Asia - South China Morning Post

South Korea has abandoned its campaign prioritising pressure on the North to dismantle its nuclear weapons, a minister said on Thursday, marking a fresh overture by Seoul’s dovish government.

President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions.

The hermetic leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to his repeated offers.

But in a Thursday meeting with local reporters,...

The elevation of ties between the Philippines and New Zealand to a comprehensive partnership gives both countries a wider framework to deepen cooperation, as Manila expands its network of middle-power partners and Wellington steps up its engagement in Southeast Asia, analysts have said.

The upgrade also builds on rapidly tightening defence ties, giving Manila another security partner and New Zealand a stronger foothold in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific, observers add.

New Zealand and the...

Nearly one in three younger Singaporean men either agreed or were neutral when asked if spousal violence could ever be acceptable, according to preliminary survey findings, raising questions about whether more men may not reject the idea of physical abuse in certain circumstances.

The findings from the Gender Norms Perceptions Study were conducted by SG Her Empowerment (SHE), a Singaporean NGO, as reported by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) on Thursday.

Among men born in 1981 or later – the millennial...

Indonesia’s push to rewrite its copyright law for the age of artificial intelligence has opened a new front in the battle between news publishers seeking compensation for their work and technology companies warning against overreach.

At stake is who gets paid when AI systems and digital platforms use news, images, software and other copyrighted works – and how much human involvement is needed before AI-assisted output qualifies for legal protection.

Last week, the House of Representatives said...

For the most dramatic change in a benchmark index in financial markets in recent years, look no further than the stock markets of developing economies. Just over a year ago, mainland China and India had a combined weight of 50 per cent in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Fast forward to today, and it is South Korea and Taiwan that account for over half of the gauge.

At the end of last month, the weight of South Korea in the index stood at nearly 24 per cent, four percentage points more than that...

A Japanese study has found that the locked zone in the Nankai Trough is not permanent but changes over time, further complicating the task of predicting megaquakes along the fault line.

A locked zone is where tectonic plates merge, allowing stress to build up until it is released in an earthquake. In the case of the 900km (560-mile) long Nankai Trough off Japan’s Pacific coast, it is where the Philippine plate meets the Eurasian plate.

The Philippine plate is slipping under the Eurasian plate at...

China’s durian imports rose 47 per cent, year on year, in the first half of 2026, with Thailand and Malaysia posting particularly strong gains, according to customs data, as Southeast Asian exporters offloaded a glut of the fruit that had sparked a price drop.

Thailand exported nearly US$3.79 billion worth of the pungent spiky fruit shipped to China in the first half of 2026, the Chinese customs data showed, taking an 81 per cent share of the market. Thai shipments reached US$2.56 billion in the...

Thai authorities said on Thursday they are searching for the people responsible for an attack in the country’s troubled deep south region that killed five soldiers and injured several civilians.

About 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint near a residential area in Narathiwat province on Wednesday evening before fleeing, according to the regional Internal Security Operations Command. Six civilians were injured during the attack, including a...

Japan’s largest convenience store operator has issued a warning to its 7-Eleven franchisees nationwide that unauthorised resale of merchandise featuring popular anime and game characters may be rampant, multiple sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

Some owners and employees have been caught setting aside merchandise before its release or buying up large quantities to sell on resale sites. Such activity is seen as a betrayal of consumer trust and likely to call into question the...

The Philippines’ push to establish a cross-border grid with Indonesia highlights the growing urgency of securing energy supplies amid soaring electricity costs, marking another step towards a long-delayed regional power network.

Analysts hail the move as crucial for addressing domestic energy woes and unlocking mutual interests between neighbours, though they also point to geographical and supply-chain challenges.

Manila’s Department of Energy said last month that efforts were under way to...