South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the summit. (Office of the President of the Republic of Korea)
Technology

AI to revolutionize productivity, summit in South Korea pledges

Google, Microsoft and Samsung among attendees at global event

23 May 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet in Seoul in late May. (Source photos by Uichiro Kasai, Mizuho Miyazaki and Reuters) 
Comment

What made Japan, China, South Korea hold a summit now?

Beijing took lead out of desperation and self-interest

22 May 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing criticism from opposition parties and the public over how to handle an investigation into the drowning death of a marine. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and Yonhap/EPA/Jiji) 
Politics

South Korea's Yoon vetoes investigation into drowning death of marine

Opposition vows political 'war' in case highlighting country's poor safety record

21 May 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's policy of forward-looking relations with Japan is getting entangled in a bilateral business dispute. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yuki Nakao, Reuters and AP)
Politics

Line-Naver spat presents dilemma for Yoon's Japan policy push

South Korean president caught between backing local company, balancing Tokyo ties

15 May 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are set to meet in late May. (Sources photos by Nikkei, Kyodo and Reuters)
International relations

Japan, South Korea, China seek to ease friction at trilateral summit

Leaders to juggle economic and security interests at first meeting in 4 years

15 May 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the Presidential Office in Seoul on May 9, pledging to make efforts to address rising food prices.
Politics

South Korea's Yoon calls for boosting ties with Japan and the U.S.

President announces new ministry to deal with birthrate 'national emergency'

9 May 2024
A memorial in Yeoncheon, South Korea, depicting a 1968 infiltration by North Korean agents on a mission to assassinate then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee. (Photo by Steven Borowiec) 
Defense

South Korea border area keeps calm despite growing threat from North

Seoul has accused Pyongyang of planting mines in roads that symbolized friendly ties

9 May 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the summit in Seoul later in May. (Nikkei, Kyodo, Reuters photo montage)
International relations

Japan, China, South Korea eye first joint summit in 4 years

Trilateral meeting in late May to cover regional stability, trade issues

7 May 2024
South Korean demonstrators hold up green onions to protest against high food prices under President Yoon Suk Yeol. (Yonhap via Kyodo) 
Comment

Why South Korea's election isn't leading to Japan bashing this time

Yoon has reason to keep up diplomatic momentum, and views on Tokyo have moderated

3 May 2024
U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers fly with Japan Self-Defense Forces F-2 fighter jets near Kyushu. (U.S. Air Force via Reuters)
Defense

Japan eyes high-level talks on U.S. nuclear umbrella: defense minister

New framework would elevate discussion on American extended deterrence

3 May 2024
A South Korean tank participates in a military exercise. The nation excels both in high-technology and conventional arms. 
Indo-Pacific

South Korea explores defense tech cooperation with AUKUS

Seoul's defense and foreign ministers discuss deeper collaboration in Australia

2 May 2024
Two Cuban K-pop fans pose for a picture at a club in Havana in February. South Korea and Cuba have established diplomatic relations, decades after cutting off exchanges. (Yonhap via Kyodo)
30 April 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) meets opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for talks in Seoul on April 29.
Politics

South Korea opposition leader presses Yoon in rare direct meeting

Lee and president appear to put rivalry aside during cordial sit-down

29 April 2024
Leaders of the Democratic Party of Korea react to exit poll results showing them ahead in the general elections on April 10. If they do not look like they are bursting with joy, there is a reason for that.
Comment

South Korea's opposition faces three pitfalls after election win

Liberal opposition won big in legislature, but presidential election looms

27 April 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, greets South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on at the APEC summit in San Francisco in November 2023.
Japan-South Korea ties

U.S. official says Kishida and Yoon deserve Nobel Peace Prize

Kurt Campbell seeks to 'elevate and celebrate' Japan-South Korea rapprochement

25 April 2024
Shoppers select wares at a market in Seoul on January 4.  
Economy

South Korea GDP grows 1.3% in first quarter, beating estimates

Asia's fourth-largest economy picks up pace on construction and spending increases

25 April 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during a 2023 tour in Russia. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea leans on Russian ties to expand relations with Iran

Pyongyang officials visit Moscow-friendly nations in diplomatic blitz

25 April 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: South Korean police say Pyongyang is using "more elaborate and more varied methods" in hacks of South Korean defense contractors. (KCNA via Kyodo)
Defense

North Korean hackers target South's defense sector, police say

Investigators cite 'more elaborate, more varied methods' to steal technology

24 April 2024
South Korean and U.S. fighter jets take part in the Korea Flying Training combined air exercise. (U.S. Air Force)
Defense

South Korea and U.S. hold largest combined air force drills

Exercises to bolster integration come as North Korea tests 'superlarge warhead'

23 April 2024
A member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy stands guard on the Shijiazhuang, a guided-missile destroyer, as warships are opened for public viewing to mark the Navy's upcoming 75th anniversary in Qingdao on April 20. 
Defense

East Asia military spending up 6.2% as China tensions mount, report shows

Japan marks biggest rise since 1972; data comes amid rush of regional talks, drills

22 April 2024
Doctors protest against the government's medical policy near the presidential office in Seoul in February.
Politics

South Korea eases contentious medical school expansion

Universities allowed to halve new quotas as walkout puts government under pressure

20 April 2024
From left, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok in Washington on April 17.
Currencies

U.S., Japan, South Korea finance chiefs share concern for weak yen, won

First trilateral meeting also addresses Pyongyang missile sales and supply chains

18 April 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on April 16. 
Politics

South Korea's Yoon vows to listen to the public after election loss

Conservative president says he will govern with a 'more flexible mindset'

16 April 2024
Maritime police search for missing passengers from the Sewol ferry off the country's southern coast on April 16, 2014.
Society

South Korea remembers deadly Sewol ferry accident 10 years on

Families still seek change decade after hundreds perished in disaster-prone nation

16 April 2024
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, wearing a saffron cap, on the election campaign trail near Delhi on April 6. He is aiming for a third-straight term as head of the world's biggest democracy.
Your Week in Asia

India votes, China GDP and Germany's Scholz meets Xi in Beijing

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

14 April 2024