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1. The U.S. Consumer Price Index for June was released on Wednesday and it shows that inflation rapidly rose by 9.1% on-year.

2. South Korean military officials said Thursday that South Korea and the U.S. have conducted its joint air drills since last Monday, involving their respective F-35A stealth fighters, amid North Korea’s nuclear test.

3. The Constitutional Court of Korea held an oral hearing on Thursday to decide whether to keep capital punishment.

1. The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5% point on Wednesday. The monetary policy board of the central bank explained that the big step was needed to combat inflation.

2. With 40-thousand 2-hundred-66 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the South Korean government released new anti-virus measures today. It says it will expand the age group for the 4th vaccine shots to 50s, while asking the people adhering to voluntary social distancing rules.

3. The Korean drama “Squid Game” earned 14 nominations, including the best drama series at the Primetime Emmy award this year.

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol resumed his brief press meeting on Tuesday, a day after the so-called doorstepping was suspended.

2. The South Korean military announced on Monday that it will hold large-scale joint drills with the U.S., starting from August 22 up until September 1st, as North Korea began its summer exercises.

3. South Korea saw 37-thousand 3-hundred 60 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, hitting two month-high figure.

1. The presidential office announced on Monday that President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to visit a memorial altar prepared by the Japanese embassy to South Korea for the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The administration is also set to send two cabinet members to Japan to deliver condolences.

2. President Yoon Suk-yeol began receiving briefings from each ministries and agencies on Monday, with the first briefing coming from the Finance Ministry.

3. The new U.S ambassador to South Korea, Philip Goldberg, arrived in Seoul on Sunday. He will kick off his official duty after receiving a letter of credence from president Yoon Suk-yeol.

1. Former Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday during an election campaign in the western city of Nara, and has reportedly passed away. Police said that the suspected shooter had served in the Japanese military.

2. The Yoon government tentatively confirmed on Friday to carry out a large-scale restructuring by shrinking the number of presidential committees to 7 from 20, with an expected reduction of 25 billion won yearly.

3. The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in South Korea tallied 19-thousand 3-hundred 23 on Friday. The authorities asked to stay vigilant, saying that the country is now seeing a resurgence of COVID-19.

1. The FOMC minutes for June released on Wednesday showed that the U.S FED will likely take restrictive policy to counter elevated inflation pressure, even though it would slow the pace of the economic recovery.

2. The G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting is going to take place in Bali, starting from today to Friday. Top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S, Japan, China, and Russia are scheduled to gather to discuss global challenges. 

3. The ruling People Power Party is set to hold an ethics committee meeting Thursday evening at 7 pm, to discuss a sexual bribery scandal involving leader Lee Jun-seok. Lee is also scheduled to attend the meeting to clarify his stance over the allegations.

1. South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections tallied almost 20-thousands on Wednesday, which was the all-time high in about 42 days. Meanwhile, the number of critically ill patients and the deaths stood at 61, and 7 respectively, on the same day.

2. The Foreign Minister Park Jin departed for Singapore to meet his counterpart Vivian Balskrishnan on Tuesday. Park will also attend the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia from Thursday to Friday local time.

3. The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Tuesday that the South Korean homegrown rocket, Nuri, has successfully catapulted its final cube, MIMAN, made by Yonsei University as of Tuesday afternoon.

1. Statistics Korea’s data showed on Tuesday that South Korea’s consumer prices soared 6% on year for the first time in nearly 24 years after the currency crisis back in 1997.

2. The South Korean government on Tuesday announced that it will expand the nuclear power plants to over 30 percent of the whole energy resources by 2030.

3. A tragic mass shooting occurred at an Independence Day Parade in Highland Park, in the suburbs of Chicago on Monday, killing at least 6 people and wounding more than 30 people. The authorities said that the suspected gunman was under police custody after a few hours of manhunt.

1. The Finance Ministry on Friday, showed concerns that the South Korean economy is at the risk of losing steam caused by a slump in investment and exports amid external uncertainties.

2. President Yoon Suk Yeol talked to U.N Secretary-General António Guterres over the phone on Friday, and called for a stern response against North Korea’s growing threats.

3. South Korean health authorities on Friday decided to extend the seven-day quarantine measures for four more weeks, expressing concerns of resurgence after lifting the rules. Meanwhile, domestic new COVID-19 cases stood at 7-thousand 1-hundred-98.

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol returned to South Korea on Friday after attending the NATO summit in Spain. Yoon held 10 bilateral meetings and 3 multilateral meetings at the summit.

2. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday that it will operate the market investigation to review the effectiveness of the fuel tax cut. The 2. government is to increase the fuel tax cut to the legal cap of 37% starting from today.

3. South Korea’s trade deficit in the first half of the year hit an all-time high with 10.3 billion US dollars.