Tue, Dec 05, 2023 page5

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SOUTH KOREA

  Rocket test successful

  The nation yesterday successfully conducted a test flight of a solid-fuel space rocket over the sea near Jeju Island, the Ministry of National Defense said, amid a growing space race with North Korea. It was the third test of its kind following two others in December and March last year. The launch involved technology developed at the state-run Agency for Defense Development, and a space rocket and a satellite produced by Hanwha Systems, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry hailed the launch as achieving a milestone at a time when Pyongyang recently launched a military spy satellite, which the US and its allies have condemned for using missile technology contravening a UN security resolution. Seoul’s successful launch would accelerate the nation’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, the ministry said.

  SOUTH KOREA

  Yoon reshuffling Cabinet

  President Yoon Suk-yeol is replacing about one-third of his Cabinet ministers in the biggest government shakeup of his tenure, hoping to boost support for his party ahead of April parliamentary elections. Yoon has named new ministers for finance, agriculture, land, oceans, small and medium enterprises and veterans affairs, chief of staff Kim Dae-ki told reporters in a briefing yesterday. The six candidates face parliamentary hearings for confirmation, but the president has the power to appoint them even if the opposition-dominated body vote them down. Outgoing Minister of Finance Choo Kyung-ho is likely to run for a parliamentary seat in April, Yonhap News Agency reported. Yoon has tapped his economic adviser, Choi Sang-mok, to replace Choo, and he has not signaled any intention to use the change to embark on new economic policies. Last week, Yoon created a new position for policy and replaced all five of his senior secretaries, in a bid to consolidate power ahead of the vote for all members of the unicameral parliament.

  NORTH KOREA

  Kim raises birthrate alarm

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for efforts to tackle the country’s falling birthrate, describing the challenge as “everyone’s housekeeping,” the Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. Kim made the comments during an event for mothers in Pyongyang on Sunday. “Preventing a decline in birthrates and good childcare are all of our housekeeping duties we need to handle while working with mothers,” Kim said. The UN Population Fund estimates that as of this year, the nation’s fertility rate stood at 1.8, amid an extended fall in the rate during recent decades. The fertility rate remains higher than in some of its neighbors, including South Korea, which dropped to a record low of 0.78 last year, while Japan saw its figure drop to 1.26.

  UKRAINE

  Drones, missile shot down

  The air force yesterday said that it shot down 18 out of 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones and one missile that Russia fired at its territory overnight. Moscow typically fires dozens of drones at Ukraine every week in waves of overnight attacks targeting energy facilities and military sites deep behind the frontlines. “As a result of combat operations, 18 attack drones and one X-59 guided missile were destroyed,” the air force said in a social media post. Local officials reported attempted attacks on the western regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi, as well as Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south. In Kherson, a cultural center and a shop were hit, the army said, adding that there was no information on possible casualties.
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