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1. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the South Korean military on Thursday to prepare overwhelming war capabilities for peace on the Korean peninsula. This came as a response to the North Korean drones that crossed into South Korea on Monday.

2. South Korea's Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Thursday that the government will seek to frontload about 65% of the next year’s national budget in the first 6 months to overcome the ongoing economic challenges.

3. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday that it will require travelers from China to show a negative COVID-19 test before entering the U.S. territory. South Korea will announce related measures tomorrow.

1. South Korea on Wednesday unveiled the details of its Indo-Pacific strategy which emphasizes the importance of boosting freedom, peace and prosperity through a rules-based order and cooperation on human rights.

2. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT on Wednesday, the nation’s unmanned space vehicle Danuri successfully entered the moon’s orbit on Tuesday. This success comes after three rounds of lunar orbit insertion maneuvers.

3. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Tuesday to ban the sales of oil to countries that agreed to put a price cap on Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

1. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged on Tuesday that he will strengthen the military’s surveillance capabilities by establishing a drone unit after 5 North Korean drones crossed into South Korea on Monday.

2. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol granted special pardons to 1,373 people, including former President Lee Myung-bak.

3. Starting from January 8, 2023, China will remove quarantine for inbound travelers and adjust PCR tests to voluntary testing.

1. According to the South Korean military, suspected North Korean drones trespassed across inter-Korean borders on Monday.

2. South Korea reported 25-thousand-545 new COVID-19 infections on Monday. Meanwhile, as the government is urging people to get updated variant-specific booster vaccines, an additional Modera vaccine has received emergency approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety,... meaning there will be 4 different types available starting today.

3. Freezing temperatures were accompanied by heavy snow in the southern parts of the country, including Jeolla province and Jejudo Island. Meanwhile, extreme winter storm across the U.S. have led to at least 37 deaths over the Christmas weekend.

1. After a weeks-long impasse, the Yoon administration's first budget plan is to be approved by lawmakers at the National Assembly in the coming hours.

2. The South Korean government has decided to lower the indoor mask mandate from "mandatory" to "advised". However, the timing of the roll-out has yet to be decided.

3. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea on Friday launched a ballistic missile toward the East Sea for the first time in 5 days.

1. The two rival parties have agreed on Thursday to pass the budget bill for 2023 and will be put to a vote tomorrow.

2. According to the Finance Ministry on Thursday, S. Korea's economy will grow 1.6 percent next year, as the country faces economic and global uncertainties. The outlook is lower than those previously published by other organizations, including the Bank of Korea and the IMF.

3. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington on Wednesday and pledged that the war would end once his country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored.

1. The National Assembly's special bipartisan probe committee for the Itaewon tragedy has embarked on its first on-site inspection on Wednesday. The on-site inspection comes a day after members of the ruling People Power Party rejoined the committee.

2. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington on Wednesday to meet U.S. President Joe Biden. This is the first time Zelenskyy has left his country after the war in Ukraine broke out.

3. Elon Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday that he will step down from the role of Chief Executive of Twitter once he finds his successor.

1. The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it forecasts inflation to remain at around 5% for the time being, but expects the pace to eventually slow.

2. South Korea reported 87 thousand 559 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday–the highest number in 97 days, putting a pressure on South Korea’s Special Response Center of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters as it plans to announce the results of yesterday's discussion about lifting the nation’s indoor mask mandate.

3. The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Yo-jong hinted at the possibility that North Korea will launch an ICBM at a normal angle to verify its technology.

1. North Korea said it fired a launch vehicle carrying a "test-piece satellite" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on Sunday. This contradicts South Korean military's report of mid-range ballistic missile launches detected that day.

2. Japan approved a new national security strategy on Friday. Under the strategy, Japan’s defense spending will boost to about 2% of Japan’s GDP, marking one of the country’s biggest military buildups since the second World War.

3. South Korea’s three opposition parties, Democratic Party, Justice Party, and the Basic Income Party, on Monday agreed on the details of a parliamentary probe into the Itaewon tragedy, without the participation of the ruling People Power Party.

1. The UN General Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution condemning grave human rights violations in North Korea. It is the 18th consecutive year the UN has adopted a resolution on the topic.

2. The European Central Bank on Thursday hiked its borrowing costs, by 50 basis points,slowing down the pace of increase, but pledged to keep clamping down on inflation.

3. South Korea's unmanned space vehicle Danuri will perform its first lunar orbit insertion maneuver tomorrow to enter the orbit around the moon.