1.North Korea and Russia agreed to provide immediate military assistance if either faces armed aggression, under the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that the leaders of North Korea and Russia signed Wednesday.

2.According to Seoul’s defense ministry on Wednesday, Romania will buy 920 million U.S. dollars worth of South Korean K-9 self-propelled howitzers. The deal was announced during South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik’s weeklong trip to Eastern Europe.

3.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday declared that South Korea is in a “demographic national emergency” due to its declining population, and vowed to tackle the low birth rate by providing better housing and improving support for child care.

1.According to Sputnik news on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. Putin arrived in Pyongyang early on Wednesday in his first trip to North Korea in 24 years and held summit talks with Kim.

2.The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday sent inspectors to the office of the Korean Medical Association in Seoul and conducted a probe regarding the KMA-led one-day walkout on Tuesday that involved community doctors and other medical staff, as well as a massive rally in Seoul.

3.According to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery on Wednesday, a girl statue symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery will be unveiled to the public in Italy for the first time.

1.The Korean Central News Agency announced on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This is Putin's first visit to the North in 24 years.

2.Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday the government ordered community doctors who joined a one-day walkout to return to work, warning that they would face legal punishment unless they comply with the order.

3.According to a report by the International Institute for Management Development on Tuesday, South Korea ranked 20th in terms of global competitiveness among 67 countries surveyed in 2024, compared with 28th the previous year.

1.Medical professors at hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University began an indefinite walkout on Monday against the government's medical reform. The government urged SNU hospital leaders to consider requiring professors to compensate for losses incurred by the hospitals due to the collective action.

2.According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Swedish think tank, on Monday, North Korea may have assembled up to 50 nuclear weapons and could produce more. The institute estimated that North Korea had up to 30 nuclear weapons last year.

3.The final declaration of the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland was approved by 80 of the 93 participating states at the close of the two-day event on Sunday.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Uzbek counterpart held a summit Friday in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent to strengthen economic cooperation in the areas of mineral supply chains, infrastructure and energy.

2. Vice foreign ministers from South Korea and the United States held a phone conversation on Friday to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin's expected trip to North Korea next week and other alliance, regional and global issues.

3. The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday assessed in the Green Book that South Korea's economic recovery has gathered pace on robust exports and recovering domestic demand, though external uncertainties continued.

1. In an interview with Uzbekistan’s state media on Thursday, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he plans to enhance South Korea’s reciprocal and future-oriented cooperation with Uzbekistan, and will seek ways to strengthen economic ties through partnership in mineral supply chains and cutting-edge technologies.

2. The UN Security Council on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss North Korea’s worsening human rights condition, with South Korea’s Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook presiding as rotating president.

3. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady for the seventh straight time and projected one rate cut perhaps as late as December, as it noted “modest further progress” towards its two percent inflation target.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev agreed Tuesday to collaborate on the supply chain for critical minerals, from exploration and development to commercialization.

2. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Wednesday a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the southwestern county of Buan at 8:26 a.m. It was the strongest quake to hit the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding waters so far this year. Fifteen aftershocks were reported as of 2 p.m.

3. South Korea's foreign ministry on Wednesday dismissed Japan's renewed protest over Seoul's routine maritime survey near the East Sea islets of Dokdo, emphasizing a firm stance against "unjust claims."

1. The leaders of South Korea and Turkmenistan on Monday held a summit in Turkmenistan's capital city of Ashgabat and adopted a joint statement outlining their cooperation for Seoul's "K-Silk Road Cooperation" initiative

2. The main opposition Democratic Party and minor parties on Monday voted to unilaterally select 11 parliamentary committee chiefs with the ruling People Power Party boycotting a plenary meeting over the voting.

3. The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution proposed by the U.S. for a permanent ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza. Hamas said it welcomed the resolution and is ready to engage with mediators in negotiations.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday embarked on a weeklong Central Asia trip that will take him to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on a mission to expand cooperation in critical minerals and other key sectors.

2. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday, North Korea has sent around 310 trash-carrying balloons across the border overnight. The North's latest balloon campaign came hours after South Korea resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts in the border area.

3. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday the government ordered community doctors to keep providing medical treatment and report to authorities when they close their businesses, after the doctors voted to stage a strike in protest of the government's medical reform.

1. Vitor Abreu, owner of the U.S. geoscience research company Act-Geo, said Friday that a potential discovery of oil and gas reserves off South Korea's East Sea is "highly prospective," citing the presence of hydrocarbons in the offshore fields. The project has a presumed 20 percent success rate.

2. According to the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs on Thursday, an advisory body of UNESCO reportedly deferred the nomination of controversial Japanese mines on the island of Sado as a World Heritage site, asking for additional documents.

3. The European Central Bank on Thursday lowered its deposit rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75% from a record high of 4%, for the first time in almost five years, citing a sustained fall in inflation.