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1. The Yoon administration announced its first planned tax code revision for 2022 on Thursday. One of the key changes is to lower the top rate of corporate tax to 22%. Other changes include real estate taxes and income tax among the people with low income. 2. South Korea’s top diplomat, Minister Park Jin said on Wednesday that South Korea and Japan agreed to talk about the “possible normalization”...

1. South Korea reported 76-thousand-402 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. The government has also secured 4 thousand more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and has prohibited in-person visits to at-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals. 2. South Korea on Tuesday confirmed the first successful test flight of Korea’s homegrown fighter jet, the KF-21 “Borame(보라매)”. South Korea is now the...

1. On Tuesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss economic conditions, and he said that he is sure that the Korea-US alliance will be even more strengthened across various sectors, including the military and economy. 2. Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at his official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday, and conveyed P...

1. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin traveled to Tokyo on Monday to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart.  During his 3-day visit Park is set to discuss pending bilateral issues, including drawn-out disputes over compensating the Korean victims of wartime forced labor. 2. South Korea and the U.S. have been holding combined military drills involving a high-tech training system, in eff...

1. The Korean currency against the U.S dollar reached the 1,320-level on Friday, for the first time in about 13 years, which will highly increase the possibility of inflation at a faster pace than expected. 2. Japanese media outlet, NHK reported on Thursday that South Korea and Japan are adjusting the schedule for Foreign Minister Park Jin’s visit to Japan to meet with top Japanese officials inclu...

1. The U.S. Consumer Price Index for June was released on Wednesday and it shows that inflation rapidly rose by 9.1% on-year. 2. South Korean military officials said Thursday that South Korea and the U.S. have conducted its joint air drills since last Monday, involving their respective F-35A stealth fighters, amid North Korea’s nuclear test. 3. The Constitutional Court of Korea held an oral hearin...

1. The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5% point on Wednesday. The monetary policy board of the central bank explained that the big step was needed to combat inflation. 2. With 40-thousand 2-hundred-66 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the South Korean government released new anti-virus measures today. It says it will expand the age group for the 4th vaccine shots to 50s, while...

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol resumed his brief press meeting on Tuesday, a day after the so-called doorstepping was suspended. 2. The South Korean military announced on Monday that it will hold large-scale joint drills with the U.S., starting from August 22 up until September 1st, as North Korea began its summer exercises. 3. South Korea saw 37-thousand 3-hundred 60 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesda...

1. The presidential office announced on Monday that President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to visit a memorial altar prepared by the Japanese embassy to South Korea for the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The administration is also set to send two cabinet members to Japan to deliver condolences. 2. President Yoon Suk-yeol began receiving briefings from each ministries and agencies on...

1. Former Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday during an election campaign in the western city of Nara, and has reportedly passed away. Police said that the suspected shooter had served in the Japanese military. 2. The Yoon government tentatively confirmed on Friday to carry out a large-scale restructuring by shrinking the number of presidential committees to 7 from 20, with an ex...

1. The FOMC minutes for June released on Wednesday showed that the U.S FED will likely take restrictive policy to counter elevated inflation pressure, even though it would slow the pace of the economic recovery. 2. The G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting is going to take place in Bali, starting from today to Friday. Top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S, Japan, China, and Russia are scheduled to gather...

1. South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections tallied almost 20-thousands on Wednesday, which was the all-time high in about 42 days. Meanwhile, the number of critically ill patients and the deaths stood at 61, and 7 respectively, on the same day. 2. The Foreign Minister Park Jin departed for Singapore to meet his counterpart Vivian Balskrishnan on Tuesday. Park will also attend the G20 foreign minis...

1. Statistics Korea’s data showed on Tuesday that South Korea’s consumer prices soared 6% on year for the first time in nearly 24 years after the currency crisis back in 1997. 2. The South Korean government on Tuesday announced that it will expand the nuclear power plants to over 30 percent of the whole energy resources by 2030. 3. A tragic mass shooting occurred at an Independence Day Parade in H...

1. The Finance Ministry on Friday, showed concerns that the South Korean economy is at the risk of losing steam caused by a slump in investment and exports amid external uncertainties. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol talked to U.N Secretary-General António Guterres over the phone on Friday, and called for a stern response against North Korea’s growing threats. 3. South Korean health authorities on Frid...

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol returned to South Korea on Friday after attending the NATO summit in Spain. Yoon held 10 bilateral meetings and 3 multilateral meetings at the summit. 2. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday that it will operate the market investigation to review the effectiveness of the fuel tax cut. The 2. government is to increase the fuel tax cut to the legal cap of...

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol, during his first speech at the NATO summit on Wednesday, stressed that the international community’s will to denuclearize North Korea is stronger than the North’s determination to develop its nuclear and missile program. 2. The three leaders of South Korea, the U.S, and Japan reaffirmed strengthening its trilateral cooperation to counter North Korea’s threat on Wednesda...

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a trilateral meeting with U.S president Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later today at 9:30 pm Korea Time. Yoon is also set to deliver his first speech to NATO member countries after the three-way meeting. 2. North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday wrote that the authorities issued heavy rain warnings in several regions up until July 1st. It...

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a bilateral meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese today. Yoon will also hold talks with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg on the same day. 2. The Minimum Wage Commission gathered together on Tuesday to set the hourly minimum wage for 2023. South Korea’s current minimum wage per hour is at 9,160 won. 3. The Suwon District Prosecutors Offi...

1. Korea Electric Power Corporation announced on Monday that it will raise the electric fee for the third quarter by 5 Korean Won per kWh, and it will apply the increased fee starting from July. 2. President Yoon Suk-yeol will make his debut in multilateral diplomacy at the NATO summit in Spain, which is slated to be held for two days from this Wednesday to Thursday. 3. South Korea will likely see...

1. The U.S National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023 was approved by the House Armed Service Committee on Thursday. The Biden Administration specified that its military presence in South Korea should be maintained as a status quo of 28-thousand 5-hundred. 2. The European Union accepted Ukraine's candidacy for joining the membership on Thursday. The decision was made swiftly in ab...

1. The Korean currency exchange rate against the U.S dollar exceeded 1,300 Won on Thursday, for the first time in 13 years. 2. The U.S State Department revealed its Integrated Country Strategies on Wednesday. Its top priorities for South Korea is strengthening bilateral alliance in economy in an effort to counter China, and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. 3. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake ro...

1. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KARI announced on Wednesday that South Korean space rocket Nuri has successfully achieved two-way communication with the ground station. 2. The KDCA confirmed on Wednesday that South Korea reported the first suspected monkeypox case in Incheon. 3. The Biden Administration, on Tuesday,  announced its decision to prohibit its military use of antipersonnel...

1. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Tuesday that South Korean homegrown space rocket Nuri was successfully launched this afternoon as scheduled, and deployed a verification satellite at a targeted altitude of 700km. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol placed an order to reform the public institutions on Tuesday, saying that strict evaluation of the management and performance must be conducted....

1. The South Korean government announced Sunday that it will expand the fuel tax cut by 37%, and minimize the increased rate of facilities fee, including gas and electricity, amid a severe inflation situation. 2. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Monday the preparation for the second attempt of the space rocket Nuri, which is scheduled to be launched tomorrow , is being made properly in...

1. The Finance Ministry on Friday, showed concerns that the South Korean economy is at the risk of losing steam caused by a slump in investment and exports amid external uncertainties. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol talked to U.N Secretary-General António Guterres over the phone on Friday, and called for a stern response against North Korea’s growing threats. 3. South Korean health authorities on Frid...