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July 12, 2026
 

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Soo-hyang Choi
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung next to European Council President Antonio Costa on the day of an EU-South Korea summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2026
North Korea will ‘never’ get nuclear recognition, EU and South Korea say
The announcement comes after Chinese leader Xi Jinping skipped any public mention of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula during his visit to Pyongyang this week.
South Korean protesters wave the national flags outside a vote-counting center in Seoul on Wednesday to call for a rerun of the local elections due to a shortage of ballot papers.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2026
Young Koreans demand answers on ballot shortage as probe begins
Several polling stations ran short of ballots on election day, forcing some people to leave without voting and others to cast ballots after counting had begun.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at a news conference in Andong, South Korea, last month. Since winning office, Lee has been riding a wave of support that has consistently hovered around the 60% mark in opinion polls.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 3, 2026
South Korea’s Lee faces first election test one year into office
Though thousands of municipal council seats nationwide are up for grabs, attention will likely focus on 17 governor and mayoral races in South Korea’s biggest cities.
If Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea, as has been reported, it would be his first trip to the reclusive country in seven years.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2026
Xi may visit North Korea as early as next week, Yonhap says
If it takes place, the visit would be Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first trip to North Korea in seven years as the two countries move to bolster bilateral ties.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a training base in Pyongyang on March 3, in a photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 9, 2026
As world focuses on Strait of Hormuz, North Korea tests raft of new weapons
The weapons tests came ahead of a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the North from Thursday, his first trip to the neighboring country in more than six years.
Cars line up at a gas station in Seoul on March 9.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2026
South Korea weighs first driving curbs in 35 years on oil crunch
The country has already imposed driving restrictions on civil servants, curbing how often they can access government buildings by car.
A tanker loaded with Saudi Arabian crude arrives at a port in Mumbai, India, on March 12 after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 16, 2026
South Korea weighs Trump’s request on sending warships to Hormuz
Seoul is wary of getting drawn into the Iran conflict.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a drill involving 12 600mm-caliber multiple rocket launchers as Washington uses military force against governments it views as hostile.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 15, 2026
North Korea fires missiles in show of force amid U.S. drills
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula come at a volatile moment with Washington using military force against Venezuela and Iran.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul in September 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 19, 2026
Ousted South Korea president risks death penalty at martial law ruling
A court is set to deliver a verdict on insurrection charges against former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's government, which took office in June, has sought to show as much flexibility as possible when it comes to the U.S.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 11, 2025
South Korea’s winning strategy for Trump faces moment of truth
So far, South Korea has largely flown under the diplomatic radar, working mostly behind the scenes with the U.S. without some of the grand gestures seen from other leaders.
South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee, wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at the special prosecutor's office in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 6, 2025
South Korea’s former first lady questioned in probe over bribe allegations
Investigators are looking into issues ranging from allegations Kim Keon Hee received a luxury handbag to suspicions she was involved in a stock manipulation scheme.
A container ship approaches the Busan Port Terminal in Busan, South Korea, on July 23. Seoul's trade agreement with the U.S. brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 31, 2025
U.S. sets South Korea tariff rate at 15% with energy and shipbuilding investment
The agreement brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.
WORLD
Jun 19, 2025
Russian ties do little for Iran while boosting North Korea
Iran has little to show for its relationship with Moscow as it continues to be pummeled by waves of Israeli attacks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae attend the launching ceremony of a warship that had been damaged upon its first attempt to launch, in Rajin, North Korea on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 13, 2025
North Korea restores damaged warship and plans to build more next year
Analysts said the relatively fast restoration of the damaged warship signals North Korea’s capability to pursue a quick naval build-up.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer travels to the resort island of Jeju, South Korea, to join his counterparts at the meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members on Thursday and Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025
Trade chiefs jostle for time with Greer at APEC meeting in South Korea
Many will seek talks with the U.S. trade representative to try to blunt the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs.
South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung speaks in Goyang, South Korea, on April 27.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2025
South Korean think tank halves 2025 growth forecast to 0.8%
The revised outlook reflects the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign on the trade-reliant nation as its presidential race hits full swing.
Hyundai vehicles drive into a cargo ship at a port near the company's Ulsan plant in March.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 21, 2025
Shrinking South Korea exports send global warning on Trump tariffs
The data will be closely watched for clues on how Trump’s new levies are playing out in the real world.
People hold up a South Korean flag near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2025
South Korea sets June 3 for presidential election: Yonhap
The country’s Constitutional Court ruled that Yoon undermined the military’s political neutrality by sending troops to parliament to confront ordinary citizens.
U.S. President Donald Trump
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2025
China, Japan and South Korea to meet as Trump tariffs take shape
South Korea’s Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun will host the meeting with Japan’s Yoji Muto and China’s Wang Wentao.
An undated handout photograph released on Jan. 11 from the from the Telegram account of V_Zelenskiy_official shows an alleged soldier presented as North Korean detained by Ukrainian authorities at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, following his capture by Ukrainian authorities.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 19, 2025
South Korea willing to take North Korean POWs from Ukraine
South Korea’s comments came after a captured soldier said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper that he wants to seek asylum in South Korea.
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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