Yonhap News Agency reports on housing policy, Nepal search, economic data, presidential approval, stock market, Russia forum absence, and K-pop achievement

The nominee to head the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday he will closely consult with the Seoul city government to narrow differences over housing supply plans.

Hong Jee-sun, currently vice land minister, made the remarks a day after he was tapped to replace Land Minister Kim Yun-duk, who had faced opposition from the Seoul city government over a proposal to use parts of Yongsan Park in central Seoul for housing development.

A government joint rapid response team on Monday began a ground search for nine South Koreans missing in massive floods in Nepal, while continuing to seek permission from Nepali authorities to operate helicopters, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The team plans to make its way to Ramche, about 1-2 kilometers from the site where the nine South Koreans went missing, and camp there overnight, according to the ministry.

South Korea's industrial output remained flat in July from a month earlier due to a base effect and a strike in the automobile industry, data showed Monday, while retail sales lost ground and facility investment advanced.

Industrial production remained unchanged in July from a month earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell below the 40 percent mark for the first time since he took office in June last year, a survey showed Monday, amid public dissatisfaction over housing policy.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter and commissioned by the EKN newspaper among 2,509 respondents aged 18 and older, 38.9 percent gave a positive assessment of Lee's performance, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous week, while 58.7 percent gave a negative assessment, up 1.8 percentage points.

Seoul shares trimmed earlier losses late Monday morning on retail buying, as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh raised concerns over a possible interest rate hike next month.

After opening 2.58 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) erased its losses, trading 133.62 points, or 1.96 percent, lower at 6,655.62 as of 11:20 a.m.

South Korea will not attend the Eastern Economic Forum opening this week in Russia's Vladivostok, the unification ministry said Monday.

During a regular briefing, ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho confirmed the decision not to participate in the annual international forum, running from Tuesday to Friday.

The latest album from K-pop boy group Enhypen has debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard's main albums chart, earning the group its first chart-topper.

Billboard said in a preview of this week's chart on Sunday (U.S. time) that the band's eighth EP, "The Sin: Bliss," took the top spot on the Billboard 200, ahead of Ella Langley's "Dandelion" and Olivia Rodrigo's "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love."