Focus on Headline Arirang Radio Podcasts

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday sat down for their first-ever meeting since President Yoon came into office in May 2022. The two met over tea at the presidential office, accompanied by three aides each.

2. South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-Pyo and Angolan President Joao Lourenco held a courtesy meeting on Monday. Angola's president is set to hold a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday, during his official three-day visit to South Korea which started Sunday.

3. According to the South Korean government's report on climate change released Monday, frequent occurrences of abnormal high temperatures last year resulted in flowers blooming two weeks earlier than 50 years ago.

1. According to a senior presidential secretary on Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol and opposition leader Lee Jae-myung will meet for the first time at the presidential office next Monday. The two sides reportedly agreed on the date following a third round of preparatory talks.

2. Seoul’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday that South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have held talks and agreed to bolster cooperation in the fields of export controls and technology protection.

3. Medical professors at all the “Big Five” general hospitals in Seoul have decided to suspend outpatient consultations and surgeries one day each week, amid extended work hours due to the trainee doctors’ mass walkout.

1. A special presidential committee on medical reform launched on Thursday and held its first meeting without the participation of doctors’ groups. The committee’s chairman said the members do not yet plan to discuss the medical school admissions quota.

2. According to data by the Bank of Korea on Thursday, South Korea’s real gross domestic product - a key measure of economic growth - increased 1-point-3 percent on-quarter in the January-March period, on the back of increased construction investment.

3. North Korea on Thursday decried the United States over efforts to build a new sanctions monitoring mechanism against the regime, and warned of “powerful practical actions” to build up its military strength, … as the mandate of a UN expert panel is set to expire later this month.

1. South Korea's health ministry on Wednesday expressed regret over medical professors' decision to take a day off on a weekly basis starting next week and urged them to engage in dialogue amid the prolonged medical vacuum in the country.

2. The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday a South Korean nanosatellite successfully communicated with its ground station after being launched into orbit from a spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand.

3. The Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday that North Korea has sent an economic delegation headed by External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho to Iran, a rare trip that raises suspicions of cooperation between the two nations over weapons programs.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis agreed Tuesday to boost cooperation in the defense and nuclear energy sectors as part of efforts to strengthen their countries' strategic partnership, during a summit held on the second day of the Romanian leader’s four-day official visit to South Korea.

2. The Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that North Korea has conducted a tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack involving super-large multiple rocket launchers, a day after South Korea said the North fired short-range missiles into the East Sea.

3. The main opposition Democratic Party and the presidential office on Tuesday said they were unable to confirm the schedule and agenda of the inter-party meeting, and had decided to hold a second working-level meeting in the future.

1. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday named People Power Party lawmaker Chung Jin-suk as his new chief of staff, the first personnel replacement since the party's crushing defeat in the April 10 parliamentary elections. President Yoon said the new chief will boost his administration’s communication with the public.

2. According to Nomura Securities of the Global Investment Bank on Monday, South Korea's fruit and vegetable prices have risen the most this year compared to G7 countries or Taiwan, which has a similar economic structure.

3. The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved over 60 billion U.S. dollars in military aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. The Ukraine aid was part of a 95 billion U.S. dollar package of national security bills that also includes 26 billion U.S. dollars for Israel.