1. South Korea's Disease Control and Prevention Agency said ahead of the Chuseok holiday that confirmed patients of COVID-19 "should refrain from gatherings with relatives.” This year is the first Chuseok that confirmed patients are not obligated to isolate since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Senior U.S. administration officials said Wednesday that Private Travis King, the American soldier who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea in July, is in U.S. custody. His release comes shortly after the Korean Central News Agency reported Pyongyang decided to "expel" him.
3. Oil prices surged 3% on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023, after a steep drop in U.S. crude stocks intensified worries of tight global supplies. Data showed that crude stocks at the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, fell to the lowest since July 2022.
