Yonhap News Summary

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

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(2nd LD) S. Korea confirms 2 additional MERS cases

SEOUL -- South Korea confirmed two additional cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on Friday, raising the number of patients diagnosed with the virus to nine.

The two were found to have been infected with the potentially fatal disease from a 68-year-old patient, the country's first confirmed MERS case, according to the health ministry.

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(2nd LD) Industrial output falls 1.2 pct on-month in April

SEJONG -- South Korea's industrial output dropped at a faster clip in April than a month earlier, a government report showed Friday, escalating concerns over the performance of Asia's fourth-largest economy.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries was down 1.2 percent last month from March, marking the second consecutive monthly decline. It was also an acceleration from a 0.3 percent on-month contraction in March.

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China lukewarm on calls for more pressure on N. Korea: diplomat

BEIJING -- China's top nuclear envoy gave a lukewarm response to growing calls to ramp up pressure on North Korea to get it to abandon its nuclear weapons program, a South Korean diplomat said.

Wu Dawei stopped short of showing interest after his South Korean counterpart, Hwang Joon-kook, urged China to play an important role in stepping up pressure on its communist ally, the diplomat involved in the talks said Thursday.

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader's sister re-appears after 50 days amid childbirth rumor

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's younger sister, who was believed to be pregnant, made her first public appearance in about 50 days, the North's media reported Friday, cementing speculation that she might have given birth in May.

Kim Yo-jong, 28, accompanied the young leader on his field guidance to a tree nursery, which is being constructed by the Korean People's Army (KPA), according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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(LEAD) Rival parties pass pension reform bill

SEOUL -- Rival parties approved Friday a bill to reform the deficit-ridden pension system for civil servants as the country scrambles to contain the costs of its fast-aging population.

The bill passed through the National Assembly 233-0 with 13 abstentions in the wee hours after the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) reached a last-minute agreement on the passage.

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S. Korean manufacturers' sentiment falls for June

SEOUL -- South Korean manufacturers are more pessimistic about business conditions in June than a month earlier, a poll showed Friday, reflecting their disappointment over a slower-than-expected economic recovery.

The business sentiment index, which measures the outlook of manufacturers on their business conditions for the coming month, reached 77 for June, down from 82 for May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the June reading slipped to 75 from 76.

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N. Korea asks U.N. Security Council to discuss Korea-U.S. military exercises

NEW YORK -- North Korea has asked the U.N. Security Council to take up the issue of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, officials said Thursday.

The North sent a letter earlier this week to the president of the Security Council, asking for an emergency meeting on the military exercises that the communist nation has long condemned as a rehearsal for invading the country, according to South Korean diplomats.
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