17 h. ago Hong Kong court orders trial to compensate Mo Li, dancer paralysed in Mirror show

A Hong Kong court has ordered a trial to determine the compensation sum to be paid to a dancer by his employer, after he was paralysed from the neck down in an accident at a concert featuring the popular boy band Mirror. District Court judge Phillis Loh Lai-ping said on Friday she believed that Studiodanz, Mo Li Kai-yin’s employer at the time of the accident, was “evading civil responsibility” as its representatives had failed to attend any hearings in the case and had been uncontactable. Loh...

Events

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...

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39 h. ago Jimmy Lai Trial: How China’s National Security Law has Changed Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai Trial: How China’s National Security Law has Changed Hong Kong  Bloomberg.com

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39 h. ago China influencer imitating Blackpink’s Rosé provokes debate about fandom

A Chinese influencer’s imitation of Rosé from the South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink at a pop-up shop has ignited an online debate over fan culture and celebrity identity. Rosé, who is known for her unique voice and versatile singing style, has more than 80 million followers on social media. The Korean-New Zealand singer’s career skyrocketed with the success of her solo track APT, after which she signed with top agency WME. A Chinese influencer called Daisy who identifies as a “blink”, the...

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...

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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...

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3 d. ago Open court, detailed ruling in Jimmy Lai trial ‘prove Hong Kong rule of law strong’

An open court and a detailed ruling in former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s closely watched national security trial have demonstrated the strength of Hong Kong’s rule of law, legal experts have said. Lawyers, including the Hong Kong Bar Association, on Tuesday urged members of the public to respect the city’s judicial process and study the High Court’s judgment carefully before drawing conclusions after several Western countries criticised Lai’s guilty verdict, prompting a strong rebuke from...

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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

3 d. ago After Work Friday Plans for Young South Koreans: Hanging Out in China

After Work Friday Plans for Young South Koreans: Hanging Out in China  RADII

Politics

4 d. ago Hong Kong court’s verdict in Jimmy Lai trial sheds light on law, experts say

The court’s verdict in former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s trial has shed light on the ways in which implicit acts and actions taken before the national security law came into effect may constitute criminal offences, legal experts have said. Lai, 78, was found guilty on all three charges he faced under the Beijing-imposed national security law on Monday, marking the first time a court had ruled on the offence of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The landmark verdict was...

Events

4 d. ago Jimmy Lai trial: Post sketches offer public a glimpse of courtroom moments

Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has been found guilty on all three charges after a landmark national security trial, nearly five years after he was first denied bail following his arrest. The 78-year-old businessman turned opposition activist, who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, was convicted on Monday of two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications. The high-profile trial...

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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 ‘palace’ in bribery sweep

South Korean police launched a raid on Monday to search the offices and compounds of the Unification Church in and near Seoul, including an imposing “palace” northeast of the capital that serves as its international headquarters, police said. The search is being carried out at 10 of the church’s locations, police said in a text message sent to reporters. Police officials could not be reached for further details. The sweep is related to allegations of illegal payments by the church to some...

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...

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4 d. ago Jimmy Lai trial: all eyes on Hong Kong as court set to deliver verdict

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. Three Hong Kong judges who presided over former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s high-profile national security trial for more than 1½ years are set to return their verdict on Monday. The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily has spent most of the past five years in solitary...

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