Asia - South China Morning Post

The impending termination of a long-running tax incentive that powered South Korea’s booming cosmetic surgery clinics risks driving away cost-conscious foreigners to destinations like Singapore and dealing an economic blow to the local medical tourism sector, industry groups have warned.

South Korea launched the 10 per cent value-added tax (VAT) refund scheme in 2016 for visitors going under the knife for procedures such as facelifts, skin revitalisation, breast augmentation and double-eyelid...

Heart-stopping footage released on Thursday by Australian authorities showed the moment a skydiver was left dangling thousands of metres in the air after their parachute caught on the plane’s tail.

The skydiver survived the incident, which occurred south of Cairns during a stunt in September, but has only just been revealed following investigations by the transport safety watchdog.

Plans for a 16-way formation by parachutists at 4,600 metres (15,000 feet), filmed by a parachuting camera...

A controversial British adult film star faces deportation from Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for violating immigration laws after she was arrested on suspicion of making pornographic online content, police said on Thursday.

Local police last week raided a studio in the popular tourist hub of Badung near the island’s capital, Denpasar, detaining Bonnie Blue, whose real name is Tia Billinger.

Three men – two Britons and an Australian – were also detained after police received a tip-off from a...

Philippine prison authorities have denied that convicted former mayor Alice Guo was receiving special treatment at the Correctional Institution for Women after reports claimed she had been given access to a mobile phone and allowed to receive unauthorised visitors.

The allegations emerged days after Guo – sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking linked to illegal online gaming and scam operations – was transferred to the country’s main women’s prison.

“Guo, along with all inmates, is...

Over 50 couples tied the knot in a Muslim ceremony in Indonesia on December 3, 2025. The event, held at a grand mosque in the capital Jakarta, was part of a charitable programme to help couples who cannot afford the cost of a wedding

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged some young people were still on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the roll-out was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives.

A day after the law took effect, Australian social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16, including one on the prime minister’s TikTok account saying “I’m still here, wait until I can vote”.

Under the law, 10 of the biggest...

The collapse of the fragile truce between Thailand and Cambodia has plunged one of Southeast Asia’s most volatile border disputes back into crisis, renewing scrutiny of whether Asean can contain the fast-escalating conflict between two of its own members.

The ceasefire – mediated in July by Asean chair and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and reinforced by a peace accord signed before US President Donald Trump in October – had been held up as evidence that the bloc could still broker...

South Korea is bracing for a showdown between political power and religious influence, as a widening bribery scandal linked to the Unification Church has thrust President Lee Jae-myung into a battle over how far the state should go in policing faith-based organisations.

With allegations of illicit lobbying spreading across the country’s two major political parties, Lee has ordered a review of whether religious groups accused of systematic election interference and covert funding networks can be...

On December 4, India welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin with great pomp for a two-day state visit. The visit, the first since 2021, coincided with a huge India-Russia business forum and embodied the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between New Delhi and Moscow. The two sides discussed exporting US-sanctioned Russian oil and arms to India and agreed to boost trade, connectivity and joint manufacturing.

Predictably, the visit upset the West and generated fresh tensions in...

A 2026 calendar issued by a North Korean publisher for Chinese tourists features a new beach resort on the country’s east coast, a copy obtained by Kyodo News showed on Wednesday.

The Wonsan Kalma tourist area with hotels and leisure facilities was launched in the summer, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visiting there in July for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Before North Korea shut its borders in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many Chinese tourists had...