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1. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Monday, in the first half of 2023, South Korea’s tax revenue decreased by almost 40 trillion KRW or 31.4 billion USD ompared with the previous year.

2. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday that the recent heatwave had killed at least 12 people from Wednesday to Friday last week. Meanwhile, at least 5 lives were lost due to a drowning accident during the same period across the nation.

3. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that the war is returning to the territory of Russia. This statement came after Russia accused Ukraine of drone attacks in Moscow.

1. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, along with delegations from China and Russia, oversaw a huge military parade on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice or what Pyongyang calls "Victory Day". The parade featured North Korea’s Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

2. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, on Friday, nominated his special advisor for external affairs, Lee Dong Kwan, for the role of Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and appointed Kim Yung-ho, as the country’s new unification minister.

3. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, a heat wave warning on Friday was issued for most parts of South Korea, as steaming heat started in earnest after the monsoon season came to an end.

1. The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.25% to 5.5% range on Wednesday, widening the rate gap with South Korea to a new high of 1.75 to 2.0 percentage points.

2. North Korea invited delegations from China and Russia amid their preparation for huge celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice on Thursday. Pyongyang displayed weapons, including the Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missile, during massive military parades.

3. According to South Korea’s Science Ministry on Thursday, the country’s own upcoming aerospace agency will not house the existing Korea Aerospace Research Institute that has been leading Korea’s space missions such as the Nuri rocket program.

1. Interior Minister Lee Sang-min pledged Wednesday to completely overhaul the country's disaster management system to better deal with disasters caused by climate change a day after he was reinstated as the interior minister as the Constitutional Court rejected the National Assembly's impeachment of him on Tuesday.

2. The International Monetary Fund cut its 2023 economic growth outlook for South Korea on Tuesday, to 1.4%, down 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate of 1.5% in April.

3. Commercial Satellite imagery has shown that North Korea has been preparing for a parade and may conduct a military parade as early as midnight on Wednesday to mark the country’s Victory Day which is the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice.

1. North Korea late on Monday fired two ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it detected two ballistic missiles fired from areas near Pyongyang at 11:55 PM on Monday and at midnight on Tuesday.

2. The Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected the National Assembly’s impeachment of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over last year’s crowd crush on October 29, which took the lives of 159 people. Lee has been reinstated to the minister of the interior and safety.

3. Data from the Bank of Korea released on Tuesday shows that the country's gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, rose 0.6% on-quarter during the April to June period of this year on the back of the rise in net exports.

1. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Saturday, North Korea fired several cruise missiles toward the West Sea at around 4 AM on Saturday. Meanwhile, this Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

2. South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday revealed 55 data related to the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway project amid controversy over the cancellation of the highway project.

3. According to the National Police Agency on Sunday, a total of 2,058 reports of suspicious parcels have been filed with the police as of 5 PM Sunday. Seoul's foreign ministry has reached out to the Chinese foreign ministry and requested a confirmation of the details regarding the suspicious packages.

1. North Korea has heavily criticized the docking of the USS Kentucky in South Korea and the launch of the S. Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group as a blatant and direct nuclear threat. South Korea’s defense ministry on Friday has warned that a nuclear weapons assault by Pyongyang will result in the regime’s demise.

2. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s nominee to become the next unification minister, Kim Young-ho, appeared before the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee for his confirmation hearing on Friday.

3. Japan on Friday returned South Korea to its “white list” of preferential trading partners after about 4 years, as ties between the two countries continue to improve after years of acrimony over wartime issues.

1. According to the presidential office on Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a trilateral summit with the U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, near Washington, on August 18.

2. The Ministry of Justice’s Attorney Disciplinary Committee held a meeting on Thursday to determine whether it was appropriate for the bar association to prohibit attorneys from using the LawTalk app.

3. Heat wave warnings were issued across the nation, including Seoul, as sweltering temperatures prompted the city to raise its crisis alert from "caution" to "vigilance." Meanwhile, sweltering heat and infrequent rain is expected across the country on Friday, which is Jungbok, known to be the peak of the hottest time of the year.

1. North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles or SRBMs toward the East Sea from the Sunan area on Wednesday. The launch comes after South Korea and the U.S. held their first Nuclear Consultative Group meeting, and after the USS Kentucky, a U.S. nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine, arrived in South Korea, on Tuesday.

2. South Korea has decided to raise next year's minimum wage by 2.5% to 9 thousand 860 won or roughly 7 dollars and 80 cents. The decision was made early Wednesday morning by the Minimum Wage Commission after a record 110 days of negotiations.

3. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday has first-handedly declared special disaster zones for 13 areas that have been seriously damaged by the torrential rain, including Yecheon-gun County in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and Cheongju City in Chungcheongbuk-do Province.

1. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday called for strengthening extended deterrence to the point that North Korea dares not to use nuclear weapons during the inaugural session of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group.

2. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, as of 6 AM Tuesday, nationwide, 44 people have died and 6 are still missing as a result of the recent heavy rains.

3. The South Korean government on Tuesday announced that it has filed a suit to reverse an international tribunal's order to pay 107.8 million USD in damages to hedge fund Elliott Investment Management in a dispute related to the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung Group affiliates.