Asia - South China Morning Post

South Korea is stepping up its outreach to Middle Eastern buyers as it pursues potential weapons contracts worth US$15 billion in the United Arab Emirates, seeking to build on its success in Europe and solidify its reputation as a dependable arms supplier.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung flew to Abu Dhabi for a summit with the UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday, coinciding with the Dubai Air Show where Korea Aerospace Industries showcased its KF-21 fighter...

A Japanese cabinet minister has reiterated his country’s claim to Liancourt Rocks, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, after Seoul protested against a new museum wing promoting Tokyo’s sovereignty over the islets.

“Under international law, Takeshima is clearly an inherent part of Japan’s territory,” Japan’s Minister in Charge of Territorial Issues Jiro Akama said at a press conference on Tuesday, according to Kyodo news agency.

“We will work to strengthen the dissemination of...

As governments worldwide debate the merits and dangers of digital currencies, India appears poised to launch its own state-backed stablecoin that uses government debt as collateral.

Proponents argue that the Asset Reserve Certificate (ARC) could hasten the global drive towards de-dollarisation, lower India’s borrowing costs and create a “virtuous cycle” for public funding by diversifying the country’s investor base.

By tying the token to sovereign debt, developers aim to create a transparent...

Malaysia’s national utility firm Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has incurred losses of more than US$1 billion from illegal power usage by cryptocurrency miners between 2020 and August this year, the energy ministry said.

TNB found that 13,827 premises had illegally used power to mine cryptocurrency over the period, the energy and water transformation ministry said in a written parliamentary reply dated Tuesday.

The illegal use of electricity for cryptocurrency mining, particularly for bitcoin, has...

The Japanese economy could lose about 1.49 trillion yen (US$9.59 billion) over the next year if travellers from mainland China continue to avoid Japan over a row that has derailed the growth in arrivals seen earlier this year, an economist at the Tokyo-based Nomura Research Institute has projected.

Takahide Kiuchi, the institute’s executive economist, made the calculation after Beijing told Chinese citizens last week to refrain from travelling to Japan following comments about Taiwan by new...

The Japanese governor overseeing the region that is home to the world’s largest nuclear power plant is set to give the approval this week for its restart, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

The approval will clear one of the remaining milestones in Tokyo Electric Power Company’s quest to bring the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant back online, more than a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster led to its shutdown.

Niigata prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanazumi is set to announce his approval...

North Korea is expected to remain largely impervious to Western diplomatic overtures for the foreseeable future as it rails against its rivals’ “hostile” policies.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media denounced last month’s summit between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung as proof of the “confrontational will” of its adversaries to “remain hostile … to the end”.

The North was taken aback by the outcomes of the Trump-Lee summit, according to Professor Cho Han-bum...

Just three days before the annual Miss Universe pageant is set to take place in Thailand, one of the judges has abruptly stepped down.

On Tuesday, Lebanese-French musician Omar Harfouch posted on social media explaining why he suddenly pulled out, saying he felt “deep confusion and concern” after finding out that an “impromptu jury” had allegedly been created to select the top 30 finalists in advance, without the presence of any of the real jury members.

“The results of this selection are...

Asean has signed its first region-wide extradition treaty, a move observers see as a long-overdue step to close legal loopholes that have allowed fugitives to slip across borders and evade arrest.

Analysts say the Asean Treaty on Extradition will plug a major gap in cooperation by creating uniform rules across a region struggling with cybercrime, human trafficking and online scams that increasingly operate across jurisdictions.

Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed...

The durian, the king of fruits, is synonymous with Malaysia, right?

While every Malaysian will agree, the Indonesians are saying no.

They insist that they have a stronger claim to the durian, creating a thorny issue in Malaysia’s bid to make it the country’s national fruit.

On Monday, Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan, known as Zulhas, disagreed with Malaysia’s proposal, citing Indonesia’s larger production as justification.

“Indonesia produced almost 2 million tonnes of...