Welcome to Arirang News This is Kim Ji Eun, And We start with the top headlines at this hour #1 The world is closely watching this summit in Pyongyang. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea for his first visit in 24 years pledging strong support for the regime. Meanwhile, Washington is voicing concerns over deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. The White House spokeswoman has urged Putin to convey to Kim that only political and diplomatic ways should be used to resolve issues on the Korean Peninsula, as he agreed during the previous summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Putin arrived at Pyongyang International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and was welcomed by the North''s leader at the airport. #2 Moving on, While Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting North Korea, the chief of China''s Jiangsu Province, has arrived in South Korea for a two-day visit. Xin Changxing, the Communist Party Secretary of the province met with South Korea''s trade minister on Wednesday. He''s also set to meet with businesspeople in the country. Jiangsu Province, located on the east coast of China, has the second largest economy among provincial governments in the country, and has close trade and investment ties with South Korea. Seoul''s foreign ministry said it expects this opportunity to boost practical cooperation between the two countries. #3 Meanwhile, Three P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, equipped with the latest anti-submarine warfare technology, have arrived at its air command in Pohang. That''s according to South Korea''s Navy on Wednesday. The multi-mission aircraft produced by Boeing, are capable of advanced target acquisition and surveillance using radar, and are equipped with anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and depth charges. The Navy said this will strengthen its warfare capabilities against North Korean submarines, and facilitate joint maritime operations with the U. S. Navy. #4 A population state of emergency has been officially declared in South Korea with the government expecting the fertility rate to fall to 0-point-6-5 in 2025. This coming as President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday presided over a Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy meeting the second time to do so. The President added that three areas will be the focus of the government''s all-out efforts. Work and family life balance, childcare, and housing. President Yoon has called the current low birthrate a national emergency before and said he will create a new ministry for this, and have its minister be the deputy prime minister for social affairs a role the current education minister holds showing the new role''s significant power and responsibility. #5 Switching gears to economy, Recent data has shown that South Korea’s exports are riding a high once again with the booming IT and auto industries. The Trade Ministry revealed on Wednesday that outbound shipments between January and May this year rose by nearly 10-percent compared to the same period the year before, recording the second-highest sum ever for this period. In particular, IT exports such as semiconductors and computers showed a 40 percent rise and were responsible for around a quarter of total exports. Auto exports, in the meantime, recorded the highest sum on record. The country''s exports have seen on-year growth for eight months straight. Moving to the weather forecast, Today saw the hottest in summer-like weather appearing, with central Seoul soaring to 35 degrees Celsius, its highest temperature so far. In other metropolitan areas, Goyang moved up to 37 degrees. The scorching heat will continue tomorrow with Seoul again seeing 35 degrees during the daytime. On the other hand, Jeju Island will experience its first heavy rain from late tonight until the day after tomorrow. The current temperature are __________ Degrees in Seoul __________ Degrees in Daejeon __________ Degrees in Daegu __________ Degrees in Busan And _________ Degrees on Jejudo island You’re listening to, Arirang Radio