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July 12, 2026
 

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SOUTH KOREA

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at a court in Seoul on July 9, 2025.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 16, 2026
What to know as South Korea’s ex-president Yoon faces insurrection verdict
Seoul’s Central District Court will rule on Thursday on insurrection charges against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, delivering a verdict that will be broadcast live.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 13, 2026
Takaichi may visit South Korea in March
The leaders of Japan and South Korea are expected to confirm the stable development of bilateral relations, which have been improving.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s election win is fueling regional backing for Japan to take on a bigger defense role as Asian nations seek balance against China and shifting U.S. policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2026
Most in Asia want a stronger Japanese security presence — except for China
A more confident Tokyo complicates Beijing’s preferred regional order. For many of Asia’s middle powers, that makes Japan an appealing counterweight.
The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Feb 12, 2026
Koreans are shunning dangerous shipbuilding jobs envied by Trump
Shipbuilding is among South Korea’s most dangerous industries, killing dozens of people each year, prompting more Korean workers to avoid those jobs.
Singapore’s stalled birthrate reflects a broader pattern across wealthy Asian economies where higher living standards, shifting values and gender imbalances have made low fertility persistent and resistant to quick policy fixes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2026
Why Asia can’t undo decades of falling fertility rates
The challenge is shared by most successful nations. Ultralow fertility is a byproduct of rapid development and elevated living standards.
U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, Elizabeth Salmon, speaks during a news conference wrapping up her visit to South Korea in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 7, 2026
U.N. to give sanction exemptions on North Korea aid projects
Analysts say the move would allow those groups to provide humanitarian aid, such as nutritional supplements, medical equipment and water purification systems, to North Korea.
China’s promise of stability is undercut by its tendency toward coercion and control, leaving middle powers still reliant on the U.S. for security and deterrence.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2026
Memo to middle powers: Time for a reality check
Middle powers do not design the system they inhabit. They can maneuver inside it, but they cannot wish away the forces that set the boundaries of that maneuvering.
An electronic board displays the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and South Korean won, and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations at the dealing room of a bank in Seoul on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 5, 2026
South Korea’s fight for FX stability undermined by its Wall Street mania
The record appetite of Korean retail investors for U.S. stocks is fueling dollar demand as the won languishes at 17-year lows.
Students at a bus stop with an advertisement for instructors at a famous hagwon, or after-school cram school, in Gangnam, a wealthy part of Seoul on Jan. 28. Academic pressure has become so intense that even preschoolers are taking private extracurricular classes, raising worries about children's rights.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 5, 2026
In South Korea, questions about cram schools, success and happiness
Eighty percent of South Korean school-aged students now receive some form of private extracurricular education, according to government data.
The DEEPX booth at the 2025 Korea Tech Festival in Seoul in December. South Korea has enacted a comprehensive national law called the AI Basic Act to build public trust in AI technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2026
A breakthrough law won’t kill Korea’s AI revolution
The rest of the world will be watching closely. The nation has also become a live demo of how quickly the technology can spread throughout the real economy.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Nara on Jan. 13. Once a central diplomatic actor, Japan is increasingly absent as global power rivalries intensify.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2026
The cost of silence: Japan’s diminishing relevance
This diplomatic fade is more than a temporary slump. Japan is experiencing a crisis of international relevance at precisely the moment when the rules-based order is fracturing.
South Korea's former first lady, Kim Keon Hee, the wife of impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at the special prosecutor's office in Seoul on Aug. 6, 2025. Kim was sentenced to 20 months' jail for corruption on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 28, 2026
South Korea’s former first lady jailed 20 months for corruption
Kim Keon Hee, the wife of impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was acquitted of other charges that included stock manipulation.
A vehicle carrier cargo ship is docked near the Hyundai Motor plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The carmaker would be severely affected if the U.S. raises its tariffs on South Korea to 25%.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 28, 2026
U.S. trade spat with South Korea driven by tech laws and gridlock
South Korea is the latest nation to be singled out by U.S. President Donald Trump for moving too slowly on its trade promises.
People sit in front of a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 27, 2026
North Korea fires off two missiles as rare ruling party congress looms
Both weapons splashed down in waters just off North Korea’s northeastern coast, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Tourists take a selfie at Banpo Bridge in Seoul in August last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 27, 2026
Chinese tourists picking South Korea over Japan for Lunar New Year amid visa ease
South Korea is on track to overtake Japan as the top destination for Chinese travelers during the upcoming holiday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
A protester wears a mask of U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally condemning Trump's plans to raise tariffs on South Korea in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 27, 2026
South Korea reassures on U.S. investment pledge after Trump threatens to hike tariffs
The U.S. leader said Seoul was not living up to its side of the deal by swiftly enacting an agreement to make huge investments in business projects in return for tariff cuts.
Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Victoria sails in the vicinity of Esquimalt Harbor in Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 26, 2026
South Korean delegation heads to Canada to lobby for submarine project
Seoul is competing ​against Germany’s TKMS in a race to win the Canadian project for a new fleet ‍of up ⁠to 12 diesel-powered submarines.
South Korean special envoy Lee Hae-chan attends talks at the foreign ministry in Beijing in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 26, 2026
South Korea mourns death of former prime minister who nurtured democracy
Lee Hae-chan, an influential fixture on the ​country’s road to democracy, died during an official visit ‍to Vietnam.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Tokyo on Jan. 16. Europe should follow Japan’s lead by clearly acknowledging the risks posed by China and Taiwan, rather than relying on ambiguity.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2026
Why Europe should follow Japan’s lead on Taiwan
The era in which strategic ambiguity could substitute for strategic decision-making is coming to an end.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 7.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 25, 2026
U.S. defense strategy downplays China threat and says it will limit support for allies
The document, which guides the Pentagon’s policies, is expected to rattle nervous U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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