Yonhap News Summary: Lee Jae Myung pledges ally cooperation; Kim Keon Hee sentence increased; KOSPI hits record high

SEOUL -- President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that issues between close allies should be resolved based on mutual respect and fundamental principles, during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. Lee stressed that cooperation with traditional allies should also be developed.

An appeals court on Tuesday increased the sentence for former first lady Kim Keon Hee from 20 months to four years in prison on corruption charges. The Seoul High Court found her guilty of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church.

Seoul stocks closed at an all-time high Tuesday, briefly topping 6,700 for the first time in history. The benchmark KOSPI closed up 25.99 points, or 0.39 percent, to 6,641.02, after hitting an intraday high of 6,712.73 points in the morning session. The rally was driven by large-cap tech shares ahead of earnings releases from big U.S. tech companies.

A Seoul court on Tuesday ordered authorities to cancel 68.7 billion won (US$ 46.6 million) in taxes levied on the local unit of U.S. streaming giant Netflix. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled partly in favor of Netflix Services Korea Ltd. after the company filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify corporate tax and other levies imposed by local tax authorities in November 2023.

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief of Google DeepMind, held separate meetings Tuesday with the heads of major South Korean conglomerates, including Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Group. Hassabis met with Euisun Chung, executive chair of Hyundai Motor Group, earlier in the day. He later visited LG Group's main office and met with the group's chairman, Koo Kwang-mo.