Yonhap News Summary

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

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S. Korea prepares for more pullouts from N. Korea
SEOUL -- South Korea is scrambling to pull out more of its citizens from joint
industrial and tourism zones in North Korea ahead of a Pyongyang-imposed Dec. 1
deadline, officials said Tuesday.
"The Unification Ministry will operate an emergency situation room led by the
director general of the Unification Policy Bureau from Tuesday till early
December," Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the ministry, told reporters.
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S. Korea, U.S. jointly developing new air warning system
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States are jointly developing a new airborne
early warning system that can help locate heavy mortar and artillery and assist
in counter-attack missions, informed sources said Tuesday.
The new aircraft, called the Airborne Warning Surveillance System (AWSS), will be
an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that carries a sensor package "completely
different from any other that exists," one of the sources said.
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(LEAD) Seoul shares close up 1.36 pct on U.S. gains
SEOUL -- South Korean stocks ended up 1.36 percent Tuesday in an erratic session
as investors picked up recently beaten-down shares following overnight rallies in
U.S. markets, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.18 points to
983.32. Volume was heavy at 478.52 million shares worth 5.31 trillion won
(US$3.53 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 436 to 382.
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(LEAD) BOK policymakers vote unanimously for October rate cut, minutes show
SEOUL -- Policymakers at South Korea's central bank voted unanimously to cut its
key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to bolster the slowing economy,
its October minutes showed Tuesday.
In a rate-setting meeting on Oct. 9, the Bank of Korea (BOK) slashed the
benchmark 7-day repo rate to 5 percent, the first rate cut since November 2004.
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Farmers protest FTA with U.S. in downtown rally
SEOUL -- Tens of thousands of farmers rallied in front of the National Assembly
on Tuesday, protesting the ruling party's move to ratify a free trade deal with
the United States amid soaring agricultural costs.
Sporting rice sacks on their upper body and red head bands spewing anti-FTA
slogans, the farmers sat on the pavement of the Yeouido Park shouting, "Stop the
FTA ratification!"
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S. Korean discounters set to start selling U.S. beef
SEOUL -- South Korea's top three discount stores will start selling U.S. beef
this week, 13 months after its sales were suspended due to the discovery of
banned backbones in import shipments, an industry association said Tuesday.
The discount stores -- E-mart, Homeplus and Lottemart -- have decided to begin
selling U.S. beef from Thursday to meet growing demand for the cheaper meat amid
a deepening economic downturn, the Korea Chainstores Association said.
(END)
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