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1. South Korean President, Yoon Suk yeol will meet with Indonesian President, Joko Widodo on Thursday. The two will hold summit talks at the presidential office in Seoul at around 7PM.

2. President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee attended the launch ceremony for a 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, dubbed the (정조) Jeongjo The Great. President Yoon called the destroyer a “national strategic asset” to his administration's efforts to reinforce maritime security.

3. The U.S. Fed hiked its interest rates by 75 bp for the second consecutive month as an effort to curb inflation. The 2.25 to 2.5% rate pushed the US rates above South Korea’s rates–which is currently 2.25%, for the first time since February 2020.

1. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut South Korea’s economic growth projections by 0.2% from 2.5% to 2.3%. This is lower than the 2.7% forecast made by the Bank of Korea in May and the OECD in June.

2. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement . On July 27, 1953, the ceasefire agreement was signed. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said he will prepare next year’s ceremony with all the best intentions and gratitude.

3. South Korea reported 100 thousand 2-hundred-85 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. This was the first time it exceeded the 100 thousand mark in 99 days. Figures also showed a record number of imported cases at 5-hundred-32.

1. The cabinet on Monday approved the revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the establishment of a new police oversight bureau, under the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The new Enforcement Decree will be implemented on August 2nd.

2. The US will host its first, virtual IPEF meeting on Tuesday for 2 days to discuss matters, such as trade and supply chains. Economic ministers from its partner countries, including South Korea’s Minister of Trade–Ahn Duk-geun, will take part in the meeting.

3. The president of Indonesia Joko Widodo will visit South Korea on Wednesday for talks with President Yoon Suk-yeol. South Korean national security adviser Kim Sung-han said that the two leaders will discuss the Yoon administration’s upcoming collaboration with the ASEAN countries.

1. South Korea reported 35-thousand-883 new COVID-19 infections on Monday. Starting from today, everyone arriving in South Korea will have to take a PCR test on the day they arrive. Only contactless visits to at-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals are allowed.

2. Starting from today, the National Assembly will hold a three-day interpellation session on government policies which is the first since the inauguration of the Yoon administration. Question-and-answer sessions on politics, foreign affairs, unification and national security will be held.

3. On Saturday, Russian missiles striked military infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa. This came a day after Ukraine and Moscow signed a deal that would allow Ukraine to resume grain exports from its Black Sea ports.

1. The ruling and the main opposition party of Friday came to an agreement on the formation of the parliamentary committee after 53 days of hiatus, allowing the National Assembly to restart operations.

2. Poland decided to import 300 more K2 tanks than initially planned from South Korea, bringing the total number to 1 thousand K2 tanks from Seoul. These additional 300 tanks will raise about 17 trillion won or 13 billion USD worth of exports to Korea.

3. South Korea reported 68-thousand-632 new COVID-19 infections on Friday. This is nearly 1.8 times higher than what was reported last week. The number of critically ill patients doubled in just one week to 130.

1. The Yoon administration announced its first planned tax code revision for 2022 on Thursday. One of the key changes is to lower the top rate of corporate tax to 22%. Other changes include real estate taxes and income tax among the people with low income.

2. South Korea’s top diplomat, Minister Park Jin said on Wednesday that South Korea and Japan agreed to talk about the “possible normalization” of GSOMIA–the intelligence sharing pact, and a possible “lifting” of export restrictions by Japan on Korea.

3. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday some executive steps on climate while considering issuing a climate emergency declaration. This announcement took place against the backdrop of record-breaking heat waves in the U.S.

1. South Korea reported 76-thousand-402 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. The government has also secured 4 thousand more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and has prohibited in-person visits to at-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals.

2. South Korea on Tuesday confirmed the first successful test flight of Korea’s homegrown fighter jet, the KF-21 “Borame(보라매)”. South Korea is now the world’s 8th country to have developed supersonic fighter jets.

3. Seoul’s finance ministry said on Wednesday that concerns about an economic slowdown have been brought up in its monthly economic assessment report, the Green Book. The report said that rising inflation and hampered export growth can cause the economy to lose steam.

1. On Tuesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss economic conditions, and he said that he is sure that the Korea-US alliance will be even more strengthened across various sectors, including the military and economy.

2. Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at his official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday, and conveyed President Yoon’s will to improve the Seoul-Tokyo relations. Park also sent his condolences for the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

3. South Korea reported 73-thousand 5-hundred-82 new COVID-19 infections today.  It is the first time that the daily tally has surpassed the 70-thousand mark in 83 days. Meanwhile, 91 critically ill patients have also been reported.

1. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin traveled to Tokyo on Monday to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart.  During his 3-day visit Park is set to discuss pending bilateral issues, including drawn-out disputes over compensating the Korean victims of wartime forced labor.

2. South Korea and the U.S. have been holding combined military drills involving a high-tech training system, in efforts to sharpen deterrence against North Korea’s evolving security threats. The 11-day training got under way on July 11th, and involved 43-hundred South Korean troops and 300 U.S. troops.

3. The ruling People Power Party and the government have vowed all out efforts to fight inflation and the debt burden on people in South Korea. Among the measures include plans to switch to fixed-rate mortgages for some homeowners.

1. The Korean currency against the U.S dollar reached the 1,320-level on Friday, for the first time in about 13 years, which will highly increase the possibility of inflation at a faster pace than expected.

2. Japanese media outlet, NHK reported on Thursday that South Korea and Japan are adjusting the schedule for Foreign Minister Park Jin’s visit to Japan to meet with top Japanese officials including Prime minister Fumio Kishida, starting from next Monday.

3. South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections tallied 38-thousand 8-hundred-82 on Friday, which doubled from the figure from a week earlier.