1. South Korea's health ministry on Wednesday expressed regret over medical professors' decision to take a day off on a weekly basis starting next week and urged them to engage in dialogue amid the prolonged medical vacuum in the country. 2. The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday a South Korean nanosatellite successfully communicated with its ground station after being launched into orbit from a spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand. 3. The Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday that North Korea has sent an economic delegation headed by External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho to Iran, a rare trip that raises suspicions of cooperation between the two nations over weapons programs.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis agreed Tuesday to boost cooperation in the defense and nuclear energy sectors as part of efforts to strengthen their countries' strategic partnership, during a summit held on the second day of the Romanian leader’s four-day official visit to South Korea. 2. The Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that North Korea has conducted a tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack involving super-large multiple rocket launchers, a day after South Korea said the North fired short-range missiles into the East Sea. 3. The main opposition Democratic Party and the presidential office on Tuesday said they were unable to confirm the schedule and agenda of the inter-party meeting, and had decided to hold a second working-level meeting in the future.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday named People Power Party lawmaker Chung Jin-suk as his new chief of staff, the first personnel replacement since the party's crushing defeat in the April 10 parliamentary elections. President Yoon said the new chief will boost his administration’s communication with the public. 2. According to Nomura Securities of the Global Investment Bank on Monday, South Korea's fruit and vegetable prices have risen the most this year compared to G7 countries or Taiwan, which has a similar economic structure. 3. The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved over 60 billion U.S. dollars in military aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. The Ukraine aid was part of a 95 billion U.S. dollar package of national security bills that also includes 26 billion U.S. dollars for Israel.

1. South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday the government has accepted a request from the chiefs of six national universities for flexibility in expanding the medical school enrollment quota. The decision raised hopes for an end to the protracted walkout by trainee doctors. 2. According to a U.S. official on Friday, Israel carried out a military strike inside Iran, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week’s drone and missile attack by Tehran. Iran's state media reported that explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan. 3. According to an official at the Presidential Office, President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday spoke with opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung via phone call. During the five-minute conversation, President Yoon reportedly proposed the two meet in Yongsan next week to discuss state affairs.

1. The Presidential office said Wednesday that President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed during phone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to promote bilateral and trilateral cooperation together with the United States. 2. According to an official at the Presidential office, President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo earlier this week to discuss the direction of state affairs, including the future running of government affairs and personnel appointments, after the ruling party’s defeat in last week’s general elections. 3. Following the recent sharp depreciation of the Korean won and Japanese yen against the dollar, the finance chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Wednesday acknowledged "serious concerns" and agreed to consult closely on foreign exchange markets.

1. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday held the 2024 growth outlook for South Korea steady at 2-point-3 percent, citing "surprisingly resilient" global economic activity. The latest projection is the same as its forecast made in January. 2. According to a survey conducted by the gender ministry on 12-thousand-44 households nationwide from June 1st to July 31st 2023, an increased proportion of people in their 20s to 30s indicated having plans for children. 3. South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Wednesday it is monitoring whether North Korea's weapons technology was used in the ballistic missiles that Iran launched against Israel last week.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he humbly accepts the public sentiment revealed in the parliamentary elections and will work to improve communication with the people. President Yoon made the pledge in his first public remarks on last Wednesday's general elections. 2. South Korea "strongly" protested against Japan on Tuesday after Tokyo issued an annual diplomatic report renewing its territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. South Korea's foreign ministry called in Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. 3. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday that it will grant Samsung Electronics subsidies of up to 6-point-4 billion U.S. dollars for its chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas.

1. Iran launched an unprecedented large-scale drone and missile attack at Israel on Saturday night in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria. An Israeli official said Israel's war cabinet meeting ended Sunday without a decision on how Israel will respond to Iran’s attack. 2. South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will extend the tax cut on fuel consumption by an additional two months amid growing tensions in the Middle East. The tax cuts were supposed to expire at the end of this month. 3. The top U.S. envoy to the United Nations will meet with South Korea's defense chief Monday as part of her trip to Seoul this week for talks to boost bilateral cooperation amid North Korean threats. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield arrived in the country Sunday for a four-day visit.

1. According to a presidential official Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to give a public statement sometime after the weekend regarding the ruling People Power Party's crushing defeat in the parliamentary elections. 2. The monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea on Friday kept its policy rate unchanged at 3-point-5 percent for the 10th straight session. The central bank said its current restrictive stance will be maintained for a sufficient period of time amid woes over high inflation and household debt. 3. South Korea and the United States on Friday affirmed plans to execute a joint tabletop exercise simulating North Korea's use of a nuclear weapon. According to a joint statement, the two sides affirmed the plan during the South Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue in Washington D.C. on Thursday.

1. The main opposition Democratic Party retained a majority in the National Assembly in Wednesday's general elections. Including proportional seats, the Democratic Party and its satellite party garnered 175 seats, while the People Power Party and its satellite party clinched 108 seats out of a total of 300. 2. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday vowed to reform state affairs to reflect people's will following the ruling party's crushing defeat in the parliamentary elections. Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People Power Party, resigned the same day to take responsibility for the election results. 3. U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday called for North Korea to return to dialogue during a summit in Washington. In a joint statement, the leaders also vowed to strengthen defense cooperation and establish a joint command structure.

1. South Korean voters on Wednesday headed to the polls for the country's 22nd parliamentary elections. Voter turnout for this election was higher than the last general election. 2. A senior U.S. official said Tuesday that the United States is considering including South Korea as a partner in Pillar Two advanced military technology development projects under the AUKUS security partnership, which comprises the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. 3. The Booker Prize Foundation on Tuesday announced that South Korean novelist {황석영}Hwang Sok-yong’s novel “Mater 2-10” has been shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.

1. On the eve of the 22nd general elections Tuesday, both ruling and opposition parties headed to key battleground areas in Seoul and the nearby metropolitan regions to make their final pitch to voters. 2. South Korea's foreign ministry on Monday said that 11 citizens from Haiti evacuated via helicopter due to deteriorating security. The ministry said the citizens were airlifted to the neighboring Dominican Republic, and withheld further details to ensure the safety of other South Koreans in Haiti. 3. Citing sources, Reuters reported on Monday that the Biden administration plans to announce it is awarding more than 6 billion U.S. dollars to South Korea's Samsung next week to expand its chip output in Taylor, Texas.

1. According to the National Election Commission, a record 31-point-28 percent of voters cast their ballots during the two days of early voting for the upcoming 22nd general elections, marking the first time early-voting turnout for general elections exceeded 30 percent. 2. South Korea's defense ministry said Monday that the nation successfully launched its second indigenous spy satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the U.S. Kennedy Space Center. The reconnaissance satellite succeeded in communicating with an overseas ground station at 10:57 a.m. 3. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during an interview on Sunday that his government is making "high-level approaches" to North Korea to hold a summit with Kim Jong-un. Tokyo reportedly seeks to resolve "outstanding issues" and promote stable relations between the two nations.

1. Early voting began Friday ahead of next week's parliamentary elections, with turnout reaching a record high just three hours after the polls opened. Leaders of rival parties visited polling stations, urging voters to exercise their rights. 2. According to the Bank of Korea on Friday, South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 10th straight month in February on the back of an increased trade surplus and dividend income. The country's current account surplus reached 6-point-86 billion U.S. dollars in February. 3. A foreign ministry official said Friday that South Korea is in talks with China and Japan to host a trilateral summit next month at the "earliest time convenient" for all sides. A summit of the three nations was last held more than four years ago in December 2019.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday vowed to support people’s livelihoods by completing as many revisions to lower-level laws as he can within the year, while speaking at a government meeting reviewing the 24 government-public debate sessions held so far this year. 2. South Korean security sources said Wednesday that the government had seized a stateless vessel allegedly involved in violating UN Security Council resolutions against North Korea. The ship was reportedly en route to Russia from North Korea before it was caught last Saturday in waters off the country’s south coast. 3. Gold prices surged to an all-time high on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that it was preparing to cut interest rates later this year even as inflation remains above the central bank’s target.

1. A memorial service marking the 76th anniversary of the Jeju April 3rd Incident was held Wednesday morning at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park. Around 15-thousand people attended the ceremony. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivered a commemorative address on behalf of the government. 2. According to data by Statistics Korea released Wednesday, the inflation rate for dining out in March was 3.4%, surpassing the average inflation rate for overall consumer prices for 34 consecutive months. The inflation rate for processed foods was below the average for two consecutive months. 3. Taiwan was rocked by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday morning, the strongest the country has seen in 25 years. Taiwanese authorities said the earthquake struck the country's east coast with the depth of the epicenter estimated at 20 kilometers. At least seven people have died and 700 are reportedly injured.

1. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that North Korea fired what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, possibly equipped with a hypersonic warhead, at 6:53 a.m. The South Korean military said the missile flew about 600 kilometers before landing in the East Sea. 2. The National Election Commission said Tuesday that overseas voting turnout for the April 10 general elections was at an all-time high of 62.8 percent on the final day. A total of 92-thousand-923 people out of more than 147-thousand eligible voters abroad had cast their ballots. 3. According to data from Statistics Korea on Tuesday, South Korea's consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 3.1 percent on-year in March on record prices of fruits and rising global oil prices. Prices spiked 88.2 percent for apples and 87.8 percent for pears, a record surge for both since the agency began compiling data in 1980.

1. During an address to the nation on Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol said a hike of 2-thousand in medical school admissions is the minimum needed to reform the healthcare system, and apologized to the public for failing to resolve the ongoing standoff between the government and the medical community. 2. According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday, South Korea's exports rose for the sixth consecutive month in March on the back of the robust performance of chips. Exports of chips marked the highest amount since June 2022. 3. South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will attend a foreign ministers’ meeting of NATO to be held in Belgium this Thursday. South Korea was invited to the ministerial meeting for the third year as one of NATO’s four Asia-Pacific partners which includes Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

1. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Friday a yellow dust storm blanketed South Korea with fine dust advisories issued across many regions. Most central regions recorded fine dust levels exceeding the "very bad" level of over 151 micrograms per cubic meter in the morning. 2. Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup stepped down Friday, less than a month after he was named for the job. The announcement came amid criticism of his appointment and departure that came despite the fact that he was subject to an investigation. 3. During a session of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Russia vetoed a resolution to extend the mandate of a panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea for a year, with China abstaining. Without the resolution, the panel's mandate is set to expire on April 30th.

1. With official campaigning for the April 10 general elections starting on Thursday, South Korea's government issued a statement vowing to punish all illegal acts related to the elections under a zero tolerance principle. 2. Unionized bus drivers in Seoul returned to work 11 hours after going on a general strike Thursday for the first time in 12 years to demand a wage hike, causing delays for commuters in the morning rush hour. The Seoul Bus Labor Union reached a deal on a 4-point-48 percent wage hike plus holiday bonuses with their employers. 3. In coordination with South Korea, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday it had imposed new sanctions on six North Korean nationals and two third-country entities for their role to help finance Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs.