South Korea's domestic manufacturing supply grows

South Korea's domestic supply in the manufacturing industry grew in the third quarter due to higher import of manufacturing products, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

The index for domestic manufacturing supply, including production at home and imported manufacturing products, stood at 110.9 in the July-September quarter, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

It continued to increase for the seventh consecutive quarter since the first quarter of 2021. The products supply by local manufacturers gained 2.1 percent in the third quarter, marking the first growth in five quarters. The import of manufacturing products jumped 13.0 percent in the cited quarter.

The proportion of imports to the total domestic manufacturing supply added 2.0 percentage points over the year to 32.2 percent in the third quarter, logging the highest since data began to be compiled in 2010. The domestic supply of in

President Joe Biden pulled out the stops Sunday to mobilize US voters in defense of democracy, hoping to counter a Republican "red wave" in this week's midterms that could help set Donald Trump on a course back to the White House.

"If you all show up and vote, democracy sustained, not a joke," the 79-year-old told a rally in upstate New York-historically Democratic territory-with two days to go until Tuesday's vote.

"This is your generation's moment to defend it. To preserve it. To choose it," Biden told the audience at St Lawrence University, turning solemn as he recalled last year's assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters refusing to accept defeat.

At the southern end of the Atlantic coast, in Miami, Trump held a competing rally in support of Florida Republican candidates-but his own political future was more front and center.

"I will probably have to do it again," teased the 76-year-old, sporting his iconic red hat-urging supporters to "stay tuned" for his final campaign rally, Monday night in the Midwestern state of Ohio.

Carrying signs saying "Again!" the crowd yelled back "Four more years!"the length of a US presidential term.

Polls in the final stretch put Republicans ahead in the fight for the House of Representatives, and also show them gaining momentum in key Senate races as voters seek to take out frustration over four-decadeshigh inflation and rising illegal immigration.

Tens of millions of Americans have already cast early ballots, but bringing out the vote on Tuesday will likely prove decisive.

With

all 435 seats in the House of Representatives up for grabs alongside a third of the 100-member Senate and a slew of state posts, Democrats were putting a brave face on their prospects-but the latest polls have put them on the defensive.

"This is going to be a wake-up call to President Biden," predicted Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, saying his camp was offering "common-sense solutions" to everyday issues like inflation and crime.

US midterm elections are typically seen as a referendum on the president in power, whose party tends to lose seats in Congress, particularly if-as with Biden-the president's approval rating is under 50 percent.

Worryingly for Democrats, a new NBC News poll found that fully 72 percent of voters believed the country is headed in the wrong direction, to 21 percent who saw it as being on the right track.

In swing state Pennsylvania, Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz on Sunday hammered on that message to rile up a crowd at his rally.

"How many of you are worried about America right now?" he asked the crowd in the Pittsburgh suburbs, receiving a round of applause.