Asia - South China Morning Post

Indonesia, already leading Southeast Asia’s push to keep children off risky digital platforms with an under-16 social media ban, now wants to extend those protections to e-commerce after officials said young people had become victims of online scams and unsupervised digital spending.

The plan has drawn support from child psychologists, who warn of impulsive consumption among young users. However, it also presents e-commerce companies with a difficult compliance test: building age-verification...

Gwanghwamun Square, a plaza in Seoul framed by royal palaces and monuments to Korean national identity, is at the centre of a dispute over whether a massive new Korean war memorial belongs in a public space seen as a major tourist attraction and long associated with civic gatherings and pro-democracy protests.

A row of 23 stone monuments representing South Korea and the 22 foreign countries that fought alongside it during the 1950-53 war was recently unveiled at the square.

Located across from...

For decades, the arrival of summer in South Korea was heralded by the rhythmic hum of cicadas and the predictable onset of monsoon season. But as climate change rewrites the country’s seasonal script, the government is bracing for a new reality.

On Wednesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration announced a sweeping overhaul of its national weather warning system, the first major restructuring in nearly two decades.

The centrepiece of the plan is the introduction of a top-tier “extreme heat...

Singapore will be directly hit by weakened principles in international sea laws as the city state depends on open and secure waterways to maintain its status as a trade hub, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has warned.

He urged cooperation among like-minded countries to uphold and strengthen the framework of international legislation.

“As a trading nation, Singapore depends on open and secure sea lanes. International law, including the law of the sea, ensures that vital waterways remain open to all...

South Korea was reviewing a phased contribution to efforts to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said on Wednesday, signalling support steps short of military participation.

Ahn told a press conference with South Korean reporters in Washington that he had conveyed Seoul’s position at a meeting with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Monday.

“We said at about this level that, fundamentally, we will participate as a responsible member of the...

A proposal unveiled by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr for a new Southeast Asian maritime centre has raised questions about its most glaring obstacle: Manila’s long-standing South China Sea dispute with Beijing.

Analysts warn such a centre would not only have to avoid appearance of being an instrument of Philippine interests in disputed waters, but also risks simply duplicating the work of existing regional bodies.

Speaking on Friday at a press conference following the Asean summit in...

Bangladesh’s once-praised family planning system is buckling under severe contraceptive shortages, raising fears of a rise in unplanned pregnancies in one of the world’s most densely populated countries.

For decades, the South Asian nation was hailed as a success for slashing birth rates through an expansive state-backed family planning programme that sent field workers door to door with pills, condoms and advice on birth spacing.

But that system is now faltering, with government clinics across...

India’s travel industry fears that an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to avoid unnecessary foreign travel will squeeze new bookings after inflationary pressure knocked down summer overseas inquiries by as much as 15 per cent, industry and analysts say.

The pullback is set to hit the peak season for outbound tourism, when affluent families ‌seek cooler locations in Europe and Australia, during school holidays that run from April to June.

“The prime minister has a great following, and...

Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency got a new chief on Wednesday with the arrival of Abdul Halim Aman, a former High Court judge handed the task of steadying an institution that has spent years chasing political heavyweights while struggling to shake questions over its own independence.

The 69-year-old took over as chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after Azam Baki ended a six-year tenure marked by headline arrests, asset recoveries and repeated political...

Vietnam’s state oil company urged the US to let a supertanker pass through an American naval blockade outside the Persian Gulf, saying the shipment is critical to the Asian country’s economy.

The very large crude carrier Agios Fanourios I, managed by Athens-based Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, performed a mid-ocean U-turn on Monday at around the point where the US blockade begins. It had only just cleared the Strait of Hormuz, holding 1.99 million barrels of Iraq’s Basrah Medium crude, when it...