WEEKLY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (2024.05.25)

Welcome to Weekly News Highlights, where we bring you some of the biggest stories that made the headlines this week.
I'm Song Yoo-jin here at Arirang's virtual studio.
South Korea and the United Kingdom co-hosted a two-day summit on Artificial Intelligence in Seoul this week, a follow-up to last November's first AI Safety Summit in the UK.
What did world leaders and some of the biggest IT giants discuss and agree on?
As widely expected, the Bank of Korea froze its benchmark interest rate for the 11th time in a row at 3-point-5 percent.
We'll analyze the factors behind this decision and discuss when we might see rate cuts begin.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash alongside other high-ranking officials including the country's foreign minister. The country's state media reported that the crash was caused by an unspecified "technical failure."
We start this week with the AI Seoul Summit, held jointly by South Korea and the UK from Tuesday to Wednesday.
World leaders promised to bolster global cooperation to advance AI safety, innovation, and inclusivity, while IT giants pledged to develop the technology safely.
Our Presidential Office correspondent Oh Soo-young has more on the key takeaways from the summit.
Artificial Intelligence isn't just a focus for global leaders and tech giants.
It's also becoming more embedded in our daily lives through AI chatbots, AI-equipped computers, and smartphones.
What do users see as the benefits and drawbacks?
Our Ahn Sung-jin takes a closer look.
And it seems that semiconductors are playing a big part in driving Korea's robust exports.
According to the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday, exports in the first twenty days of May rose 1-point-5 percent compared to the same period last year, coming to a total of over 32-point-7 billion U.S. dollars.
The semiconductor industry saw a large jump of 45-point-5 percent during this period, while auto exports shrank by just over 4 percent.
Expectations are high that the value of outbound shipments for May overall will continue the trend of rising exports --and record an eighth straight month of on-year growth.
However, the purchasing power of households in Korea is heading in the opposite direction.
The country's real household income for the first quarter, adjusted for inflation, saw the sharpest on-year fall in seven years.
Our Park Kun-woo tells us why.
Switching gears.
The defense ministers of South Korea and Japan are expected to hold talks in Singapore later this month on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-la Dialogue. Eyes are on whether this meeting could lead to the resumption of bilateral defense exchanges, halted since the 2018 patrol aircraft dispute.
Our defense correspondent Choi Min-jung reports.
In other news, South Korea is set to hold the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council next month, for the first time in 10 years.
The country's top envoy to the UN said he hopes this could push for in-depth discussions on cybersecurity and other global issues.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
The world was rocked by the shocking death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
He and the country's foreign minister, along with several others, were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in fog near the Azerbaijan border on Sunday.
So, what's next for Iran after the death of its second most powerful leader?
Experts say immediate changes in Iran's ruling system or major policies are unlikely as these are decided by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, Raisi, regarded as a hardliner and conservative, was widely seen as a potential successor to Khamenei and had substantial backing from the leader himself. Khamenei served as president before becoming Supreme Leader in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The other suggested successor is Khamenei's second son, but a hereditary succession could pose a legitimacy crisis as the country was established as an alternative to monarchy.
In the long term, this could open the door for other factions or figures to emerge as serious contenders, which could bring about changes to Iran's domestic and foreign policies...
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2024-05-25, 12:00 (KST)

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