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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.

The government is looking into adjusting the virus prevention measures from this July when most of the people over 60 would have received their first shot of the vaccine.

The Prime Minister earlier confirmed this as well, but for this to happen, the situation must not get worse.

Meanwhile, more South Koreans landed at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning aboard a special flight arranged by Asiana Airlines... which departed from New Delhi.

This is the fourth group this month and more than 700 Koreans have returned so far.

Of those who have returned, 16 have been confirmed to have the virus... and one of them is known to have the new Indian variant.

2.

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.

3.

India reported its biggest-ever single day COVID death toll of over 42-hundred on Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday, the WHO confirmed that the COVID variant first detected in India last October has now invaded 44 countries.

Outside of India, the UK has confirmed the largest number of virus cases caused by that variant.

Earlier this week, the global body upgraded the classification of the variant in India from "a variant of interest" to a "variant of concern."

Taiwan also reported 16 new cases on Wednesday, the most in a single day since the pandemic broke out.

While an origin of the sudden emergence of the cases is yet to be identified, local reports say the island may raise its pandemic alert level in coming days.

In the meantime, Japan continues to pile up virus cases, reporting over 62-hundred cases just on Tuesday.

Its third state of emergency since the beginning of the crisis is now in effect in six prefectures.

4.

The intel chiefs of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan met Wednesday to share their views on North Korea.

The closed door meeting held in Tokyo brought together Park Jie-won, chief of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Japan's cabinet intelligence director Hiroaki Takizawa.

While not much of the details of the meeting are known... they are expected to have discussed matters of mutual interest -- including North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

Meanwhile, Haines arrived in South Korea Wednesday afternoon for talks with officials here.... likely related to Washington's new policy on North Korea... and the summit next week between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Joe Biden.

5.

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.

Moving to weather forecast.

Until Friday, daytime highs in Seoul will remain at 29 degrees Celsius, while Daejeon will hover near 30 degrees. Temperatures are forecast to plunge this weekend though, as another rain system will spread showers nationwide.

But until then, as the nation will be under warm spells, UV rays will soar nationwide. UV levels will range from "high" to "very high" across the nation tomorrow. Make sure to apply sunblock when heading out. As for the fine dust, air quality will remain in the "good" category across the entire nation.

Meanwhile, sea waves will be higher than usual until Friday. Minor coastal flooding is possible, so please stay away from the waterfronts.