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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Key Kim

1.

We start with President Moon Jae-in's special address to mark his fourth year in office.

He looked back over the past four years... and explained his policy goals and tasks for his final year as president.

President Moon says his final year in office will be the most important as the government still has the task of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

He thanked the public for showing solidarity and coping the situation,... saying that there will be light at the tunnel as the government speeds up its vaccination campaign.

Moon said continued efforts will be made to procure more vaccines... and that the government is aiming to give first shots to the entire population by the end of September... and achieve herd immunity before the current target of November.

On the economy -- he noted that data showed a recovery, and highlighted that some international organizations are forecasting over four percent growth.

Moon vowed all efforts to achieve that goal,... adding that the government will be focusing on job creation... and providing support for promising industries.

The president also pledged to smoothly implement housing supply measures as planned,... while at the same time rooting out real estate speculation and carrying out reforms to make transactions more transparent.

He said it was a shame that his administration hadn't yet managed to stabilize the housing market.

Moon also said his final year will be the last opportunity to establish lasting peace on the Peninsula.

He said now it's time for action,... after a long period of deliberation.

The President welcomed the U.S. policy review on North Korea -- saying it is a realistic and practical direction that focuses on diplomacy.

He vowed continued coordination with the U.S.,.. and to seek ways to resume dialogue between Pyeongyang and Washington as well as between the two Koreas... during his upcoming summit with President Biden.

2.

South Korea on Monday began accepting COVID-19 vaccine reservations,...for the next group of senior citizens -- those between the ages of 65 and 69.

This is the second of the three-stage reservation program,...which covers people between 60 and 74,...who will be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The first reservation round took place four days ago,... for the oldest group -- those between 70 and 74.

After this second round,... the final group,... those between 60 and 64,...can book their shots from Thursday.

The actual inoculations will take place from May 27th to mid-June,...in phases,...starting with the oldest people.

In the meantime, South Korea has announced its preliminary review on Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine,...which was largely supportive of approving it.

And the country reported 4-hundred-sixty-three new cases on Monday.

That brings the figure back into the four-hundred range for the first time in a week,...partly due to fewer tests being conducted during the weekend.

Among the new cases,...the majority of the 4-hundred-36 cases were locally transmitted.

Of those,.. more than 60 percent were reported in the capital region.

The virus has claimed 1 more life, raising the death toll to one-thousand-eight-hundred-75.

3.

Severely ill patients who showed adverse reactions after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but couldn't get compensated due to lack of causal link... can now get support on their medical bills.

The amount of the support will be within the 10 million won, or roughly nine-thousand U.S. dollar limit per person that has been used for medical expenses for diseases that occurred after the COVID-19 vaccination.

South Korea's COVID-19 Vaccination Management Task Force announced Monday that they'll be temporarily helping out from next Monday.

People who got the shot or their guardian may visit the community health center to apply for the support.

4.

The death toll from the bombing outside a school in the Afghan capital Kabul has risen to 68… with 165 more injured and families searching for missing children.

Three explosions on Saturday evening shook the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood... home to a large community of Shi'ites…targeted in the past by the Sunni militant group.

Most of those killed were schoolgirls.

The South Korean government, together with the international community, has strongly condemned the attack.

The Taliban has denied responsibility.

5.

Private sector and government officials gathered today in Seoul to discuss "Inclusive Green Partnership" for the upcoming P4G summit.

During the pre-P4G summit event, the panels discussed five key projects, -- including restoring forest in Ethiopia, introducing water leakage management... and commercializing zero-carbon vessels.

Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, dubbed P4G summit, is scheduled on May 30th and 31st, here in Seoul.

South Korea has designated the week right before the summit as the "green future week"... during which various conferences will be held regarding the theme.

Moving to weather forecast,

Rain clouds are currently stretched out across Chungcheong-do, Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do provinces. The rain is concentrated in these areas, with about 20 to 60 millimeters in the forecast until tomorrow. Other regions such as Gyeonggi-do Province and Jeju Island can expect 5 to 20 millimeters. Some places could also see thunder and lightning.

This round of rain will wash away the yellow dust, bringing clean air nationwide. Showers are set to let up by tomorrow morning. After the showers, daytime highs in the capital will hover around 26 degrees for this week.

Morning lows tomorrow will be similar to today. The capital will start off at 11 degrees Celsius.

The current temperatures are:

_______ degrees in Seoul

_______ degrees in Pyeongchang

_______ degrees in Busan

And _______ degrees on Jejudo Island

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