Yonhap News Summary

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

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(3rd LD) New Galaxies make comeback with battery, Samsung Pay

SEOUL -- South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. on Sunday (Spain time) showed off its new Galaxy smartphones that have the industry's first wireless-charging batteries and a mobile payment system with wider access, key new features that the tech firm hopes will set the handsets apart from its neck-and-neck rivals when they go on the market next month.

The Galaxy S6 comes in a metal and glass frame instead of plastic. It can be charged without cords through an electronic pad, a technological breakthrough that is anticipated to open a new chapter in the global smartphone industry.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea fires 2 short-range missiles into East Sea

SEOUL -- North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea on Monday in an apparent saber-rattling against annual military drills between South Korea and the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Seoul and Washington kicked off their joint annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises earlier in the day as part of efforts to improve the combined forces' operation and combat capabilities to deter threats from the communist country.

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(2nd LD) Industrial output drops 3.7 pct on-month in Jan.

SEJONG -- South Korea's industrial output fell sharply in January from a month earlier, mainly due a drop in demand for automobiles and machinery equipment and a strong showing in December, a government report showed Monday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 3.7 percent from a month earlier, the sharpest loss in over six years. Compared with a year earlier, numbers advanced 1.8 percent.

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Park to hold talks with Kuwait emir on boosting economic ties

KUWAIT CITY -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye was to hold talks with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Monday on the first leg of a four-nation Mideast tour expected to focus on wide-ranging economic cooperation beyond energy and construction.

The two leaders are expected to discuss how to deepen cooperation in the fields of health care and communication technology, as well as energy and construction, according to Park's office.
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