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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Key Kim

And we start with our top headlines at this hour

1.

South Korea reported 511 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the daily figure rising by almost 50 cases compared to the previous day.

483 of them were transmitted locally, with around two-thirds from the capital region.

These include cluster infections at a university hospital in Seoul and a missionary center in Gyeonggi-do Province.

There were also outbreaks at a Buddhist temple and a vinyl greenhouse in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

Variants from overseas remain a threat as well.

Out of Tuesday's 28 imported COVID-19 cases, more than a third are believed to come from India.

The virus claimed the lives of four more people, raising the death toll to one-thousand-879.

As for the vaccine campaign, first doses were given on Monday to another 8-thousand-341 people.

However, supply issues remain an issue as not enough doses are arriving on time to meet demand.

Some three-point-seven million people in South Korea have now received their first dose -- that's about 7-point-2 percent of the population.

A little over 2 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and one-point-six-six million the shot from Pfizer.

Around 77-thousand people have received their second

d dose,... raising that particular total to just under 600-thousand.

Authorities are hoping fresh batches from AstraZeneca will help vaccinations pick up pace.

Seven-point-two-three million doses will get delivered throughout South Korea starting Friday, and those waiting for their second dose are expected to be prioritized.

2.

The Biden administration is willing to share COVID-19 vaccines and other humanitarian aid with Pyeongyang to help the regime overcome the global pandemic.

CNN reported Monday that, according to sources familiar with internal discussions, Washington believes that North Korea will not be ready to engage with the U.S. until the threat of COVID-19 has gone.

In the meantime, sources say North Korea has acknowledged receipt of the Biden administration's recent offer to explain its new policy, and experts say this is a positive sign.

A decision on those initial talks is expected to be made after Pyeongyang finishes its own high-level reviews.

3.

America's Director of National Intelligence is reportedly be travelling to Seoul on Wednesday.

This follows a trilateral meeting held in Tokyo with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts.

According to ANN, Avril Haines is planning to visit the DMZ.

Consultations are reportedly underway to arrange meetings with President Moon Jae-in and National Security Advisor (서훈)Suh Hoon.

On Wednesday, the nation's intel chief (박지원)Park Jie-won will meet with Haines as well as his Japanese counterpart Hiroaki Takizawa(히로아키 타키자와).

They are likely to discuss issues related to Pyeongyang and Beijing, including the Biden administration's new North Korea policy.

4.

South Korea's Ministry of Industry says that it is inspecting the cybersecurity readiness of the nation's energy-related infrastructure.

Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook on Tuesday held a virtual meeting with officials from state-run energy firms... to prepare for potential cyberattacks.

This comes after a major network of fuel pipelines in the U.S. were shut down... following a ransomware attack last Friday by hackers demanding money... raising concerns over a spike in fuel prices.

Minister Moon added that they'll monitor the situation in the U.S. closely and any potential impact on the global energy market.

5.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is known to be planning a virtual meeting on the semiconductor chip shortage.

On the May 20th meeting is expecting both chip suppliers as well as their consumers based on the invitations sent to the companies.

The invited companies include General Motors, Ford, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing…and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

Moving to weather forecast,

Tomorrow will be quite warm. Readings will be on a rising trend from this point on for central regions, including the Seoul metropolitan area. On Thursday and Friday, the capital will see sweltering conditions with daytime highs getting up to 29 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, clean air has been restored in the capital area. The nation’s air quality will continue to remain in the "good" category tomorrow. And while winds will diminish later tonight, layers of fog will develop across the coastal areas of the south and the west.

Patches of thin clouds will pass over for the morning hours across the nation, while Jeju Island will see light showers. The capital will start off at 15 degrees Celsius, which is about 5 degrees warmer than today.

59:30’

The current temperatures are:

_______ degrees in Seoul

_______ degrees in Pyeongchang

_______ degrees in Busan

And _______ degrees on Jejudo Island

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