LANDSLIDE LEAVES 1 DEAD

LANDSLIDE LEAVES 1 DEAD

[Anchor Lead]
Early yesterday, heavy rains hit central and Chungcheong and Gyeongsangbuk-do provinces. Nationwide, flooding damages surged.In Okcheon, Chungcheongbuk-do province, where up to 190mm of torrential rain fell, a mountain slope behind a house collapsed, resulting in one fatality.

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From a 10-meter high mountainside, 10 tons of soil and a reinforced wall collapsed. Amid heavy rain, an excavator continuously removed the soil. On Monday morning, a man in his 50s went out to divert water behind his house and went missing. He was found dead some 10 hours after firefighters launched a search and rescue operation. On the scene, fragments of the reinforcing wall as well as collapsed earth were mixed up. The rain made it harder for firefighters to search for him.

[Soundbite]
Heo Chang-gu (Okcheon Fire Station): 3 family members were in the house during the incident. The man went out to create a drainage channel and went missing.

Chungcheongbuk-do Province saw heavy rains of up to 190 millimeters with cases of damage reported. In Okcheon, Boeun and Yeongdong, some 50 residents quickly evacuated at a warning of a possible landslide. About 50 cases of damage, including flooded roads and vehicles, were reported. A collision on a wet road caused thousands of beer bottles to spill, leading to a traffic jam on the highway. The Korea Forest Service issued landslide warnings for four locations, including Boeun in Chungcheongbuk-do Province and Sangju in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. It also issued advisories for 23 other locations, urging people to avoid outdoor activities near forest areas.

FLOOD ALERTS AT 9 RIVER AREAS

[Anchor Lead]
Flood alerts have been issued at 9 locations across Nakdonggang and Geumgang River basin areas following heavy downpours overnight. As heavy rain also pound Yeoju in Gyeonggido Province as well as various parts of Chungcheong and southern regions, landslide alerts have also been issued.

DP TO TABLE IMPEACHMENT PETITION

[Anchor Lead]
Turning to domestic politics. The Democratic Party has moved to initiate a hearing on the impeachment petition against the President. This decision was made during today's full session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The ruling party argues that the opposition is exploiting the public petition for political conflict.

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This is a petition calling for an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol posted on the National Assembly's petition board on June 20. Drawing over 1.3 million signatures, it has well surpassed the 50-thousand threshold needed for a referral to a standing parliament committee. The main opposition Democratic Party has decided to table this agenda item during Tuesday's full session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. It is also pushing to hold a hearing on July 19 and the 26 featuring key witnesses. To this aim, the DP, in the Tuesday session, will adopt a plan on holding the hearing and discuss details on requesting related materials and witnesses.

[Soundbite]
Jung Chung-rae (Legislation, Judiciary Committee Chair (DP) (July 3)): It's the public voice to lay judgment on the Yoon administration and PPP. The phrase ‘impeaching Pres. Yoon' has nearly become a national sport.

The ruling party sternly protests the latest move, arguing the DP is maliciously using a public petition in the absence of any grounds for impeachment. It also questioned whether the main opposition sought an impeachment hearing for former President Moon Jae-in when he garnered 1.4 million signatures in the past.

[Soundbite]
Kwak Kyu-taek (Senior spokesperson, PPP (July 3)): It is deplorable the DP is using such a petition for politically-driven strife.

Based on the hearing outcome, a subpanel of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee will decide whether to refer the impeachment matter further on to the Assembly plenary session. In that case, another headlong clash between rival parties will likely be inevitable.

FIRST LADY-PASTOR CHAT DISCLOSED

[Anchor Lead]
In response to allegations of violating the anti-graft law by receiving a luxury bag, First Lady Kim Keon-hee's team has submitted to prosecutors the full transcript of her messenger conversations with Pastor Choi Jae-young. This submission contains several details not shared by Pastor Choi, who explained his omissions by stating the content was personal.

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This message was sent to the first lady by pastor Choi Jae-young in Feb. 2022. It mentions a 7-hour audio file recorded by a Voice of Seoul reporter. The pastor asks Kim Keon-hee if she's been keeping in touch with reporter Lee Myung-soo since the disclosure of the audio file. When Kim says no, the pastor criticizes the reporter for disclosing the recording. Choi tries to draw a line between himself and the reporter by saying that Voice of Seoul has the same political views as the Democratic Party. The pastor also highlights that Kim and he are from the same hometown. The recently disclosed chat was submitted by Kim to prosecutors on June 26. It was not among the files previously submitted by Choi. In the chat, the pastor also blasts former DP chair Lee Jae-myung, former Rebuilding Korea Party head Cho Kuk, and former first lady Kim Jung-sook as an attempt to win the first lady's favor.

[Soundbite]
Choi Ji-woo (First lady's attorney): Prosecutors requested the chat to prove innocence, as Choi could have intentionally concealed it. It's crucial for assessing his testimony's credibility.

The pastor said he did not disclose the chat because it was private and had nothing to do with the probe into anti-graft law violations. Earlier, he said there was someone else waiting to present gifts to the first lady. While interrogating presidential administrative officers surnamed Cho and Yoo recently, prosecutors reportedly obtained a testimony and evidence that 'someone else' was Cho. Now that all the witnesses have been questioned, prosecutors are mulling whether to investigate the first lady, as well as when and how to investigate her. Regarding reports that Kim is discussing her summons with prosecutors, the first lady's aides said they only mentioned that summoning her would be inappropriate since there are no penalty provisions under the anti-graft law. They added that nothing else has been discussed so far.

SAMSUNG WORKERS GO ON STRIKE

[Anchor Lead]
Samsung Electronics' main labor union has entered its first-ever strike, following a collective annual leave last month. The strike began yesterday and will last three days. The union aims to disrupt production. However, the company reported no production disruptions on the first day.

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[Soundbite]
The National Samsung Electronics Union declares a general strike.

Samsung Electronics' labor union has launched its first strike since the company's founding in 1969. It comes three days after Samsung made a surprise announcement of its second-quarter earnings, which surpassed 10 trillion won, or over 7.5 billion dollars.

[Soundbite]
Son Woo-mok (Chair, Nat'l Samsung Electronics Union): The operating profit reached KRW 40 tn (USD 29 bn) but they demand our sacrifice under pretext of tough times. They can't afford to pay our incentives...but the executives got KRW 290 mn (USD 210,000) in bonuses.

The National Samsung Electronics Union says it has held negotiations with managemement since January, but none of its demands have been met. The labor side claims that of more than 30,000 unionized workers, about 6,500 are taking part in the strike, and its goal is to disrupt production. However, the company says only some 3,000 workers are striking, and there are no production disruptions so far. But there are concerns that semiconductor production, which cannot be interrupted, could be affected if the strike is extended. The National Samsung Electronics Union is the largest labor union in the nation, but only a fourth of Samsung Electronics workers are its members. However, it's worth noting most of the unionized workers are in semiconductor manufacturing. The labor side says some 5,000 workers who have expressed willingness to take part in the strike are largely in manufacturing and production.

[Soundbite]
Kim Yang-paeng (Korea Inst. for Industrial Economics & Trade): Problems at a single plant can result in discarding all the chips produced on the same line. The scale of damage can be enormous.

The labor side has vowed to launch another strike if no agreement is reached with management after the first three-day strike.

KBS PROJECT ON LOW BIRTHRATE

[Anchor Lead]
Last year, South Korea's total fertility rate dropped to 0.72, the world's lowest. Warnings of potential national extinction are increasingly real. KBS has launched a task force to address the low birthrate crisis, mobilizing all capabilities to tackle this issue.

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[Soundbite]
Lowest among OECD members.

[Soundbite]
Birthrate again falls to record low.

KBS has launched a project to help the nation raise its birthrate and overcome a potential population crisis. The key goal is to raise public awareness about the importance of childbirth and childcare. A broadcasting task force will serve as a control tower.

[Soundbite]
Han Duck-soo (Prime Minister): Together with KBS, we must create an opportunity to reverse the low birthrate crisis within a few years.

KBS will develop low birthrate-related content, with the task force playing a central role. From a public debate to a special live program and a campaign, KBS will set up public discussions on how to boost the low birthrate and prevent a potential population crisis.

[Soundbite]
Joo Hyung-hwan (Vice chair, Ageing Society and Population Policy): Changing social views on the value of life and family and building national consensus is crucial now more than ever.

KBS will first air a wide range of programs on the nation's low birthrate until July 11, which marks World Population Day. From September, it will devote a week of each month to the birthrate issue.

[Soundbite]
Oh Se-hoon (Seoul Mayor): We should support marriage, pregnancy, birth, childcare, education and work-life balance.

Under the slogan of 'Our children, Our future', KBS will focus on helping the nation overcome the low birthrate by delivering accurate information and setting a multi-dimensional agenda.

HYUNA, YONG JUN-HYUNG ENGAGED

[Anchor Lead]
This may come as a shock among K-POP fans. Singer HyunA and Yong Jun-hyung announced they'll get married this coming fall. We have the details, including the fan's reactions.

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K-pop stars HyunA and Yong Jun-hyung will be getting married this fall. Their agencies issued an official announcement confirming the K-pop power couple's plan to tie the knot. According to their respective agencies, the two stars, formerly members of 4Minute and BEAST, decided to get married based on their deep mutual trust. They are set to hold a ceremony in Seoul on October 11 with only family and close friends in attendance. The wedding announcement comes six months after the couple went public with their romantic relationship. In January, HyunA and Yong Jun-hyung made their relationship official by posting a photo of the two holding hands. But the fan response to the impending wedding bells has been mixed. This is mostly because Yong Jun-hyung's past involvement in a 2019 illegal sex video scandal surrounding disgraced singer Jung Joon-young. Yong was found to have watched the illegally filmed video shared by Jung. Yong had earlier issued a statement saying he didn't know that the nature of the video was illegal.