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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hold a joint news conference in Andong on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
South Korea

South Korea’s Lee hails ‘deep friendship’ as he hosts Japan’s Takaichi in hometown

The talks in Andong, a city famous for its centuries-old folk village, come after the two met in Takaichi’s hometown of Nara in January.

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Semiconductors

Does China’s rapid chipmaking expansion threaten the global AI memory chip boom?

The Philippines

More than a missile? Why the Philippines wants Japan’s old Type 88

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US, Israel war on Iran

Spirit collapsed under high fuel costs. Some Asian airlines could be next

The head of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said direct financial support from governments required to survive the crisis.

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Spirit Airlines planes sit parked at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona. The US-based carrier ceased all operations on May 2. Photo: Getty Images/AFP
Spirit Airlines planes sit parked at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona. The US-based carrier ceased all operations on May 2. Photo: Getty Images/AFP
South Korea

Starbucks Korea boss loses job after ‘Tank Day’ promotion misfires

Sohn Jeong-hyun was fired following public anger over the campaign that was seen as mocking the anniversary of the Gwangju uprising.

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Japan

Russian hiker becomes Japan’s latest bear attack victim as a new record looms

After a year with more than 50,000 sightings and 238 injuries, Japan’s vanishing hunting communities are struggling to contain the problem.

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Japan

How a Japanese deal to appease Trump resulted in Texans protesting in Tokyo

Community groups from the Freeport area are urging Japanese financiers and ministries not to back fossil fuel infrastructure.

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A tanker carrying crude oil from Venezuela docks at Port Freeport in Freeport, Texas, on January 15. Photo: Reuters
A tanker carrying crude oil from Venezuela docks at Port Freeport in Freeport, Texas, on January 15. Photo: Reuters
South Korea

South Korea weighs the cost of stepping into Samsung’s US$400,000 bonus row

Seoul is considering using a rarely used emergency power to halt a strike that could cost the economy US$67 billion.

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North Korea

North Korea to turn southern border into ‘impregnable fortress’

Experts say the plans reflect awareness of drone and other types of hi-tech warfare amid the Russia-Ukraine and Iran conflicts.

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South Korea

South Korea weighs arbitration to avoid Samsung semiconductor plant strike

The world’s largest memory chipmaker and its South ‌Korean labour union will resume pay talks on Monday with a government mediator.

Samsung Electronics’ labour union members chant slogans during a protest against company’s compensation levels ahead of a planned strike in front of Samsung Electronics semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on April 23. Photo: Reuters
North Korea

North Korean footballers arrive in South, match tickets sell out

The rare visit comes as North Korea has in ‌recent years labelled the South its ‘most hostile state’.

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North Korean Naegohyang Women’s FC soccer team arrives at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
North Korean Naegohyang Women’s FC soccer team arrives at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
South Korea

Reality deficit: how South Korea lost the plot on AI

A viral ‘baseball goddess’, a wolf that never was and a deepfake epidemic. Generative AI is rewriting South Korea’s reality.

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Japan

Japan’s ‘ibasho’ sense of belonging helps disaster survivors heal, study finds

Research into the 2011 earthquake and tsunami shows fostering social connection and purpose helps survivors rebuild and staves off dementia.

South Korea

South Korea uses AI to prevent suicides, track crime on Seoul’s Han River bridges

AI sounds an alarm if it identifies a person staying for more than 300 seconds in a bridge’s ‘loitering zones’, allowing humans to swoop in.

A ship sails in the Han River after leaving the Jamsil pier in Seoul’s Songpa ward on September 18, 2025. Photo: Yonhap/EPA
Japan

Japan’s restaurant sector feels bite of sudden foreign worker visa freeze

The number of foreigners holding Type I visas in the food industry has reached roughly 46,000, on course to surpass the quota of 50,000.

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Diners visit a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo’s Asakusabashi district on April 15. Photo:AFP
Diners visit a yakitori restaurant in Tokyo’s Asakusabashi district on April 15. Photo:AFP
2026 Xi-Trump summit

Trump and his CEOs want China’s business – but has Asia moved on?

The US delegation went to Beijing looking for deals, but a ‘super cycle’ of capital expenditures across Asia is already fuelling enormous growth.

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Japan

To cut reliance on China, Japan eyes bespoke ship for rare earth extraction

Tokyo also aims to become a major global supplier despite the project facing technological, cost and geopolitical hurdles.

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Japan

Why Japan’s ruling party is pushing for 5% military spending

The ruling party is expected to debate raising outlays to as much as 5 per cent of GDP, in line with that of many Nato members.

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Japan Ground Self-Defence Force soldiers fold a US flag during a Balikatan drill in the Philippines on May 6. Photo: Reuters
Japan Ground Self-Defence Force soldiers fold a US flag during a Balikatan drill in the Philippines on May 6. Photo: Reuters
South Korea

Samsung union’s strike threat fuels fears of South Korea’s economic slowdown

The AI boom and SK Hynix’s profit-sharing arrangement with its workers have reportedly galvanised Samsung’s biggest union to take action.

Japan

Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ row stoked by statues abroad

The removal of wartime sex slave memorials in Germany and New Zealand has electrified certain LDP hardliners, risking a diplomatic rift.

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South Korea

‘Like whale bones’: South Korea’s war memorial sparks conflict over symbolism

Critics argue the Korean war memorial should not be in a space in Seoul long associated with pro-democracy protests and its imperial past.

A row of 23 stone monuments in central Seoul representing South Korea and 22 other countries that fought alongside one another during the 1950-53 Korean war. Photo: Park Chan-kyong
South Korea

South Korea adds ‘extreme heat emergency’ to first major alert update in decades

Over the past five years, the average number of heatwave days and tropical nights has surged nearly threefold compared to the 1970s.

Children play in a fountain at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul on April 26. Photo: Yonhap/EPA
Children play in a fountain at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul on April 26. Photo: Yonhap/EPA
South Korea

South Korea signals ‘phased’ support for US-led Hormuz mission after ship attack

Defence Minister Ahn said the support could include political backing, personnel dispatches and sharing of information and military assets.

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Japan

Japan’s Takaichi backs aide over smear claims against LDP rivals

Analysts say Japan’s prime minister used an ‘excellent non-answer’ to shield an aide against claims of orchestrating a smear campaign.

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Japan

Oil crunch drains colour from 1 of Japan’s favourite snacks

Calbee says it is using monochrome designs for some of its products, as the Iran war has caused a shortage of naphtha used in packaging.

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Calbee, a major Japanese snack food maker, says the switch to monochrome packaging for some of its products would not affect quality. Photo: Shutterstock
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