NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The government has decided to use state-run education centers in Chungcheong-do provinces to accommodate Korean nationals airlifted from Wuhan. Upon arrival in Korea, the evacuees will undergo body screening and tests at the airport. Only those with no symptoms of the new coronavirus will be placed under quarantine at the facilities in Jincheon County and Asan City for 14 days.
The Ministry of Transport says three domestic and international carmakers will recall roughly 35,000 vehicles for mechanic defects. The to-be-recalled vehicles include nearly 13,000 Hyundai Sonata sedans, 19,200 Mercedes-Benz cars and 3,700 Ford Mondeos. The government will toughen radioactivity checks on vehicles produced by Toyota, as the Japanese automaker's exports to Russia were found to have contained radioactive matters at a higher level than the permissible limit. The Korea Customs Service has designated Toyota cars as a potential radioactive freight item. The designation will require Toyota products to undergo more intensive radioactivity inspections.
Amid a slump in the chip market, Samsung Electronics posted 230.4 trillion won in sales in 2019, down five percent from a year earlier. The tech giant's annual operating profit fell 53 percent to 27.76 trillion won during the same period. However, the chipmaker's operating profit increased in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to the previous quarter, suggesting that it began to bottom out.