SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae urged North Korea Monday to stop aggravating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the communist nation fired what appears to be a short-range missile off its east coast for a third straight day. "Whether it's a test-firing or armed demonstration, North Korea should not engage in tension-creating acts," Kim Jang-soo, head of the national security office, was quoted as saying by presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Democratic Party on Monday launched a fact-finding committee to look into alleged irregularities surrounding a highly controversial government project to refurbish the nation's four major rivers. The team, headed by Rep. Lee Mi-kyung, will be tasked with preparing for a parliamentary investigation into allegations that the project was launched out of political considerations, despite strong warnings by environmentalists, party officials said.

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea kicked off an annual meeting of its diplomatic mission chiefs Monday, aimed at helping senior diplomats better understand the country's foreign policy goals, officials said. A total of 122 ambassadors and consuls general attended the five-day conference, marking the first such meeting since the government of President Park Geun-hye was inaugurated early this year.

SEJONG, May 20 (Yonhap) -- The ratio of the self-employed in South Korea's total workforce fell to the lowest level as the protracted economic slowdown resulted in a massive closure of small businesses, data showed Monday. Self-employed people came to 5.7 million in April, accounting for 22.8 percent of the total number of employed people, which stood at 25.1 million, according to the data by Statistics Korea. The ratio marked the lowest number ever since the agency started to compile related data in April 1983 when the corresponding figure was 34.2 percent.