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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Chung Myung Jin.

And we start with our top headlines at this hour.

1.

The authorities in South Korea are looking seriously at raising the level of social distancing as the country on Sunday reported more than 300 new cases of COVID-19 for a fifth straight day.

If the nationwide number of cases is higher than three hundred, on average, for a week, then the country goes to social distancing level two.

On Sunday, there were 3-hundred-30 new cases, 193 of them in Seoul and the surrounding province of Gyeonggi-do.

There were two more deaths, raising the death toll to 5-hundred and 5.

2.

US is also seeing a rapid surge in new cases of the virus with the total COVID-19 cases in US surpassing 12-million on Saturday local time.

That's another million new cases in less than a week.

Nationwide numbers are climbing up fast with nearly 200-thousand new infections coming out on Friday,... which is country's highest for a single day.

White House task force member for COVID-19, Dr. Deborah Birx expressed her concerns on how the rate of rise is dramatically different - being faster and broader.

Adding on to that,... the Centers for Disease Control has announced through its website…that most infections are spread by people who do not display symptoms.

The agency said 24-percent of spread are by people without symtoms,... with roughly one-third are from pre-symptomatic people.

Meanwhile,... the Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency authorization to the experimental antibody treatment made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,... which is given to the US President Trump when he was infected with the virus.

3.

President Moon Jae-in took part Sunday in the virtual summit of the G-20.

Moon emphasized the importance of global cooperation to overcome the economic and health crises posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To that end, he again called on countries to step up essential travel... so their economies can recover.

At Saturday's virtually-held G20 Summit,... President Moon Jae-in reiterated the importance of facilitating travel for essential people to ensure a swift recovery of the global economy.

This was the first day of a two-day meeting, and it was held under the theme of "Overcoming the pandemic and restoring growth and jobs."

Moon again highlighted the need for solidarity and cooperation in the international community.

Moon also stressed the need for fair and equal distribution of treatment and vaccines to put a complete end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He promised cooperation on Seoul's part to supply vaccines to developing countries.

The leaders of the G20 will meet again on Sunday for the last session -- under the theme of 'Building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.'

Following the summit, they will adopt a joint statement.

4.

The number of eco-friendly cars being driven in South Korea for the first time accounts for more than three percent of the total.

According to the government's official tally,... there are more than 7-hundred-60 thousand of them, including electric and hydrogen cars, registered as of the end of last month.

That's 3-point-1-6 percent of the total... and around four times the number there were in 2015... when they accounted for less than one percent of the total.

Under its Green New Deal policy, the South Korean government is spending billions of dollars to make electric cars cheaper and more convenient to use.

5.

In Premier League football, South Korean striker Son Heung-min has scored his ninth goal of the season to lead his Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-nil win over Manchester City.

Son is now the top scorer in the Premier League so far this season.

And thanks to his efforts, Tottenham are now the league's top team.

Moving to weather forecast,

Today is Soseol, when we see the first snow of winter, according to the traditional calendar. But instead, it is raining across the country under cloudy sky.

The estimated precipitation will be around 5 millimeters, which will stop in the afternoon.

The temperature will drop sharply and become chilly after rain.

Daytime highs will be 9 degrees in Seoul and 18 on jeju.

The current temperatures are:

_______ degrees in Seoul

_______ degrees in Daegu

_______ degrees in Busan

And _______ degrees on Jejudo Island

You’re listening to Arirang Radio.