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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 reported 525 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.

With South Korea's daily COVID-19 tally falling -- health authorities aim to further consolidate this trend ,... aiming to bring daily cases down below 500.

Meanwhile, South Korea on Friday started vaccine rollouts for ages 70 to 74.

More than 11 percent of the eligible recipients reserved their spots for the jab.

So far, at least 7 percent of South Korea's population have completed at least the first round of inoculations.

2.

The Japanese government has extended the state of emergency imposed on Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures until the end of this month.

The measure was put in effect in April and was due to expire on Tuesday next week.

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the country reported 6-thousand-and-49 new cases on Friday,... the highest daily tally since mid-January.

The current situation, with less than three months to go until the Summer Olympics,... has caused International Olympic Committee officials to rethink their visit to Japan.

Head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto said on Friday,... that it is "very difficult" for the IOC Chief Thomas Bach to visit Japan later this month,... given the prolonged state of emergency.

Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech announced on Thursday a deal with the IOC,... to provide COVID-19 vaccines to athletes and officials preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.

3.

A fine dust advisory was issued on Friday at 1 PM for the Seoul capital area.

An hour later, this was upgraded to a warning as average hourly concentrations of particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, or "PM 10," surged to 6-hundred-10 micrograms per cubic meter.

The state weather agency also added, that a yellow dust storm which originated in the Gobi Desert has blanketed most of South Korea.

The latest yellow storm is expected to spread to almost all other parts of South Korea and affect the entire nation until Sunday.

As of 7 PM, the average hourly PM 10 density soared to 555 in Seoul and 758 in Suwon.

Yellow storm warnings are also issued over the five islands in the West Sea near the border with North Korea.

This is the first yellow dust storm warning for inland regions in 13 years.

4.

The G7 foreign and development ministers have voiced their commitment to the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of North Korea's ballistic missile programs.

The former IAEA deputy director says the change from "dismantlement" to "abandonment" could allow the regime to have civilian nuclear programs.

Meanwhile, South Korea's foreign minister Chung Eui-yong said on Thursday that the U.S. will inform North Korea of its new policy toward the regime.

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

Chung also said that the U.S. should appoint a special envoy for North Korea as the post remains vacant.

5.

President Moon Jae-in will be making a special address next Monday to mark his fourth year in office.

Cheong Wa Dae says the president will look back over the past four years... and explain how he plans to carry out state affairs in his fifth and final year in office.

It will be broadcast live at 11 AM, local time, from Cheong Wa Dae's presidential press center.

Moving to weather forecast.

Air condition will get worse overnight and levels will surge to "very bad" nationwide for the morning hours. Aside from the Gyeongsang-do province, the entire nation will see poor air quality for the daytime.

Tomorrow morning will start off with plenty of sunshine, but readings will be a few notches lower. Seoul will begin at 11 degrees, which is about 3 degrees lower than today.

The daytime will be much warmer, causing a contrast in temperatures. Seoul will get up to 22 degrees, Gwangju 24 degrees. Daegu and Gyeongju 26 degrees.

Meanwhile, strong winds paired with dry conditions will peak this weekend across the east coast. This will increase the risk of wildfires, so please take precautions.