Focus on Headline

1. South Korea and the United States kicked off its Freedom Shield exercise Monday amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea's missile tests and hardening rhetoric against the allies.

2. According to South Korea's finance minister Monday, the collapse of the U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank is expected to have limited impact on the global financial market, although uncertainties will linger amid monetary-tightening moves.

3. The takeover battle of SM Entertainment, which has heated up the entertainment industry and the stock market for the past month, has come to an end with Kakao acquiring the management rights of SM, while HYBE and SM agreeing to collaborate on platforms.

1. North Korea announced Friday its leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a "fire assault drill" of an artillery unit on Thursday as he stressed the need to "overwhelmingly respond" to any war preparations by its "enemy." Kim reportedly also took his daughter Kim Ju-ae, to the artillery training.

2. Chinese President Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term as his country’s head of state, completing a transition into the second decade of his rule as he seeks to reassert himself as a global statesman and navigate an increasingly fractious rivalry with the U.S.

3. According to South Korea's central bank data Friday, South Korea posted the largest ever current account deficit in January as exports sharply dwindled amid growing worries over a global economic recession.

1. According to South Korea’s presidential office on Thursday, President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit Japan next week for a summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yoon's trip from March 16 to 17 comes at the invitation of the Japanese government. The visit of the South Korean leader to Japan takes place for the first time in almost 4 years.

2. South Korea's Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said Wednesday that there exist concerns over the United States' Chips and Science Act that it may require too much information in exchange for U.S. government subsidies.

3. The massive wildfire that broke out in the country's southeastern county of Hapcheon has been brought under control. According to authorities, the fire has been contained as of 10 AM on this Thursday with no casualties.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to make a state visit to the United States in late April. In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, the two leaders will discuss a range of issues, from extended U.S. deterrence and cooperation in economic security to cutting-edge technology and people-to-people exchanges.

2. Four-term lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon was elected new leader of the ruling People Power Party on Wednesday in a landslide result.

3. According to the OECD website on Wednesday, as of 2021, the proportion of female managers in South Korea was 16-point-3 percent, ranking 35th out of 36 OECD member countries. This means that South Korea's proportion of female managers is the lowest among OECD member countries, except for Japan.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol said Seoul's forced labor compensation plan announced on Monday is the outcome of respecting the positions of the victims while considering the shared interests and future development of South Korea and Japan.

2. South Korea's per capita income in dollars decreased by nearly eight percent last year on the back of the won’s depreciation against the U.S. currency.

3. North Korea's Kim Yo-jong warns of war in the case of any action aimed at obstructing Pyongyang's missile tests as Seoul and Washington remain committed to joint defense drills.

1. The South Korean government formally proposed Monday compensating more than a dozen victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Seoul-backed public foundation, instead of direct payment from responsible Japanese firms.

2. China set this year's growth target at around 5 percent, in a cautious forecast after the pandemic-hit economy. Pundits say, as the Korean economy is highly dependent on China, a chain shock to the overall economy, including exports to Korea, is inevitable.

3. The government plans to adjust the current maximum 52-hour workweek as part of a massive restructuring of the current labor system. The change will allow employees to manage their hours flexibly, enabling them to work up to 69 hours weekly and reduce their hours at other times.

1. For the first time in 5 years, South Korea and the U.S. will hold a large-scale combined field training exercise called ‘Eulji Freedom Shield’ for 11 days from March 13th to the 23rd to reinforce allied defense and response capabilities.

2. China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, begins its annual Two Sessions this weekend, months after President Xi Jinping secured his third term as the nation’s supreme leader.

3. According to Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Friday, authorities will be taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation as well as medical response capabilities before deciding on whether to downgrade COVID-19 to the category of a common infectious disease.

1. Elementary, middle and high schools nationwide are returning for the new school year on Thursday without the mask mandate for the first time in 4 years since the outbreak of COVID-19.

2. Data from Statistics Korea on Thursday shows that South Korea’s overall industrial production stood at 109.7, up 0.5 percent from the previous month. However, retail sales edged down 2.1 percent on-month.

3. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday sanctioned three companies and two individuals for “illicitly” generating income for the North Korean government.

1. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday said Japan has transformed into a partner in tackling security and economic challenges during his first speech marking the March 1 Independence Movement at the Memorial Hall of Yu Gwan-sun.

2. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, South Korea’s exports fell for 5 straight months in February mainly due to weak global demand for semiconductors.

3. Two trains carrying hundreds of people collided in northern Greece on Tuesday, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 85 others.

1. Four ministerial-level figures of the previous Moon Jae-in administration, Chung Eui-young, Noh Young-min, Suh Hoon, and Kim Yeon-chul, were indicted on Tuesday on charges related to forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019.

2. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova [마리아 자카로바] issued a statement on Monday saying that the South Korean government’s decision to expand existing export restrictions against Russia will damage bilateral relations and cooperation to resolve security issues on the Korean Peninsula.

3. A new earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.6, hit southeastern Turkiye on Monday, adding one more person to the death toll, and over a hundred others injured.