NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Schools across the nation started the 2020 academic year through online classes today, starting with middle and high school seniors. Earlier this week, the education ministry announced guidelines for how to check attendance and evaluate student performance during virtual classes. The rest of middle and high school students, as well as fourth, fifth and sixth graders in elementary school, will start taking online classes from next Thursday.
The Bank of Korea decided to keep its key interest rate unchanged at the current 0.75 percent, predicting this year's economic growth will be far lower than the initial projection of 2.1 percent. It noted a significant slowdown in the nation's economy, which is attributable to plunging consumption and decreased exports as well as sluggish investment in equipment and construction.
North Korea's parliament will hold a plenary session on Friday amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Supreme People's Assembly, the equivalent to South Korea's National Assembly, convenes a regular session around April each year to approve a budget proposal and decide on legal revisions and personnel appointments for key state agencies. Some 680 delegates are expected to attend this year's session.