4월 17일 12시 55분 아리랑 라디오 영어뉴스 Arirang Radio News

Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Kwon Joo-hyun

And we start with our top headlines at this hour,

1.

As tensions remain high here on the Korean peninsula,

Seoul and Washington allies are heading in to their largest joint air drills.

The South Korean Air Force from Monday

is holding large-scale joint drills

with the U.S. military at Gwangju air base.

The exercises, code-named Korea Flying Training,

will run until next Friday, featuring about 110 aircraft in total.

2.

South Korea and Japan will hold director-level talks on diplomacy and security in Seoul on Monday for the first time in five years,...

as a follow-up measure to the Yoon-Kishida summit last month.

The 12th Korea-Japan Security Policy Consultation

will be held at the Foreign Ministry

in Jongno-gu district in central Seoul,...

with two officials from each side.

Monday's meeting comes as leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to bolster diplomacy and defense,...

amid intensifying threats from North Korea.

During today's talks,...

the two sides are expected to discuss cooperation in related fields,... while also coming up with countermeasures

against North Korean provocations.

3.Now over in Japan,

The G7 ministers' meeting in Sapporo ended with a statement

that failed to welcome Tokyo's plan to release

contaminated Fukushima water.

The G7 meeting of climate, energy, and environment ministers

from seven major countries was held in Sapporo city,

Japan over the weekend,

and ended with the adoption of a joint statement.

The statement welcomed the scientific dismantling

of the Fukushima nuclear power plant,

which is being conducted in cooperation

with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and recognized Japan's transparent efforts.Regarding the discharge of contaminated water

from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea,

the statement also expressed support for the safety verification

of the IAEA.

However, according to Japan's Asahi Shimbun,

the phrase "welcome the release of contaminated water"

that the Japanese government wanted

was not included in the statement.

This is due to opposition from Germany's environment minister.

1.

A ship from the South Korean Navy fired near a dozen warning shots...

after a North Korean patrol boat

crossed over the de facto border

in the waters west of the peninsula on Saturday morning.

The ship from the North crossed over the maritime border,

dubbed the Northern Limit Line or NLL,

and sailed for almost 2 kilometers into the South's waters.

The ship stayed south of the line

for about 10 minutes before retreating.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Sunday

that they're not sure as to why--but they see it as unlikely to be an intentional provocation from the North.

The South Korean navy fired warning shots only when the North Korean ship remained unresponsive

to multiple communication attempts.

2.

South Korea saw a record number of working senior citizens...

last year... amid a rapidly aging society.

According to government data on Monday,...

the number of employed people in their 60s and above...

reached 5-point-6 million in 2022.

This marks the first time...

that the age group added more than 4-hundred-thousand workers

in a year...since 1963.

Moving to weather forecast,

After a chilly start this morning, we will have a warm afternoon across Korea.

Air quality has improved in central regions

but sunshine will be replaced by clouds as the day goes on

while southern provinces will be under sunny skies all day.

A pleasant afternoon is here

and most parts of the country will see 20 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

Seoul 18, Daejun 21 and Busan will hit 19 degrees.

Then rain clouds will form tonight.

Rain begins in northern parts of the country

before gradually spreading all across the country overnight.

Chungcheongnam-do and Jeollabuk-do Province will see up to 50 millimeters,

Seoul and the rest of the inland areas will see 5 to 30 millimeters.

Rain continues into Wednesday in southern provinces,

while the capital will see highs of 27 degrees on the same day.

Highs will range between  17 and 23 degrees Celsius.

As for the highs, Seoul will be 18 degree,

while Busan and Jejudo Island will be 19 degrees in the afternoon.

The current temperatures are:

___ degrees in Seoul,

___degrees in Suwon,

___degrees in Daegu,

___degrees in Busan

and ___degrees on Jejudo Island.

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