아리랑tv

Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Shin SeByuck

And we start with our top headlines at this hour.

1.

South Korea reported 635 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday... of which 613 were local transmissions.

Meanwhile, South Korea is planning to reopen in-person classes for all schools including kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools from the second semester in September.

The Education Ministry said on Wednesday that the plan is in accord with the country's upcoming new COVID-19 social distancing rules, which will take effect from July.

The reopening comes as the pandemic has been significantly hampering children's education and mental development.

The upcoming vaccination plan for teachers is expected to create safer environment for the reopening.

2.

South Korea reported its largest job growth in almost seven years last month.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of people employed amounted to 27-point-2 million in April, up 652-thousand from a year earlier.

By sector, the health and social welfare industry, transportation, warehousing and construction have all seen increased employment, while arts, sports and leisure activities have seen job figures plunge.

Meanwhile, the country's unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent in April, down point-2 percentage point on-year.

The number of non-economically active people also fell to 16-point-7 million last month, down 324-thousand on-year.

3.

Moody's Investors Service has maintained South Korea's credit rating at 'Aa2"... with a stable outlook.

That is the third highest level on the global rating agency's scale.

South Korea has maintained this level since 2015 when it was upgraded from Aa3.

The agency said the grading reflects the country's strong fundamentals,...citing its swift recovery from the pandemic.

Moody's also revised up its 2021 economic outlook for South Korea to 3-point-5 percent from its earlier forecast of 3-point-1 percent,...citing "strong demand for exports and accommodative fiscal strategy."

4.

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, is due to arrive in South Korea today for talks likely related to Washington's new policy on North Korea... and President Moon's summit next week with President Biden.

Those talks will reportedly take place tomorrow... with Seoul's National Security Advisor, Suh Hoon.

Haines is also reportedly planning a trip to the DMZ tomorrow and a courtesy call on President Moon.

Haines was just in Tokyo for trilateral talks with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts -- Hiroaki Takizawa and Park Jie-won.

They're expected to have discussed regional affairs, including North Korea and China.

5.

The head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Park Jie-won, held talks Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo.

Local reports said Wednesday that the two mostly discussed North Korea.

The meeting came after the Biden administration finished its policy review on the North.

Park left for Japan on Tuesday for trilateral talks, which also included the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines.

6. Lastly to local bourse,

South Korean stocks closed a bit lower than the day before.

Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 47 point 7 -- 7 points

to close at 3 thousand 161 point 6 -- 6 .

KOSDAQ fell 11 point 5 -- 1 points,

closing at 9 hundred 67 point 1 .

Moving to weather forecast.

Today will be a hot one for many western parts of the country. Seoul and Chuncheon will hit 27 degrees, Gwangju 29, while eastern regions will see highs near seasonal norms under mostly to partly sunny skies. Jeju will see sporadic rain in the afternoon.

It will be hotter through Saturday - feeling more like July with highs soaring to 29 degrees Celsius in Seoul, while Daejeon will be hotter, peaking to 31 degrees on Friday under lots of sunshine.

Then rain will start from southern regions on Saturday gradually spreading to the rest of the country by Sunday, and that rain will bring temperatures back to the seasonal norms.