Yonhap News Summary

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

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(3rd LD) N.K. leader inspects test of new high-tech weapon amid stalemated nuke talks

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a test of a newly developed high-tech weapon, the North's state media reported Friday amid stalemated denuclearization talks with the United States.

The Korean Central Broadcasting Station said that Kim visited a testing site at a national defense institute and inspected the test of the unspecified new tactical weapon.

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(LEAD) Moon heads to Papua New Guinea for APEC forum, meeting with Xi

SINGAPORE -- President Moon Jae-in left Singapore for Papua New Guinea on Friday for this year's summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and bilateral meetings on its sidelines, including one with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Korea's denuclearization process is expected to dominate the meeting with Xi set for Saturday. It will be their fourth meeting since Moon took office last year. They last met in December when Moon made a state visit to China.

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(LEAD) N. Korea decides to deport U.S. citizen detained for illegal entry

SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has decided to deport a U.S. citizen detained for illegally entering the country, its state media reported on Friday.

The U.S. citizen, identified as Bruce Byron Lowrance, has been detained in North Korea since he was caught illegally entering North Korea via the border with China last month, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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(2nd LD) N. Korea proposes connecting int'l air routes over border with S. Korea

SEOUL -- North Korea on Friday proposed connecting international air routes along the western and eastern coasts of the Korean Peninsula during the first-ever inter-Korean meeting on aviation cooperation, Seoul's unification ministry said.

South Korea agreed to hold further discussion on the issue through meetings of aviation authorities, according to the ministry.

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N. Korea may have tested new long-range artillery: source

SEOUL -- North Korea's newly developed tactical weapon is thought to be a long-range artillery piece, a government source in Seoul said Friday, hours after Pyongyang's media reported on leader Kim Jong-un's supervision of its recent testing.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the communist leader oversaw the test of the "ultramodern" weapon and called it a "decisive turn in bolstering the fighting capacity" of his military.

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(LEAD) Seoul stocks end higher on eased trade woes

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks ended higher for the second consecutive session on Friday as investor sentiment recovered on hopes of eased U.S.-China trade friction. The South Korean currency rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.34 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,092.40. Trading volume was moderate at 294 million shares worth 4.69 trillion won (US$4.15 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 564 to 261.

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(2nd LD) S. Korea, UAE launch high-level dialogue channel on nuclear

SEOUL -- South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched a high-level dialogue channel on nuclear cooperation on Friday, in another sign of their expanding partnership.

The two countries held the inaugural session of the High-Level Consultation in Seoul, led by Seoul's Vice Foreign Minister, Lee Tae-ho, and Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, the UAE minister of energy and industry.

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(LEAD) S. Korea's top nuclear envoy to visit U.S. next week

SEOUL -- Senior South Korean and U.S. diplomats will have talks next week on joint efforts to denuclearize North Korea, including the planned launch of a bilateral "working group," Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will make a three-day trip to Washington D.C. from Monday and meet with his counterpart Stephen Biegun.

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