SEOUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) - South Korea’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Tuesday, taking a breather after its first rate hike in nearly three years in August and as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases clouded the short-term outlook. The Bank of Korea (BOK) left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75%, as expected by 29 of 31 analysts polled by Reuters. Governor Lee Ju-yeol’s news conference will be broadcast at 0220 GMT. The BOK in August became the first major Asian central bank to start raising borrowing costs since the pandemic started. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim, Joori Roh; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Kim Coghill) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.