Yonhap News Summary

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

-----------------
(LEAD) New COVID-19 cases near 180,000; imported cases hit record high

SEOUL -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 170,000 for the second consecutive day Thursday as the country is experiencing a new virus wave amid the continued spread of a highly contagious omicron subvariant.

The country added 178,574 new COVID-19 infections, including 633 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 21,861,296, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

-----------------
Seoul shares trim earlier losses late Thur. morning amid recession woes

SEOUL -- Seoul shares trimmed earlier losses late Thursday morning as investors remain watchful as to whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep up its aggressive monetary tightening amid global recession woes.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.82 points, or 0.51 percent, to trade at 2,503.65 points as of 11:20 a.m.

-----------------
S. Korean Air Force to join Australia-led multilateral exercise

SEOUL -- South Korea's Air Force said Thursday it will participate in a multinational exercise, hosted by Australia, to open late this month as part of efforts to bolster deterrence against evolving North Korean threats.

A squadron of KF-16 fighters is set to depart from an air base in Chungju, 147 kilometers south of Seoul, for Darwin in northern Australia later in the day to participate in the biennial Exercise Pitch Black that will run from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7, according to the armed service

-----------------
S. Korea's fiscal deficit widens 22 tln won in H1

SEOUL -- South Korea's fiscal deficit increased 22.2 trillion won (US$16.9 billion) in the first six months of this year from a year ago as the government revved up spending to tackle the fallout of the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 101.9 trillion won in the January-June period, larger than a shortfall of 79.7 trillion won a year earlier, according to the finance ministry.

-----------------
Yoon says he will closely listen to people's voices

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday his press conference held the previous day to mark his first 100 days in office was intended to show that he will closely listen to the people's voices.

"The purpose of yesterday's press conference was that I will closely look into and honor the people's words," he said as he arrived at the presidential office.

-----------------
Household income grows at fastest clip in Q2 on pandemic cash handouts

SEOUL -- Household income rose at the fastest pace on record in the second quarter due largely to continued job growth and state relief funds for pandemic-hit merchants, data showed Thursday.

The average household earned 4.83 million won (US$ 3,700) per month in the January-June period, up 12.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

-----------------
Busan mayor proposes allowing alternative military services for BTS

BUSAN -- Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon has proposed allowing the members of K-pop superband BTS to replace their military duties with alternative service as public relations ambassadors for the city's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, officials said Thursday.

The government formally appointed the septet last month as a PR ambassador in charge of promoting the Expo bid, for which Busan is competing with cities in Italy and Saudi Arabia.
(END)