Yonhap News Summary

Yonhap News Summary

Yonhap News Summary

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

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(LEAD) Yoon says the best has yet to come in relations with Japan

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks by Yoon)

SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to moving relations with Japan further forward, saying the two countries can open up a new future even better than the best point of the past if they build trust through exchanges and cooperation.

Yoon made the remark during a Cabinet meeting two days after he held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul. The summit was the second of its kind in less than two months and marked the resumption of "shuttle diplomacy" between the countries' leaders after a 12-year hiatus

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S. Korea to 'thoroughly' prepare for upcoming Fukushima water inspection: ministry

SEOUL -- South Korea will thoroughly prepare for an upcoming inspection of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, calling it a "very meaningful" step to allay safety concerns over Tokyo's water discharge plan.

According to the ministry, a team of South Korean experts plans to inspect the crippled plant from May 23-24 amid mounting worries over Tokyo's plan to release the stored contaminated water into the ocean in the near future.

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(LEAD) N. Korean FM vows stronger ties with China in meeting with new envoy

(ATTN: ADDS details from KCNA English-language dispatch, Chinese Embassy statement; REPLACES photos)

SEOUL -- North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has met with China's new ambassador to Pyongyang and vowed a "steadfast" willingness to further develop friendly ties between their nations, state media said Tuesday.

Choe met Ambassador Wang Yajun, who paid a courtesy call on her, Monday, and the meeting was held in an amicable atmosphere, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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S. Korea, U.S., Japan still in talks over missile warning data sharing: defense ministry

SEOUL -- South Korea, the United States and Japan are still in talks over ways to share missile warning data in real time, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday, amid a report that they are considering the three-way data sharing with the U.S. acting as an intermediary.

Their consultations have been under way as President Yoon Suk Yeol and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, agreed on the sharing of the data during a trilateral summit in Cambodia last November to counter growing North Korean missile threats.

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Top S. Korean general, U.S. Army chief discuss deterrence against N. Korean threats

SEOUL -- South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum met with the visiting U.S. Army chief in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation against growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats, his office said.

The meeting between Kim and Gen. James C. McConville, the U.S. Army's chief of staff, came after President Yoon Suk Yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, adopted the Washington Declaration -- entailing joint efforts to sharpen the credibility of America's extended deterrence -- at their White House summit last month.

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S. Korea to offer tax benefits on investment in EV sector

SEOUL -- South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday the government will expand support on the electric vehicle (EV) sector under a new tax code that centers on lending hands to strategic industries amid ailing exports and economic uncertainties.

The move came after the parliament passed a bill to offer a tax credit rate of 15 percent on facility investment in strategic industries, including chips, higher than the previous rate of 8 percent.

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