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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 on Friday reported 525 new COVID-19 cases,... staying below the 600 mark for the second straight day.

The greater Seoul area remains a virus hotspot as more than 63 percent of the local cases coming from the region.

As of Friday,... around 7 percent of the total population in Korea have received the vaccine. Health authorities are aiming to give vaccines to 13-million people by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, the 203 South Korean nationals who left India on Thursday have arrived home,... part of the country's efforts to bring back its nationals from the virus-hit country.

The passengers were on board a special Asiana Airlines chartered flight -- the second out of the twelve flights scheduled for this month.

Another 170 nationals are set to arrive on Sunday.

2.

The South Korean government says it will focus on economic policies to ensure GDP growth of over 3-point-5 percent this year.

In its economic policy report released on Friday,... the Finance Ministry cited data from the International Monetary Fund,... that forecast South Korea's average GDP growth for 2020 to 2021 to reach 1-point-3 percent.

This is far above the average of two-tenths of a percent expected for advanced economies.

The report highlighted that the country has shown resilient export recovery despite the global health crisis, and is working on speedy implementation of support projects for small business owners and those whose employment is at risk due to the pandemic.

3.

South Korea's foreign minister says the U.S. will inform North Korea of its new policy toward the regime.

Speaking to South Korea's Yonhap News, Chung Eui-yong said he expects the U.S. to explain it to Pyeongyang in detail.

This week in London, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared the details with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.

Chung said the policy was "practical and realistic."

He added the U.S. should appoint a special envoy for North Korea as the post remains vacant.

4.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has voiced concern over rising asset prices in the stock market, saying that it poses a high threat to the financial system.

In its latest report on Thursday, the central bank warned that prices of stocks and assets are rising to levels that could leave investors with big losses.

In a statement accompanying the report, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said the situation needs to be watched closely and noted the importance of making sure the financial system is resilient.

With valuations and risk appetite at elevated levels, she called for strong safeguards and tools to address risks to financial stability.

Thursday's report also noted that risks associated with the course of the pandemic remain relatively high.

5.

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 11th month in a row in March.

The Bank of Korea said Friday that the surplus came to around seven-point-eight billion U.S. dollars, up about 32 percent on-year.

In the first quarter, South Korea recorded a surplus of nearly 23 billion dollars,... more than 76 percent.

This growth was largely led by exports,... which jumped more than 18 percent on-year on March on strong automobile and semiconductor shipments.

6. Lastly to local bourse,

South Korean stocks closed a bit higher than the day before.

Korea’s benchmark KOSPI gained 18 point 4 -- 6 points

to close at 3 thousand 197 point 2 .

KOSDAQ gained 8 point 3 -- 1 points,

closing at 9 hundred 78 point 3 .

Moving to weather forecast.

Poor air quality lingers through tomorrow while the capital region and Chungcheognam-do Province will see very bad levels on Saturday.

Meanwhile, west of central regions including Seoul, east of Gangwon-do Province will have storm force winds.

The dust should clear late tomorrow while sunny conditions are in store for Parents' Day weekend.

Temperature readings tomorrow will be expected higher than today’s across the peninsula, as Seoul and Chuncheon will be topping at 22, while Jeju will hit higher at 26 degrees Celsius.