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

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(4th LD) N. Korean leader inspects cruise missile test as S. Korea-U.S. military drills begin

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a navy unit and inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship, Pyongyang’s state media reported Monday, as South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military drills.

The North’s leader visited the Navy flotilla tasked with defending the east coast and watched the seamen on a patrol ship stage a launching drill of “strategic” cruise missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing the date of his visit.

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Air Force stages air defense drills

SEOUL — South Korea’s Air Force staged air defense drills Monday to reinforce its combat readiness, officials said, as tensions linger over North Korea’s continued missile launches.

The defensive counter air drills took place across 12 units nationwide in connection with major ongoing South Korea-U.S. combined exercise drills, officials said.

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(LEAD) S. Korea’s COVID-19 cases drop for 1st time in 2 months

SEOUL — South Korea’s new coronavirus cases dropped last week to snap seven consecutive weeks of growth, government data showed Monday, encouraging health authorities to resume their plans to lift all virus curbs.

The country reported a daily average of 40,400 new infections for the week of Aug. 15-21, down 17.7 percent from 49,000 a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

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Police investigating 18 alleged offenses related to World Scout Jamboree

SEOUL — Police are investigating 18 cases of alleged offenses, including five sexual crimes, in connection with the 2023 World Scout Jamboree, officials said Monday.

Four of the five sexual crimes involve indecent act by compulsion and the other was a rape case. But police said the rape case will be closed as it was found that a witness mistook a female Scout sleeping without clothes on for a rape victim.

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Ex-special counsel indicted on bribery charges connected to development scandal

SEOUL — Prosecutors indicted former special counsel Park Young-soo on Monday on bribery charges connected to a high-profile property development scandal.

Park is charged with taking a combined 1.9 billion won (US$1.4 million) from private developers in return for helping them land the so-called Daejang-dong project, including 800 million won he allegedly took while serving as the chair of the Woori Bank board of directors from 2014-15.

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Price ceiling raised for agricultural, livestock gifts to public officials

SEOUL — The Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission on Monday approved a revision of the anti-corruption law to ease restrictions on the price of gifts that can be provided to public officials and some other professions.

The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, commonly known as the Kim Young-ran law, named after a former Supreme Court justice, came into effect in 2016. It prohibits public officials and individuals in specific roles, such as journalists and educators, from accepting meals and gifts above a certain price threshold.

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Yoon calls for fundamental measures against random crimes

SEOUL — President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday to come up with fundamental measures against random crimes, his spokesperson said, amid a series of brutal incidents that have shocked the nation.

The instruction came two days after a woman died after being raped and beaten by a random man on a hiking trail in broad daylight. The incident followed back-to-back stabbing sprees that left a total of two people dead and 16 others wounded.

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Regional consumer inflation up 3.2 pct in Q2

SEOUL — South Korea’s nationwide consumer prices rose 3.2 percent on-year in the second quarter of 2023, led by higher utility and dining out costs, data showed Monday.

By region, consumer prices in Seoul moved up 3.8 percent over the period, followed by the southeastern port city of Busan with 3.3 percent, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

Source: Yonhap News Agency