1. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired 2 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday morning. Following the launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged through security measures based on a stronger alliance with the US and Japan, and called the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the afternoon.

2. Defying diplomatic pressure from the US, OPEC and non-OPEC partners on Wednesday decided to impose deep output cuts. The OPEC-plus agreed to cut its production by two million barrels per day from November.

3. South Korea’s minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min announced on Thursday the organization plan that includes abolishing the gender equality ministry with most of its functions moving to a new department under the health ministry.