Asia - South China Morning Post

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s ruling party swept most of the country’s major local elections, but a narrow defeat in Seoul has given conservatives a foothold to challenge his reform agenda.

The loss in the capital, South Korea’s political and property-market centre, has taken the shine off an otherwise dominant performance by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), dealing a blow to Lee’s plans for tougher real estate taxation, according to observers.

Across the country, the DPK won...

Thailand’s shrimp industry is reeling from the latest blow to its once market-dominant business after Malaysia this week suspended imports from its northern neighbour, triggering fresh despair from a sector whose revenue has nosedived in the 15 years since it claimed the crown as the world’s largest exporter.

Malaysia’s temporary ban on five shrimp species – as well as tightened import requirements for Thai sea bass – came into force on Monday.

The trade row comes as Thailand’s fisheries sector...

For a sign of how the fierce demand for memory chips triggered by the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) is benefiting technology-driven economies, look no further than South Korea.

Last month, exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew at a blistering rate of 53 per cent in annualised terms, the fastest pace since 1984. Shipments of semiconductors, which are used to store and funnel the huge amounts of data for AI services, increased nearly 170 per cent to a record monthly high of...

AirAsia X has called recent media reports claiming its Philippine operations were being grounded “coordinated and sensationalised” and part of a “deliberate smear campaign”.

In a statement, the airline group said the smear campaign had long been occurring in an attempt to undermine fair competition in the Philippine aviation sector.

“Such narratives serve only the interests of those seeking to limit consumer choice and create conditions that could lead to a monopoly in the market,” it said.

“A...

For Chinese parents worn down by exam pressure, the solution now being offered by many creators on RedNote is not another tutoring strategy but another country: Malaysia.

On the Chinese lifestyle app, mainland creators living in Malaysia are pitching the country as a softer landing for family life. They highlight international schools, Mandarin-speaking clinics, familiar food and lower living costs in Malaysia, speaking directly to compatriots anxious about schooling and affordability – and...

A Nepali climbing guide who went missing on Mount Everest for six days and was feared dead has been found alive after crawling alone almost to Base Camp, officials said on Thursday.

His wife had even begun to offer last rite prayers for his soul, she said at the hospital in the capital Kathmandu, where he is recovering from “some frostbite”.

Mountaineer Dawa Sherpa – who is in his 50s, and is better known as “Hillary” after famed climber Edmund Hillary due to his experience – vanished on the...

Indonesia’s free meals programme has long been beset with governance problems, quality issues and mass food poisoning cases. Now, corruption allegations and the arrests of top former officials overseeing Prabowo Subianto’s flagship scheme risk turning it into a political hot potato for the president.

Prabowo sacked former National Nutrition Agency chief Dadan Hindayana and his two ex-deputies, Sonny Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung, on Tuesday. The trio were charged with corruption and taken into...

Details of how a Cambodia-based scam syndicate allegedly targeted victims in Singapore through a three-level scheme emerged in court on Wednesday, as a woman went on trial over her alleged participation in the operation.

De Villar Rizalyn Panganiban, 35, a Filipino, allegedly belonged to a criminal group that carried out government official impersonation scams, in which victims were tricked into believing their bank accounts had been compromised before being persuaded to transfer money to...

Just over a year after consolidating its status as Singapore’s main opposition, the Workers’ Party (WP) is grappling with internal fissures as chief Pritam Singh’s role is being questioned by his own members.

Singh, who has led the WP since 2018, is facing a special conference later this month called by 25 cadre members pushing for him to step down as secretary general for breaching the party constitution, according to local media.

Sources say there is a generational divide in the party, with...