The following is the second summary of major stories moved by Yonhap News Agency on Friday.
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(3rd LD) N. Korea showcases drones, ICBMs at military parade on armistice anniv.
SEOUL -- North Korea has staged a massive military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, its state media said Friday, displaying its latest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and drones in a show of its military might.
With senior officials from China and Russia present, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took to the reviewing stand to observe the military parade in Pyongyang late Thursday to mark Victory Day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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(News Focus) N.K. weapons parade sends message of defiance against S. Korea, U.S.
SEOUL -- From its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to tactical weapons and a surveillance drone, North Korea's vaunted military parade this week highlighted its defiant work under way to break through the closer-knit South Korea-U.S. alliance, analysts said Friday.
The North conducted the parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Thursday night to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, celebrated in the country as Victory Day, in the presence of senior Chinese and Russian officials.
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(LEAD) S. Korea 'strongly protests' Japan's renewed Dokdo claim in defense white paper
SEOUL -- South Korea issued a strong protest on Friday against Japan's renewed territorial claim to its easternmost islets of Dokdo in an annual defense white paper, calling for its immediate retraction.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo adopted the security document during a Cabinet session, renewing the claim to the pair of rocky outcroppings in the East Sea in the paper for the 19th consecutive year.
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Unification ministry to downsize, overhaul organization amid strained inter-Korean ties
SEOUL -- The unification ministry on Friday announced a plan to slim down and overhaul its organizational structure amid the freezing of ties between the two Koreas and growing security tensions over the peninsula.
The ministry plans to relocate around 80 employees, roughly 15 percent of its workforce, and merge four divisions, including those that oversee inter-Korean exchange and a now-defunct joint industrial complex in the North, into one.
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Heat wave warning issued across nation
SEOUL -- A heat wave warning was issued for most parts of the country Friday, as searing heat kicked in after the end of the monsoon season.
The nation will receive strong sunlight and high humidity, with the highest apparent temperature reaching 35 C during the midday, due to the influence of the North Pacific anticyclone, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
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Pigs escaping from burning truck cause traffic shutdown
GUNSAN, South Korea -- A truck carrying about 70 pigs caught fire on a local road in the southwestern city of Gunsan on Friday, prompting herds of the livestock to roam and causing a traffic shutdown for a while.
The truck fire occurred at 11:51 a.m. in Gunsan's Impi district and was extinguished about 25 minutes later, the Gunsan Fire Station said, noting there were no casualties.
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(2nd LD) Yoon names new chief of state broadcasting watchdog
SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday nominated Lee Dong-kwan, his special adviser for external relations, as the new chief of the Korea Communications Commission, the state broadcasting watchdog, his office said.
If appointed, Lee will replace Han Sang-hyuk, who was dismissed by Yoon in May after being indicted by prosecutors on charges of involvement in giving low scores to right-wing cable channel TV Chosun during the process of renewing its broadcasting license in 2020.
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Yoon approves unification minister's appointment
SEOUL -- President Yoon Suk Yeol approved the appointment of political science professor Kim Yung-ho as unification minister Friday, his office said.
Kim, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Sungshin Women's University, was nominated by Yoon last month to replace Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, who is expected to run in next year's parliamentary elections.
Source: Yonhap News Agency