Asia - South China Morning Post

South Korea’s intelligence agency has reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter is consolidating her position as a potential heir, but analysts urge caution over the latest news as they point to Pyongyang’s silence on the 12-year-old’s name.

They also voiced scepticism over the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) assessment that Kim could hold a fourth summit with US President Donald Trump around March next year.

Observers say there is little sign the regime has begun laying the...

A woman who ran an illegal brothel under the guise of a massage parlour in Singapore was sentenced to 14 months’ jail after one of her sex workers lodged a police report.

The police raided the unit along Carpenter Street and found a woman scantily clothed on top of a patron and another patron leaving.

Mo Xuekui, 44, claimed trial to three charges of procuring a woman for prostitution, managing a brothel and living on immoral earnings.

She claimed that she was just a cashier and that she had...

The death of a Japanese tourist in a drink-driving crash in Seoul has sparked criticism in Japan over what many see as South Korea’s lenient punishment for such offences.

A post believed to be written by the victim’s family member has drawn wide attention online, questioning whether strong penalties are possible under South Korean law.

A social media user with the handle abcz8756 wrote on Tuesday, “In Korea, my mother and sister were hit by a drunk driver. My mother died, and my sister is in...

Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is confronting an unexpected dilemma: whether she will be allowed to enter the country’s most sacred sporting arena – the sumo ring – to present the winner’s trophy that bears her office’s name.

Just days before the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament opens on Sunday in Fukuoka, the all-male Japan Sumo Association (JSA) is reportedly weighing what to do if Takaichi wishes to perform the long-standing prime ministerial duty of handing over the Prime...

As Japan’s social contract comes under strain, Sanae Takaichi is moving swiftly on a campaign promise to make foreign residents shoulder their fair share of the health and pensions burden.

The proposed reforms, set in motion just weeks after Takaichi’s historic appointment as the country’s first female prime minister, aim to address mounting public concern about inequality and the sustainability of its ageing welfare state.

At her first ministerial meeting dedicated to issues regarding foreign...

With US President Donald Trump’s unabashed claim of ending eight wars in eight months hogging the limelight, China’s handling of both intrusions along its border with Myanmar and the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute has gone relatively unnoticed.

In stark contrast to America’s dramatic and forceful brokering of peace deals, Beijing has adopted a calibrated and generally reactive response to Myanmar’s border intrusions and supports Asean taking the lead on the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute...

Indians lit up social media on Wednesday to celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s election win as New York mayor after he thanked his Indian-born parents, quoted a historic speech by India’s first prime minister and turned the victory rally into a Bollywood-style street party.

“We are proud of him. He has done a great job,” Mamdani’s maternal uncle Vikram Nair said. He said he was flooded with requests from friends and family to throw celebratory parties.

“We will plan it soon,” he said, adding that the...

British police have seized more than £12 million (US$15.6 million) of dinosaur skeletons after agreeing to a settlement with a Chinese national suspected of being part of a huge money-laundering scandal.

Su Binghai agreed to forfeit three complete fossilised skeletons, along with nine London apartments, bought for around £15 million, but he will be able to keep 25 per cent of all the sale proceeds, a lawyer for the National Crime Agency said at a court hearing on Tuesday.

Su was previously...

A ceremony meant to welcome this year’s Miss Universe delegates descended into turmoil after a Thai pageant organiser publicly berated Miss Mexico, prompting a walkout led by the competition’s reigning title-holder from Denmark and a last-minute postponement of the event.

“I think that the world needs to see this because we are empowered women,” said Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch, addressing the media after she was escorted out of the room by security.

“This platform is meant for our voice, and no...

Indonesia’s religious affairs minister has warned that smartphones and social media are facilitating adultery and eroding marital bonds, describing the nation as being in a “yellow light” phase of family instability.

“Smartphones make it easy to flirt or cheat,” Minister Nasaruddin Umar told a gathering of marriage counsellors on October 30, as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. “If we’re not careful, we’ll end up being slaves to social media.”

The warning comes as nearly 400,000 couples divorced in...