Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) New virus cases at nearly 3-week high; more regions upping virus curbs amid resurgence

SEOUL -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose by triple digits for a fourth day Wednesday to a nearly three-week high on sporadic cluster infections across the nation, with more cities adopting enhanced social distancing schemes.

The country added 146 more COVID-19 cases, including 113 local infections, raising the total caseload to 27,799, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

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Seoul stocks extend gains late Wed. morning on vaccine hopes, export jump

SEOUL -- South Korean shares built up further gains late Wednesday morning, tracking Dow's continued gain related to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine test results and improved exports.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.16 points, or 1.07 percent, to 2,478.99 as of 11:20 a.m., set to extend its winning streak to a seventh day.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea's Oct. job loss largest in 6 months amid pandemic

SEOUL -- South Korea reported the sharpest on-year fall in jobs in six months in October, extending its job losses to an eighth month amid the protracted pandemic, data showed Wednesday.

The number of employed people reached 27.09 million last month, 421,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

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(LEAD) Exports rise 20.1 pct in first 10 days of Nov.

SEOUL -- South Korea's exports rose 20.1 percent on-year in the first 10 days of November, customs data showed Wednesday, amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

The country's outbound shipments stood at US$14.1 billion in the Nov. 1-10 period, compared with $11.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

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FM meets with U.S. national security adviser

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien on Tuesday and discussed "many important national security issues facing the two countries," the U.S. official said.

"It was great to speak with my esteemed colleague Kang Kyung-wha, Foreign Minister of our ally, the republic of Korea," O'Brien tweeted. "We discussed many important national security issues facing both nations and the Indo-Pacific."

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BTS shares details of upcoming album 'BE'

SEOUL -- K-pop megastars BTS on Wednesday unveiled the details of their much-anticipated album "BE," scheduled to be released later this month.

An image posted on the band's agency Big Hit Entertainment's Twitter account showed a handwritten list of the eight songs that will be featured on the album set for release on Nov. 20.

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S. Korea, U.S. seek to create working-level dialogue on regional policy coordination

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States are seeking to establish a new working-level dialogue platform on deepening cooperation between Seoul's New Southern Policy and Washington's Indo-Pacific Strategy, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Seoul's policy seeks to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India, while Washington's Indo-Pacific Strategy is aimed at enhancing America's engagement with partner countries and protecting what it calls the rules-based order in the region.
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