Asia - South China Morning Post

A South Korean appeals court reduced the sentence of former prime minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday by eight years for crimes relating to ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration.

Yoon’s decree in December 2024 briefly suspended civilian rule and plunged South Korea into chaos, but only lasted around six hours as opposition lawmakers moved quickly to overturn it in a vote.

A lower court had sentenced Han in January to a heavier-than-expected jail term of 23 years for engaging in the...

In the weeks leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration, conservatives in Japan were delighted and hopeful that his return would usher in robust economic growth, new trade opportunities and a stronger security relationship with Tokyo.

Barely 18 months later, many of those same conservatives admit to being shocked at the state of the bilateral relationship and the mounting global uncertainties the US president’s policies have produced.

For some of his diehard supporters in Japan, the...

New Zealand is weighing the purchase of advanced warships from Japan or the UK to modernise its ageing fleet and bolster its defence capability.

The South Pacific nation, member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network alongside Australia, the US, the UK and Canada, is focused on Japanese Mogami-class or the UK’s Type 31 frigates.

Discussions are under way with the Royal Australian Navy and the UK’s Royal Navy about the frigate replacement and ongoing service arrangements, Defence Minister...

North Korea’s UN envoy said his country was not bound by the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) on nuclear weapons and external pressure would not change its status as a nuclear-armed state, official media reported on Thursday.

Pyongyang threatened to withdraw from the treaty in 1993 and formally did so in 2003. It has since conducted six nuclear tests – prompting a raft of international sanctions – and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.

Signatories of the NPT have been holding a...

North Korea has removed references to “national reunification” from its constitution and newly defined its territory as land bordering South Korea, a move analysts say may signal Pyongyang’s intent to avoid direct conflict with Seoul.

The constitutional overhaul is widely seen as aligning with the North’s evolving stance towards Seoul – shifting away from reunification and towards a more formalised state-to-state relationship.

Pyongyang took more than two years to revise the constitution after...

“In an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone,” declared Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month, signalling a major shift in Tokyo’s defence posture.

“Under the new system, we will strategically promote equipment transfers while making even more rigorous and cautious judgments on whether transfers are permissible,” she added, confirming long-running speculation that Tokyo would relax decades-old restrictions on...

A passenger bus collided head-on with a fuel tanker truck on a highway on Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring four others, officials said.

The crash occurred around midday on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in North Musi Rawas regency of South Sumatra province, when an intercity bus carrying at least 20 people struck a tanker truck travelling in the opposite direction, said Mugono, a local disaster management agency official.

Mugono, who uses a single name...

A visit by Vietnam’s leader to India is set to enhance New Delhi’s growing influence with Hanoi while allowing the Southeast Asian country to hedge against China in the event of any escalation in maritime disputes.

Vietnamese President To Lam’s trip underscores concerns from both countries of being “overly dependent” on any superpower, according to political analysts.

Lam arrived in Delhi on Tuesday for a three-day visit, marking his first trip to India since assuming office. The visit coincides...

Beneath the surface of the world’s oceans lies an infrastructure so essential, modern life would stall without it – yet so invisible it rarely enters public debate. Submarine cables, slender fibre-optic systems laid across the seabed, carry over 95 per cent of global internet traffic, transmitting the data that underpins financial markets, diplomatic exchanges and everyday communication.

What appears to be neutral infrastructure is, in fact, a deeply political system – one that exposes a...

Thailand vowed on Wednesday to tighten oversight of tourists’ behaviour after a series of incidents involving foreigners caught having sex in public, warning they damaged the country’s image.

Tourism is vital to the Southeast Asian nation’s economy but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid highs.

Visitors displaying “inappropriate behaviour”, including illicit drug use, would face prosecution as it “contradicts the beautiful culture of Thailand”, the prime minister’s office said...