WEEKLY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (2024.06.22)

Welcome to our viewers tuning in. You're watching Weekly News Highlights where we bring you some of the biggest stories that made the headlines this week. I'm Song Yoo-jin coming to you from Arirang's virtual studio.
A summit that had been making headlines before it even happened finally took place. Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to North Korea in over two decades, meeting with the regime's leader Kim Jong-un. What groundbreaking discussions took place, and how might this impact the already high tensions on the Korean Peninsula?
With South Korea's total fertility rate plummeting to record lows, President Yoon Suk Yeol has declared the low birth rate a state emergency. We also have a story on how local governments are rolling up their sleeves to tackle this urgent issue.
K-culture fans, this one's for you! Planning a trip to Korea? The government has announced plans to pilot test the "K-Culture Training Visa" and simplify entry procedures to the country.
After North Korea and Russia siged a deal to mutually assist each other in the event of an attack, South Korea has vowed to take a strong response and says it will even re-examine the idea of weapons support for Ukraine. In response, Putin warned that supplying weapons to Kyiv would be a "big mistake" and would lead to "decisions that are unlikely to please the current South Korean leadership." Our senior Presidential Office correspondent Oh Soo-young has the details.
A day after this border incursion, South Korea's Navy announced Wednesday that three P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft equipped with the latest anti-submarine warfare technology had arrived at its air command in Pohang. The multi-mission aircraft, produced by Boeing, are capable of advanced target acquisition and surveillance using radar and are equipped with anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and depth charges. The Navy said this will strengthen its warfare capabilities against North Korean submarines, and facilitate joint maritime operations with the U.S. Navy. Three more Poseidons are due to arrive at the end of this month. The planes will enter into service in 2025 after acclimatization exercises for their crews.
Turning to domestic concerns, Korea's total fertility rate hit fresh lows for both the first quarter of this year and last year as a whole. President Yoon Suk Yeol, who called the plummeting birthrate a "national emergency" a few months ago, officially declared the issue a state of emergency on Wednesday. Our Presidential Office correspondent Kim Do-yeon reports.
To tackle the low birth rate, both central and local governments are going all out to encourage the younger generation to meet their other half and start a family. Our Kim Bo-kyoung shows us some of the fascinating initiatives that have grabbed attention not only in Korea but around the world.
On a brighter note, South Korea has climbed to its highest-ever position in the annual World Competitiveness Ranking by the Institute for Management Development. Our economics correspondent Lee Soo-jin explains what this index is and what boosted Korea's performance this year.
Staying with the domestic economy. South Korea recorded its largest-ever current account deficit with China last year, but also the largest-ever current account surplus with the United States. According to the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, South Korea's overall current account balance recorded a surplus of more than 35 billion U.S. dollars last year, up from around 25 billion U.S. dollars from the year before. This was mostly driven by its current account surplus with the United States surging from nearly 69 billion dollars in 2022 to 91 billion dollars last year, the largest current account surplus with the United States on record since related data was first collected...
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2024-06-22, 12:00 (KST)

[@TrrrollinCuzItsFun-Relax]

Why can't they extend this alliance to South Korea and the U.S.😳
Why can't we all just get along...... dayum!😭