Economy

Delivery workers at Lotte Global Logistics march after holding a ceremony at a logistics center in Seoul on Tuesday to join a strike organized by the union of nationwide delivery workers. 
Society

Deaths of sleepless delivery drivers spark outcry in South Korea

Pandemic spurs massive demand in courier services, and excessive workloads

29 October 2020
It is time to shed the Samsung Nation moniker for good,
Opinion

Teflon Korea emerges relatively unscathed from COVID-19 crisis

Time to get on with the bold structural changes Seoul has been delaying for years

29 October 2020
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala speaks at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland in January. (Photo courtesy of the World Economic Forum)
Trade

US blocks African candidate for WTO chief with eye on China

American support for South Korean minister poses headache for Japan

29 October 2020
People cross a road in Seoul on Oct. 12, 2020. 
Economy

South Korea rebounds from COVID recession on export recovery

GDP grows 1.9% in third quarter, but service sector remains weak

27 October 2020
A Singaporean preschool class in the COVID-19 era: Across Asia, the pandemic is making some couples think twice about marriage and having kids.
Coronavirus

Singapore and rest of aging Asia scurry to avoid COVID baby bust

Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong all eye ways to spur marriage and childbirth

21 October 2020
The Asia-Pacific is wondering what a victory by Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden in the U.S. election on Nov. 3 would mean for American policy in the region after four years of President Donald Trump.
Asia Insight

What would a Biden presidency mean for Asia?

From tech and trade to Taiwan and North Korea, Trump's legacy will weigh heavily

20 October 2020
Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun surrounded by young employees. Even the heads of South Korea's chaebol conglomerates are making efforts to communicate with millennials.
Economy

South Korea millennials bring change to hard-driving work culture

Younger workers spend less time with colleagues and invest more in stock market

18 October 2020
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during the first meeting on the K-New Deal strategy at the presidential office in Seoul on Sept. 3.
Economy

South Korea's Moon stakes legacy on $138bn K-New Deal

Investors skeptical about plan to boost digital and green sectors

14 October 2020
ASEAN+3 ministers and central bank governors attend a virtual meeting on Sept. 18. (Handout screengrab from the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office)
Opinion

Boosting ASEAN+3's economic resilience and recovery during COVID-19

Uncertainty and challenges ahead require vision, commitment and coordinated action

13 October 2020
South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is one of two women vying for the top job at the World Trade Organization.
Trade

South Korea's Yoo Myung-hee named in final two for top WTO job

Trade minister competes against Nigerian for job of mediating between US and China

8 October 2020
Fun as they are, BTS have not invented anything new.
Opinion

BTS is peaking, but South Korea still playing the same old song

K-pop phenomenon is a microcosm of South Korea's broader economic challenges

1 October 2020
A cosmetics advertisement in Tokyo: in the beauty industry, a high proportion of Japanese advertisements feature white European models.
Opinion

The enduring tyranny of the beauty myth

Asia Pacific rapidly becoming the epicenter of a global beauty industrial complex

27 September 2020
Vietnam Airlines pilots disembark from a flight from Taiwan at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi in March, 2020.
Economy

Vietnam receives flight from Seoul amid hopes for business rebound

Regular commercial route resumes, with Japan, China and Taiwan to follow

25 September 2020
A woman shops at a market in Seoul.
Politics

Universal basic income gains support in South Korea after COVID

Progressive and conservative lawmakers weigh benefits of program

25 September 2020
Trading boards at a private stock market gallery in Kuala Lumpur: governments must recognize that regulated and transparent short-selling supports efficient markets.
Opinion

Asia must rethink bans on short-selling

Being able to sell high and buy low a vital way of maintaining efficient markets

24 September 2020
The South Korean government tightened restrictions on businesses in late August as coronavirus cases jumped to more than 400 a day.
Economy

South Korea budgets $6.6bn for fourth round of coronavirus aid

With cases in triple digits, targeted support aims to offset curbs on businesses

11 September 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a Workers' Party of Korea meeting to organize the recovery from natural disasters in areas of South and North Hamgyong provinces in this photo released Monday by the North Korean Central News Agency.
Natural disasters

North Korea dispatches troops to rebuild after Typhoon Haishen

Production at Hyundai plant in South halted as storm hits Korean Peninsula

8 September 2020
Typhoon Haishen barreling toward the main southwestern island of Kyushu on Sunday is shown at satellite image released by NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
7 September 2020
The real sense of whiplash is being felt by President Moon Jae-in's team.
Opinion

South Korea's 'Moonwalker' has run out of step

After putting off major reform, President Moon Jae-in now has little room to move

7 September 2020
High waves hit the shores of Amami in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, where Typhoon Haishen is headed.
6 September 2020
Passengers check in at the counter at Incheon airport near Seoul on March 9.
Economy

COVID grounds young South Koreans' dreams of permanent positions

Job-seekers slam Incheon Airport for leaving them outside two-tier labor market

4 September 2020
Japan's economy shrank 7.8% in April-June from the preceding quarter, as consumption and exports bore the brunt of COVID-19, the government said. A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a sign of sale in Tokyo. 
Economy

Japan GDP slump appears to hit bottom but consumption still weak

Worst also likely over for Taiwan and South Korea boosted by tech diversity

17 August 2020
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, pictured in January 2016: putting the central bank in the driver's seat and avoiding fiscal measures is why Japan is grappling with deflationary currents.
Opinion

It is time to talk about the real danger facing the world economy

Why are people worrying about inflation with another Great Depression looming?

17 August 2020
Passengers have their documents checked before boarding flights at a Soekarno Hatta Airport in Jakarta amid the coronavirus outbreak. 
International relations

Indonesia, South Korea reopen borders for business from Monday

Deal is Jakarta's first in Asia as talks continue with China, Singapore, and Australia

13 August 2020
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 21st National Assembly, in Seoul on July 16.
Politics

Moon's support rate plummets as house prices keep soaring

South Korean leader has yet to cool market, while aides accused of speculation

11 August 2020