The following is the first summary of the main stories released by Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday.

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(LEAD) New COVID-19 cases hit record high of nearly 50,000 amid raging omicron

SEOUL – South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections rose sharply to a new high of nearly 50,000 on Wednesday amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant across the country.

The country reported 49,567 new COVID-19 infections, including 49,402 local cases, bringing the total to 1,131,248, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

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(Olympics) Figure skater ready for history; the skeleton slider starts the gold medal defense

BEIJING — Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan will attempt to write a piece of South Korean Olympic history on Thursday when he takes to the ice for the men’s singles free skating at Beijing 2022.

Cha finished Tuesday’s short program in fourth place with 99.51 points, his new personal best. Shoma Uno of Japan, the defending silver medalist, is third with 105.90 points.

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South Korea’s economy faces heightened external economic risks (KDI)

SEOUL – South Korea’s economy is on the road to recovery, but external economic uncertainty remains high due to soaring energy costs and changes in monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. a state-run think tank.

The manufacturing industry continued solid growth and the latest spike in COVID-19 cases appears to have had limited impacts on the services sector, compared to previous waves of the pandemic, said the Korea Development Institute (KDI ) in a monthly economic evaluation report.

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Singapore accepts Korean Air-Asiana combination

SEOUL — Korean Air Lines Co. said on Wednesday it had received “unconditional” regulatory approval from Singapore to integrate with Asiana Airlines Inc. in a move that could speed up its process of acquiring the smaller domestic rival.

In January last year, Korean Air submitted documents to antitrust regulators in 14 countries for review of its business combination with Asiana.

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South Korea wins WTO ruling on Trump-era washing machine safeguard tariffs

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has won a dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over U.S. safeguard measures on large residential washing machines and spare parts, the government said on Wednesday. Seoul Ministry of Commerce.

In May 2018, the Seoul government filed a lawsuit, three months after the Donald Trump administration began imposing a 20% tariff on the annual quota of 1.2 million imported units and a tariff 50% off washing machines beyond the number.

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Chinese Embassy refutes public criticism of ‘hanbok’ at Beijing Olympics ceremony

SEOUL – The Chinese Embassy here has released a rare public statement in response to South Korean fury over the “appropriation” of “hanbok”, the traditional Korean attire, and deepening anti- Chinese.

A woman, dressed in a hanbok, appeared at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics last week, representing an ethnic minority in China called “joseonjok”. She was among those representing 56 ethnic groups in China carrying the Chinese national flag into the stadium.

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Satellite imagery shows ‘somewhat unusual’ activity at NK submarine shipyard: US think tank

WASHINGTON — Recent satellite photos showed “somewhat unusual” activity at a North Korean submarine shipyard, including the repositioning of a missile test barge, though its purpose remains unclear, said an American think tank on Tuesday.

Citing recent satellite images, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has published an analysis of its recent observation of the shipyard in the eastern coastal town of Sinpo, where an experimental ballistic missile submarine is docked. .

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Election watchdog examining in-person voting for COVID-19 patients after 6 p.m.

SEOUL – South Korea’s election watchdog will propose a plan to allow in-person voting for virus patients after 6 p.m. in the next presidential election, as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis could affect hundreds of thousands of voters who vote.

Under current election rules, it is virtually impossible for those diagnosed with COVID-19 after the early voting period that falls on March 4-5 and people self-isolating just before the March 9 presidential election to vote.
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