25 h. ago South Korea’s top court overhauls handling of martial law trials to regain public trust

More than a year after former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law, the country’s top court has announced changes to how politically explosive cases are handled, as public anger over delays and alleged bias continues to mount. The Supreme Court said it would revamp procedures for high-stakes national security trials, including cases stemming from Yoon’s December 2024 martial law bid, in what it described as an effort to ensure swift and fair proceedings and...

Events

42 h. ago Japan demands response from Finland over beauty queen’s ‘slanted eyes’ photos

Japan’s top government spokesman on Thursday expressed concern over images posted online of the winner of a beauty pageant and some lawmakers in Finland showing them pulling back the corners of their eyes, a gesture widely regarded as racially offensive to Asian people. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara also said at a press conference that Japan expects the Finnish government to “appropriately respond” to the matter, which has been dubbed the “slanted eyes” scandal by Finnish media. Kihara...

Politics

60 h. ago Miss Finland scandal: Finnish PM apologises to East Asia for MPs’ ‘racist’ gestures

Finland’s prime minister apologised on Wednesday to citizens of Japan, China and South Korea after MPs sparked outrage by posting pictures of themselves making derogatory squinting gestures. The parliamentarians from the populist Finns Party, which is part of the right-wing coalition government, posted images on social media where they pulled back the corners of their eyes – widely seen as a racist gesture targeting East Asian people. They claimed to have shared the pictures in support of the...

Politics

63 h. ago Vietnamese woman’s death amid raid in South Korea spurs demand for visa policy change

The death of a Vietnamese woman in Daegu after she reportedly tried to evade a South Korean immigration raid has intensified scrutiny on the country’s restrictive work visa rules for international students who graduate from local universities. Vu Tu Anh, 25, died after falling three stories from an air-conditioning unit of a car parts factory where she had been working illegally, according to the Hankyoreh newspaper. She had hidden behind the unit as immigration officers cracked down on...

Events

64 h. ago South Korea reopens bitter debate on lifting ban on North Korean state media

A group of lawmakers from South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is seeking to relax a decades-old ban on North Korean websites like the online Rodong Sinmun, reigniting debate over national security and freedom of information. The proposed revision, drafted by Representative Han Min-soo and 11 other lawmakers, would allow people in South Korea to freely visit North Korean websites, while maintaining existing bans on distributing or actively promoting content that violates the National Security...

Politics

66 h. ago South Korean court rules Yoon’s martial law illegal as walls close in

Once South Korea’s top prosecutor and head of state, Yoon Suk-yeol now faces the courtroom reckoning of a lifetime, as successive rulings brand his failed attempt to impose martial law “unconstitutional and unlawful”, setting the stage for a verdict that could carry the death penalty. In one of the most consequential legal findings since the country’s return to democracy in 1987, the 21st Criminal Court of Seoul Central District Court on Monday declared that the 2024 martial law decree...

Events

3 d. ago Why South Korea is becoming China’s new bargain travel hotspot amid Japan spat

As Chinese tourists pull back from visiting Japan amid a diplomatic row, a slumping won is positioning South Korea as the new bargain destination for mainland travellers, analysts said. The Korean won has become Asia’s worst-performing currency in the second half of the year, weighed down by an interest rate gap with the United States and sustained equity outflows to the US market. In October, South Korea’s real effective exchange rate plunged to a 16-year low – falling even further than it did...

Politics

3 d. ago China ‘likely celebrating’ as Japan, South Korea clash over islets

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s revival of Tokyo’s claim to islets whose symbolic weight far outweighs their size has rekindled an old dispute that may play well with nationalist supporters at home, but risks derailing hard-won diplomatic progress abroad. Seoul swiftly shot down Takaichi’s assertion last week that the rocky outcrops, known as Takeshima to Japan and Dokdo to South Korea, belong to Tokyo. “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory,” the presidential office said in a...

Politics

3 d. ago Japan and South Korea clash over islets as old grievances resurface

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s revival of Tokyo’s claim to islets whose symbolic weight far outweighs their size has rekindled an old dispute that may play well with nationalist supporters at home, but risks derailing hard-won diplomatic progress abroad. Seoul swiftly shot down Takaichi’s assertion last week that the rocky outcrops, known as Takeshima to Japan and Dokdo to South Korea, belong to Tokyo. “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory,” the presidential office said in a...

Politics

4 d. ago All countries have responsibility to urge Japan to eliminate remnants of militarism: Chinese spokesperson

All countries have responsibility to urge Japan to eliminate remnants of militarism: Chinese spokesperson  news.cgtn.com

Events

4 d. ago India’s property market enters the big league but challenges remain

Numbers do not always tell the whole story. But they are revealing nonetheless. In 2013, direct investment transaction volumes in India’s commercial property sector stood at around US$1.3 billion. By contrast, in China (excluding Hong Kong), investment activity reached US$27 billion. In South Korea, transactions stood at US$12.2 billion, data from MSCI shows. The woefully low level of investment in India – a leading emerging market that at the time was already the world’s third-largest economy...

Politics

4 d. ago Martial law plot was Yoon’s plan all along, South Korean prosecutors say

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol began plotting to impose martial law barely a year after taking office, aiming to cling to power by provoking a military confrontation with North Korea, special investigators have found. Announcing the results of a 180-day investigation on Monday, special prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said Yoon and his closest aides had devised a scheme to form a military junta, suspend democratic institutions, seize control of the legislature and judiciary and eliminate all...

Events

4 d. ago South Korean police raid Unification Church headquarters in bribery sweep

South Korean police raided the headquarters of the cultlike Unification Church on Monday and named its leader as a suspect in the bribery of several high-profile politicians. The church, known for its mass weddings, is at the centre of a mounting scandal in South Korea over alleged payments to lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties. Prosecutors raided the church’s headquarters in Seoul on Monday as well as the imposing countryside residence of leader Han Hak-ja, who is already on...

Events

5 d. ago Is the US pushing South Korea to the fore in deterring a war over Taiwan?

Mounting US pressure on allies to bolster the first island chain’s defence in the western Pacific Ocean is raising concerns about South Korea’s possible but reluctant involvement in a conflict over Taiwan, analysts have said. In its recently released National Security Strategy (NSS), US President Donald Trump’s administration highlighted the importance of a “favourable conventional military balance” as an “essential component of strategic competition”, focusing on deterring conflict over Taiwan...

Events

7 d. ago Thailand, Cambodia both report attacks day after Trump’s claim of renewed ceasefire

Bangkok said Cambodian forces killed four Thai soldiers on Saturday, after the prime minister denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce was agreed to end days of deadly fighting. Cambodia and Thailand both reported attacks on Saturday, including on civilian areas, the day after Trump said that the two nations had agreed to renew a truce. Violence between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800 km (500...

Events

7 d. ago Thailand, Cambodia both report attacks after Trump’s claim of renewed ceasefire

Bangkok said Cambodian forces killed four Thai soldiers on Saturday, after the prime minister denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce was agreed to end days of deadly fighting. Cambodia and Thailand both reported attacks on Saturday, including on civilian areas, the day after Trump said that the two nations had agreed to renew a truce. Violence between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800 km (500...

Events

7 d. ago China, Japan and South Korea to hold health meeting despite rising Taiwan tensions

China, Japan and South Korea to hold health meeting despite rising Taiwan tensions  TRT World

Events

8 d. ago Why South Korea poses a major challenge to China’s Middle East arms sales drive

Rising tensions in the Middle East despite the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza are continuing to fuel demands for arms in a region where China has emerged as a major supplier. As well as supplying drones and missiles, China is looking to expand its offering into advanced weapons systems, such as fighter jets, but is facing increasing competition from a near neighbour: South Korea. While both have opportunities to expand arms exports, analysts said South Korea was relatively better positioned...

Politics

8 d. ago South Korea to end cosmetic surgery tax break that fuelled medical tourism boom

The impending termination of a long-running tax incentive that powered South Korea’s booming cosmetic surgery clinics risks driving away cost-conscious foreigners to destinations like Singapore and dealing an economic blow to the local medical tourism sector, industry groups have warned. South Korea launched the 10 per cent value-added tax (VAT) refund scheme in 2016 for visitors going under the knife for procedures such as facelifts, skin revitalisation, breast augmentation and double-eyelid...

Politics

9 d. ago South Korea’s threat to dissolve corrupt religious groups risks political blowback

South Korea is bracing for a showdown between political power and religious influence, as a widening bribery scandal linked to the Unification Church has thrust President Lee Jae-myung into a battle over how far the state should go in policing faith-based organisations. With allegations of illicit lobbying spreading across the country’s two major political parties, Lee has ordered a review of whether religious groups accused of systematic election interference and covert funding networks could...

Events