NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The government COVID-19 vaccination task force says that as of the midnight of Monday, over 15 million people were vaccinated with at least the first dose. It amounts to some 19 percent of the nation's population. The government will focus on giving the second shot to the elderly and high-risk groups by the end of this month. Starting next month, it will then re-accelerate efforts to administer the first jabs to those unvaccinated. Th government said it has already reached the target of vaccinating over 13 million people in the first half. Noting this accomplishment, the government expects a total of 36 million people will receive the first shot by September and the nation will be able to develop herd immunity earlier than planned.
The Korea Customs Service says the nation exported an estimated 32.4 billion dollar worth of products during the first 20 days of June. It is up 29.5 percent year on year. Outbound shipments of semiconductors grew 28.5 percent, followed by automobiles, petroleum products and telecom devices. The nation's imports increased some 29 percent to 32.1 billion dollars during the same period. Especially, inbound shipments of crude oil surged over 124 percent.