NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Marking this year's World Alzheimer's Day on Monday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun says that with the nation becoming an ageing society, helping dementia patients is a social issue, not a burden that has to be shouldered by their families individually. The prime minister also highlighted the government's efforts to take care of dementia patients, such as introducing a national management system in 2017 and opening 256 care centers across the nation.
The Korea Customs Service says the nation's exports increased 3.6 percent year on year to 29.6 dollars during the first 20 days of this month. Shipments of automobiles grew nearly 39 percent and semiconductors over 25 percent, while petroleum products and ships each dropped 45.6 percent and 26.5 percent. Exports to China, the U.S., Vietnam and the EU rose, while those to Japan and the Middle East fell.
The Cultural Heritage Administration has selected 23 programs to promote the nation's world heritage sites next year. Of them, 13 were re-selected from this year's projects and ten others are new additions. These programs include holding picnics at Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and operating historical tours in Busan.