SOUTH KOREA will produce 6.2 million units of fuel cell electric vehicles and build 1,200 refilling stations across the country by 2040, in a major industrial push aimed at securing energy independence and assuming a leadership role in hydrogen technology.

Korea will send a second group of disaster relief workers to flood-stricken villages in southern Laos this week, with the first batch set to return home in the coming days, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.