NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The presidential office said that President Moon and the first lady sent Chuseok gifts to some 15-thousand people including COVID-19 frontline workers ahead of the Korean thanksgiving holiday. The office said this year’s gift includes local specialty products such as rice and liquor and the wrapping was also kept to a minimum only using environment friendly materials. Cards are also sent with the gifts including President Moon’s pledge to exert best efforts until normal daily life returns to every single person.
Chairing a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has urged restraint in scheduled walkouts by unionized rail workers. He said disruption to subway operation ahead of Chuseok can cause chaos and massive inconvenience to citizens. Kim said that all parts of society each have their issues and difficulties but asked rail workers not to forget that the metro is a key transport means to the public. He called on the union to refrain from collective action in light of the pandemic and engage in dialogue while asking the management side to hold negotiations with a more open attitude.
South Korea is known to have successfully test-fired a homegrown submarine-launched ballistic missile to become the world's eighth country to possess an SLBM. According to military sources, the Agency for Defense Development carried out underwater ejection tests of the missile from the Navy’s 3,0000 ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine last Wednesday. After one more round of additional testing, the missile will be mass produced for deployment. The seven other countries that own an SLBM are the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, China and North Korea.