Seoul: The number of heat-related illness cases is rising at the fastest pace on record this summer amid scorching heat, health authorities said Thursday, urging vulnerable groups to take extra precautions. A total of 1,228 patients have visited emergency rooms for heat-related conditions as of Wednesday since mid-May, when authorities launched the heat-related illness surveillance system, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
According to Yonhap News Agency, a special counsel team has vowed to thoroughly investigate allegations that former first lady Kim Keon Hee took bribes in the form of business sponsorships while organizing exhibitions as then head of a cultural contents company. The team, led by special counsel Min Joong-ki, said it has reviewed past investigation records regarding the allegations stemming from Kim's time as CEO of Covana Contents.
Diplomatic sources mentioned that South Korea, the United States, and Japan are arranging to hold three-way talks among their senior diplomats in Malaysia. The talks, if held, will take place among First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on the sidelines of multilateral meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, South Korean stocks rose for the fourth consecutive session Thursday to climb to a near four-year high, driven by overnight gains in U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia that lifted semiconductor shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 49.49 points, or 1.58 percent, to close at 3,183.23, marking the highest closing level since Sept. 7, 2021, when the index finished at 3,187.42.