Yonhap News Summary

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

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Koreas to exchange lists of chief delegates for high-level talks

SEOUL -- South and North Korea are likely to exchange lists of their chief delegates next week for the upcoming high-level talks aimed at discussing ways to improve their ties, a government official said Tuesday.

The two Koreas have agreed to hold a vice-ministerial meeting at a joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong next Friday as they are seeking to mend long-strained ties.

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S. Korea warns Japan against revising history

SEOUL -- South Korea warned Japan Tuesday that any attempt to revise history through a newly established panel will face greater backlash from the international community.

Earlier this week, Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party reportedly launched a panel aimed at reviewing the country's history in the period after the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895).

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Defect delays S. Korea's acquisition of Wildcat chopper

SEOUL -- A defect found in the recent testing of the British helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland's Wildcat chopper halted the firm's process of delivering the aircraft to South Korea, the defense procurement agency said Tuesday.

"In the process of performing the factory acceptance test (FAT) for Wildcat last week, a defect was found in the automatic flight system," Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) spokesman Kim Si-cheol said in a briefing.

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Auto sales keep expanding in Nov. on tax cut, promotion drive

SEOUL -- Car sales in South Korea grew 5 percent in November as automakers ramped up their marketing and promotion drive to lure more customers that resulted in expanded sales at home and abroad, industry data showed Tuesday.

The combined sales of five automakers in the country came to 822,481 units last month, compared with the 783,189 units tallied a year earlier, according to data provided by each company.

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New Pantech sets sail after 15-month struggle

SEOUL -- After 15 months of struggle for normalization, South Korea's No. 3 smartphone maker Pantech Co. officially set sail on Tuesday, with a vision to focus on budget smartphones, especially in the Asian market.

The move came more than a month after a Seoul court gave approval to a local consortium to take over Pantech. The company was placed under court receivership in August last year as it buckled under severe competition from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. in South Korea.

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Doctors, med students indicted over security law breach

BUSAN -- Nine oriental medicine doctors and three medical students have been indicted on charges of promoting North Korean ideologies in breach of an anti-North Korea law, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Busan District Prosecutors' Office said they are suspected of publishing a number of books between 2010 and 2013 with pro-North content such as the North's guiding philosophy "juche ideology."

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(LEAD) Seoul shares jump 1.6 pct on blue-chip gains

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks jumped 1.6 percent Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains after the previous day's steep fall, picking up auto, steel and other large-cap shares. The local currency rose slightly against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 31.96 points to 2,023.93. This followed a 1.82 percent plunge on Monday. Trade volume was moderate at 560.61 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won (US$4.1 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 528 to 286.
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