1. The Bank of Korea decided on Thursday to freeze its benchmark interest rate at 3.5% after a 17 month rate-hike campaign to deal with an economic slowdown.

2. According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, South Korea’s fertility rate has dropped to another record low of 0.78 in 2022, down from 0.81 the previous year. The country’s population suffered a natural decrease of 123 thousand 800 last year.

3. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday announced a labor reform agenda to normalize unions by supporting newly formed unions with 50% of this year’s related budget.