11 h. ago China Deploys Over 100 Vessels in Largest Show of Force in East Asia to Date

China Deploys Over 100 Vessels in Largest Show of Force in East Asia to Date  JAPAN Forward

Politics

15 h. ago East Asia on High Alert as Beijing Deploys Unprecedented Maritime Armada

East Asia on High Alert as Beijing Deploys Unprecedented Maritime Armada  AnewZ

Events

15 h. ago East Asia on high alert as Beijing deploys large fleet into strategic waters

East Asia on high alert as Beijing deploys large fleet into strategic waters  AnewZ

Events

41 h. ago Bag, pen, workwear: how Takaichi became Japan’s unexpected fashion icon

The pledge by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year. The ultraconservative Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. Accepting her award from a private committee this week, Takaichi said she only wanted to stress her enthusiasm and that her comments had...

Politics

3 d. ago A year on from South Korea’s martial law crisis, some lives are changed forever

When South Korea’s leader declared martial law a year ago, one young woman blocked a tank, a civil servant resigned in protest and a lawmaker switched sides to remove him from office. They are among the many South Koreans whose lives were transformed on December 3, 2024. That wintry night, then president Yoon Suk-yeol interrupted national television broadcasts to suspend civilian rule for the first time in more than four decades. Soldiers and tanks deployed in central Seoul. Troops landed by...

Society

4 d. ago ‘Dying en masse’: Japan’s oyster farmers face ruin as waters heat up

Oysters in Japan are dying en masse in parts of the country’s top production area, likely due to warmer sea temperatures, officials said on Monday. In some coastal areas surrounding the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan – an area that accounts for more than three quarters of Japan’s farmed oyster production – around 90 per cent of cultivated oysters are dead. “I’ve never experienced this in my whole career,” said Tatsuya Morio, who has farmed oysters for more than 20 years. Shoichi Yokouchi, an...

Society

4 d. ago Unification Church leader denies knowing about gifts for Kim Keon

The leader of one of South Korea’s largest cultlike churches stood trial on Monday accused of bribing the country’s former first lady with gifts including a designer handbag and a diamond necklace. The arrest of leader Han Hak-ja in September rocked the Unification Church, which claims to have 10 million followers worldwide and controls a sprawling business empire. The 82-year-old defendant, known to her followers as “holy mother”, also faces corruption charges over cash payments to a lawmaker...

Politics

5 d. ago Japan’s safe image cracks as car thefts, home intrusions increase

Japan has often prided itself on its orderly, low-crime society, but cracks in that image are widening amid rising car thefts and home intrusions fuelled by export markets and public complacency. At a seminar in May on car theft held by the Aichi prefectural police in central Japan, a man in his fifties listened intently – he was twice targeted in the past. When he woke up one morning in 2011, his prized Toyota Land Cruiser had vanished. Then, one night in 2015, he found a bicycle blocking his...

Politics

5 d. ago North Korean air force to gain ‘strategic assets’ amid heightened tensions

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the country’s air force would be equipped with “new strategic military assets”, state media said on Sunday. Kim made the announcement at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the North Korean air force on Friday, accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae, who is understood to be his recognised successor. The country’s expectations for the air force, which “will play a role in the exercise of the nuclear war deterrent”, are truly “great”, state media KCNA...

Events

6 d. ago India races ‘against the clock’ to rebuild its lost maritime muscle

Centuries ago, Indian merchants rode monsoon winds across the seas, their cargoes stitching together a maritime world stretching from East Africa to Southeast Asia. Today, as container ships queue outside clogged ports and great powers quarrel over access and tariffs, India is trying to sail back into that history – this time as a modern shipping and shipbuilding power. Standing before global investors late last month, a day after presiding over a glittering maritime industry showcase in Mumbai,...

Politics

8 d. ago Asahi admits cybersecurity ‘weakness’ after info of 2 million people stolen

Japanese drink giant Asahi Group Holdings said on Thursday an investigation has found that personal information linked to around 2 million customers and employees may have been leaked in a cyberattack that hit its domestic servers in late September. “I painfully feel the responsibility of management” with regard to the cyberattack, said Asahi president Atsushi Katsuki at its first press conference since the maker of Asahi Super Dry beers was hit by a system failure on September 29, acknowledging...

Events

9 d. ago ‘Turning point’: South Korea’s largest satellite launched on Nuri rocket

South Korea launched its largest satellite yet on its nationally developed space rocket early on Thursday, the fourth of six planned launches through 2027. The three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from the country’s spaceport on an island off the southwestern coastal county of Goheung. Aerospace officials said the rocket placed a 516kg (1,137-pound) science satellite and 12 microsatellites into a target orbit about 600km (372 miles) above Earth. The Korea Aerospace Administration said the main...

Events

9 d. ago Japanese mayor resigns over repeated hotel visits with married official

The mayor of Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma prefecture in eastern Japan, on Tuesday tendered her resignation after her repeated hotel visits with a senior city official, assembly members said. Akira Ogawa had long rejected calls from city assembly members to resign, saying that she did not have an affair with the official, who is married. But she made an about-face on Tuesday, submitting a letter of resignation, effective Thursday, to the chairperson of the city assembly, according to the...

Politics

1 week ago Chanel cosmetics, fur coats expose North Korea’s widening wealth chasm

North Korea’s wealth gap is reportedly widening, as luxury goods circulate among affluent border residents while ordinary citizens face growing extreme poverty. Economic disparities in areas near the Chinese border have become more pronounced compared with the period before trade resumed, according to Daily NK on Friday. In cities such as Hoeryong in North Hamgyong province and Hyesan in Ryanggang province, cross-border commerce through customs offices has increased, and the number of high-end...

Politics

1 week ago Former South Korean rock star implicated in US$136 million fraud scheme

A former member of the South Korean rock band Boohwal has been identified as one of 69 people implicated in a Ponzi scheme that collected more than 200 billion won (US$136 million) from illegal investments and stole 19 billion won. Police said singer Kim Jae-hee, 54, who once performed as Boohwal’s fourth vocalist, took part in promotional activities that helped recruit victims. According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday, Kim was among those sent to prosecutors on charges...

Economics

1 week ago South Korea’s US nuclear sub deal risks roiling East Asia’s waters

South Korea is set to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines with US approval and assistance, according to a joint fact sheet last week. That approval came following a meeting at the end of October between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump in Gyeongju. The agreement allows South Korea to build its first nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be conventionally armed and powered by highly enriched uranium the United States will help source. It also...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong student delegation pulls out of Japan exchange programme amid tensions

A Hong Kong student delegation has pulled out of a regional exchange programme in Japan next month amid an ongoing diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Tokyo. The Education Bureau confirmed on Saturday that Hong Kong would withdraw from this year’s Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths Programme, citing safety concerns. “In light of the recent increase in attacks on Chinese citizens in Japan and to ensure the safety of teachers and students, the Hong Kong delegation has,...

Events

1 week ago Japanese consumers fear curbs on eel delicacy ahead of global wildlife forum

At an eel restaurant near Tokyo, four friends sit down to eat a Japanese delicacy now the subject of a heated international debate as its numbers decline. The eel, hugely popular across Japan, is also endangered and will be discussed at a key global forum that regulates the trade of threatened wildlife, starting in Uzbekistan on Monday. “It’s a luxury dish that we eat to treat ourselves or to celebrate an occasion,” Yukiko Takahashi, a 52-year-old saleswoman, said as she tucked into her food at...

Politics

2 w. ago Helmsman’s phone distraction blamed for South Korean ferry grounding

A South Korean ferry ran aground after the helmsman became distracted by his mobile phone, a member of the coastguard said on Thursday. All 267 passengers and crew were safely brought to a nearby port after the ferry crashed on an uninhabited island off South Korea’s southwestern coast. The passenger vessel was travelling from Jeju Island to the port city of Mokpo when it ran aground after 8pm (local time) on Wednesday, authorities said. A preliminary investigation found that “the officer...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Don’t trust the pension system’: why young South Koreans back later retirement

Kim Sung-ho, 38, an office worker, said he is increasingly open to the idea of raising the retirement age in South Korea. “A few years ago, I opposed extending the retirement age,” he said. “But now, living costs and housing prices are getting higher. I worry more about my own future. I think I will need a stable source of income until I get older. Extending retirement age isn’t about the older generation any more. It’s about preparing for the future for my generation too.” Similarly, An...

Politics