NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The government will deliver COVID-19 relief worth some 6.7 trillion won to over 4.8 million self-employed people and small business owners who are reeling from a financial blow dealt by the pandemic. The handouts will be first paid to 2.7 million people whose income reduction is confirmed by the National Tax Service. An emergency employment stabilization fund totaling about 450 billion won will be distributed to freelance workers starting Tuesday. Sixty-thousand caregivers will each receive a grant of 500,000 won in mid-May.

The Foreign Ministry made public nearly 2,100 volumes of declassified diplomatic documents on Monday. According to the 330,000-page documents, South Korea and the Soviet Union secretly prepared their first 1990 summit with a code name "Taebaeksan" and dramatically reached an agreement at the eleventh hour. The declassified documents will be available at major research institutes and libraries as well as on the website of the Diplomatic Archives.

The Financial Supervisory Service says that as of late last year, the nation's top ten business groups had a total of 699 affiliates. This is up 104 companies or 17.5 percent from the end of 2015. SK Group added the largest number of subsidiaries by 37, followed by Hanwha with 27 and CJ with 21. As of late last year, SK held 127 affiliates, also the largest number among the top ten groups. Next came Lotte with 85.