Briefly

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Propaganda broadcast into DPRK suspended

The Republic of Korea has halted the broadcast of a propaganda radio program into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Seoul's Defense Ministry said on Monday. The ministry said that it suspended the "Voice of Freedom" broadcast as part of its efforts to ease inter-Korean military tensions. It marked the first halt to the radio program in 15 years after the ministry had resumed it in May 2010. The ROK military dismantled propaganda broadcast loudspeakers installed along the border with the DPRK in August.

UKRAINE

Suspect arrested in shooting of lawmaker

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday a suspect had been arrested in the shooting death of former parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy. Zelensky said on X that a person was taken into custody after shooting Parubiy — a leading figure in the country's pro-European protest movements of 2004 and 2014 — in the city of Lviv on Saturday. No details about the suspect or a motive for the killing were released.

EAST ASIA

Japan, ROK see hottest summer on record

Japan and the Republic of Korea sweltered this year through the hottest summers since records began, their weather agencies said on Monday. Japan's average temperature between June and August "was 2.36 degrees above the standard value, which marked the hottest summer since records began in 1898", according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. During that same period in the ROK, the average temperature was 25.7 C, "the highest since data collection began in 1973", the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

Agencies - Xinhua