passenger travel demand amid the pandemic, the company said in a statement.

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Doosan Heavy wins 160 bln-won plant order in Germany

SEOUL -- Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., a South Korean plant builder, said Monday its German subsidiary has received a 160 billion-won (US$134 million) order for a waste processing plant in Germany.

Doosan Lentjes obtained the order from MHKW Wiesbaden GmbH to build a waste-to-energy plant in Wiesbaden, Germany, by 2024, the company said in a statement.
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