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1. The ruling People Power Party won an overwhelming victory in the June 1st local elections, sweeping 12 out of 17 main races for big city mayors and provincial governors. As a result, the PPP entirely replaced the regional powers followed by central power.

2. The U.S State Department announced on Wednesday that special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, will visit Seoul from June 2nd to 4th, to participate in a trilateral meeting with South Korea and Japan. It said the three envoys will discuss North Korea’s recent provocation.

3. South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases on Thursday stood at 9-thousand 8-hundred-98. Meanwhile, the WHO says North Korea’s COVID-19 situation is getting worse.

1. Voting for June 1st local election and parliamentary by-election were held nationwide today. The result of this local election may determine the newly inaugurated Yoon administration’s power to push its agendas in the first year of its presidency term.

2. South Korean boy band, BTS met with U.S president Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday to discuss Anti-Asian crimes issues. BTS emphasized on “Asian inclusion and diversity” during the daily press briefing.

3. The United States will push for additional U.N. sanctions on North Korea should the recalcitrant state go ahead with its feared nuclear test, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday.

4. South Korea tallied 15-thousand 7-hundred-97 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday. Entrants to the country can only get one PCR or rapid antigen test starting from today.

1. The data from Statistics Korea on Tuesday showed that South Korea’s industrial production, consumption, and investment in April declined all together for the first time in 26 months.

2. The South Korean navy will deploy its largest ever armed forces to the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, which is set to take place in Hawaii from June 29th through August 4th. Rear Admiral. An Sang-min will guide the training for the first time.

3. South Korea saw 17-thousand 1-hundred-91 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. Meanwhile, authorities said that residential treatment centers nationwide will be closed down starting from tomorrow, except the one that is designated for foreigners.

1. Park Chan-wook and Song Kang-ho received Best Director and Best Actor awards respectively at this year’s Cannes Films Festival last Saturday, marking the first time South Koreans receive two awards in a single year at the Cannes.

2. The parliament passed 62 trillion won worth of the extra budget bill on Sunday. Compensation of the maximum 10-million won to each small merchant began this afternoon.

3. Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the U.S and Japan will meet in Seoul this Friday, amid North Korea’s on-going provocation.. Additionally, more high-level talks between the three countries are likely to take place this month.

1. Early voting for June 1st local elections and parliamentary by-election started early this morning. Voters can cast their ballots at any of 3-thousand 5-hundred-51 polling stations nationwide until Saturday.

2. China and Russia on Thursday used their vetoes against a U.S-draft UN Security Council resolution to strengthen sanctions on North Korea.

3. The White House announced on Thursday that South Korean boy group BTS was invited to meet President Joe Biden to discuss Asian hate crimes issues next Tuesday, in recognition of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

1. South Korean and the U.S defense ministers said Wednesday that the two countries will strengthen the extended deterrence to firmly and effectively respond to North Korea’s provocations.

2. The Bank of Korea increased its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1.75% after the monetary meeting today. Central bank’s two straight months of rate hikes is the first in 15 years.

3. South Korea saw 18-thousand 8-hundred-16 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday. Meanwhile, North Korea on Wednesday reported 105-thousand 5-hundred new suspected COVID-19 cases, and 0 death.

1. North Korea launched three ballistic missiles this morning, including one suspected to be the Hwasong-17 ICBM. In response to North Korea’s provocation, President Yoon Suk-yeol called to implement extended deterrence, while the South Korean military fired two surface-to-surface missiles.

2. The Bank of Korea is expected to increase the base rate by 0.25 percentage point on Thursday, following last month’s interest rate hike. The outlook of consumer price growth rate is also expected to increase over 4%.

3. South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections stand at 23-thousand 9-hundred-56 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, North Korea on Wednesday reported 115-thousand 9-hundred-70 new suspected COVID-19 cases, and zero death.

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol told CNN on Monday that the age of appeasing North Korea is over, adding that this approach has proven to be a failure over the past five years. He also said that China is overly sensitive to South Korea’s participation in the IPEF.

2. The Quad summit was held a day after the IPEF launching summit in Japan. The four leaders of Quad nations gathered in Tokyo to discuss ways to contain China’s growing powers in the Indo-Pacific region.

3. South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections stand at 26-thousand 3-hundred-44 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, North Korea on Monday reported 134-thousand 5-hundred 10 suspected COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload to nearly 3 million.

1. President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S president Joe Biden wrapped up their first summit over the weekend. Yoon also participated in the first IPEF summit virtually today, which was held in Tokyo.

2. Newly appointed Prime minister Han Duck-soo vowed during his inauguration remarks on Monday, that he will take the lead in “national unity and cooperation of politics.”

3. South Korea saw 9-thousand 9-hundred-75 daily COVID-19 infections on Monday, below 10-thousand in about four months. Also, people entering South Korea can both take a rapid antigen-test and PCR test, starting from today.

1. U.S president Joe Biden is going to kick off his three-days visit to South Korea with a tour of Samsung Electronics’ Chip complex, located in Pyeongtaek. Biden is slated to hold a summit with his counterpart, President Yoon Suk-yeol tomorrow. 

2. South Korea tallied 25-thousand 1-hundred-25 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The authorities decided to maintain the current seven-day quarantine measure for a month.

3. The National Assembly is to hold a confirmation vote on Prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo at 6 pm. Prime minister’s confirmation needs majority consent from the parliamentary members.