Yonhap News Summary

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

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Foreigners' duty-free shopping picking up again

SEOUL -- Foreigners' local duty-free shopping has rebounded this year after a dismal drop last year from a contagious respiratory disease, data showed Friday, renewing interest in new licenses for the retail business.

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Samsung-LG rivalry extended after neck-and-neck performance in Q2

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, South Korea's two top tech firms competing in the global market, will have to wait until next quarter to see who the winner is in the home appliances sector after their latest operating profit rates showed a tie, industry watchers said Friday.

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S. Korea's industrial output edges up 0.8 pct in June

SEJONG -- South Korea's industrial output rose for the second straight month in June on the back of increased production in chips and chemical products, a government report showed Friday.

Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries edged up 0.8 percent last month from a year ago, according to the report by Statistics Korea.

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Pyongyang publicly executed 6 officials responsible for April defection: sources

SEOUL -- North Korea publicly executed six officials in charge of supervision of its workers overseas in May following the defection of 13 workers at a North Korean-run restaurant in China a month earlier, a local Pyongyang watcher said Friday.

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Senior prosecutor, Nexon founder indicted over stock purchase scandal

SEOUL -- State investigators on Friday indicted a high ranking prosecutor and the founder of South Korea's leading online game maker Nexon Co. for their suspicious stock transactions and bribery allegations.

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Brokerages lift forecasts for Samsung Electronics' Q3 earnings

SEOUL -- Some brokerages in South Korea on Friday lifted their forecasts for Samsung Electronics Co.'s third-quarter earnings, a day after Samsung posted its biggest quarterly operating profit in more than two years.

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S. Korea, Japan to meet for follow-up measures on comfort women foundation

SEOUL -- South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting next month to discuss follow-up measures related to a foundation launched to help Korean women sexually abused by Japan during its colonial rule of the peninsula in the first half of the 20th century, government sources said Friday.

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Two N. Korean armed deserters arrested after shootout with Chinese security forces: source

SEOUL -- Two North Korean deserters who robbed villages in China's Jilin Province have been arrested after a shootout with Chinese security forces, a source with direct knowledge of the incident said Friday.

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S. Korea confirms venue for World Cup qualifier vs. China

SEOUL -- South Korea will host China at the country's largest football-only stadium in the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier following the visitors' excessive demand for tickets, the national football governing body said Friday.
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