The following is the second summary of the most important news from the Yonhap news agency on Wednesday.
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■ Birth rate in South Korea recovers in the second quarter for the first time in 8 years
SEOUL – The number of babies born in South Korea rose in the second quarter of 2024 for the first time in more than eight years, data showed Wednesday, as the country struggles with its extremely low birth rate.
A total of 56,838 babies were born between April and June, 1.2 percent more than the previous year, according to data from the Korean Statistics Office.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240828004100320?section=national/national
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■ (LEAD) National Assembly passes nursing law and livelihood laws
SEOUL: Rival political parties held a plenary session of Parliament on Wednesday and passed several key livelihood bills that had been stalled for months due to partisan disputes, including a nursing bill that calls for a larger role for nurses.
It is the first time since the opening of the 22nd National Assembly in May that the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP), have passed such laws by consensus.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240828003351315?section=national/politics
Current and former nurses weep with joy as a nursing law providing more responsibility and better legal protection for nurses and nursing assistants is passed in a plenary session of the National Assembly on August 28, 2024. (Yonhap)
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■ North Korea imports the horse breed loved by ruler Kim from Russia
SEOUL: North Korea has imported 24 Orlov trotters from Russia, the Moscow agricultural watchdog said, as its leader Kim Jong-un is known for his fondness for the breed.
The Rosselkhoznadzor office in Primorsky Krai said on Tuesday that it had monitored the export of 24 Orlov trotter sport horses – 19 stallions and five mares – to North Korea at a railway checkpoint in the border town of Khasan on Sunday.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240828004700315?section=nk/nk
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■ (LEAD) Intelligence officer behind military secrets leak was recruited by Chinese in 2017: military prosecutors
SEOUL – A military intelligence officer indicted this week for allegedly selling military secrets was recruited by a suspected Chinese agent in 2017, military prosecutors said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the military prosecutor filed charges against the Defense Intelligence Command official, accusing him of aiding the enemy, accepting bribes and violating the Military Secret Protection Act by passing on secrets such as a list of undercover agents in exchange for money.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240828003951315?section=national/defense
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■ BOK and regulator call on stakeholders to actively use the new reference interest rate
SEOUL – South Korea’s central bank and financial regulator on Wednesday urged market participants to actively use a newly introduced reference interest rate for their transactions.
In 2021, the country’s financial regulator introduced its new risk-free benchmark interest rate, the Korea Overnight Financing Repo Rate (KOFR), which, in line with a global trend, is designed to replace the decades-old short-term benchmark interest rate, the 91-day Certificate of Deposit (CD) rate.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240828003000320?section=economy-finance/economy
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