Asia - South China Morning Post

A social media post showing a cafe charging 2,000 won (US$1.35) for restroom use without a purchase has sparked heated debate online in South Korea.

The image featured a screenshot of a self-order kiosk displaying a menu item reading “restroom use without ordering”, priced at 2,000 won per person per visit.

The post also drew mixed reactions in an online community for small business owners.

One user said the fee was understandable, writing that many people come in just to use the restroom...

Cambodia is importing more fuel from suppliers in Singapore and Malaysia to make up for supply shortfalls from Vietnam and China, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as the US-Israeli war on Iran squeezes fuel availability globally.

About a third of the 6,300 petrol stations in the country of nearly 18 million ‌people closed last week due to uncertainty over the impact of the conflict on fuel prices, but only 5.77 per cent are closed currently, Energy Minister Keo Rottanak said.

Vietnam and...

Philippine police have foiled a school shooting and rescued seven students radicalised by “foreigners” online to stage an attack in Laguna province near Manila, amid growing calls for stronger parental safeguards against digital threats.

Officers rounded up the suspects – five boys and two girls, aged 12 to 17 – on February 2 after receiving a tip-off about an alleged plot they intended to carry out a fortnight later, the Philippine Star reported.

The teens, who were turned over to social...

Japan’s education ministry has launched a campaign to combat sexual misconduct by teachers and revised regulations against voyeurism, following the arrest of seven male educators for filming students without consent and sharing the footage on social media.

A law aimed at preventing sexual misconduct in schools took effect in 2022, but the offences prompted further revisions.

The ministry intends to update teachers on the rules, including the dismissal and prosecution of those who take...

North Korea fired a volley of ballistic missiles on Saturday, just as US officials were in Seoul exploring ways to reopen talks with the regime that launched them.

But Kim Jong-un is not waiting by the phone.

Instead, analysts say North Korea’s supreme leader has set terms that leave little room for negotiation, with a calendar that leaves even less room for a summit.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre touched down in Seoul last week and met Jeong...

Russia’s defence ministry has released footage of its fighter jets carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles conducting exercises over the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, in a move interpreted as a message to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of her talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

The video shows a MiG-31 with a Kinzhal missile slung beneath its fuselage, with the ministry saying the aircraft was one of several that carried out manoeuvres off Japan’s northern coast....

Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

In a statement, Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the pause in strikes on “terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan” would take effect at midnight on Wednesday and remain in place until midnight on Monday.

“Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with...

When the Trump administration rolled out sweeping tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April 2025, the reaction across Southeast Asia was swift: markets dipped, supply chains scrambled and governments went into damage control.

Governments had a choice: retaliate or negotiate. They negotiated. Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia have signed Agreements on Reciprocal Trade with the United States. Those deals lowered tariffs from their peak levels and opened market access...

In Pakistan’s southwestern mountains, pickup trucks loaded with plastic cans of fuel smuggled from Iran line dusty roads as youngsters unload the containers, fill smaller cans and strap them onto motorbikes to supply nearby markets.

The illicit trade has long thrived in the region but is feeling the knock-on effects of the war which has engulfed the Middle East following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Supplies coming across the 900km (560-mile) border between Pakistan and Iran have dropped by...

The United States’ inclusion of Southeast Asian countries among economic partners it intends to investigate for unfair trade practices is expected to push the region further from Washington’s orbit.

The probes, announced last week, could lead to new levies imposed on countries, based on allegations of forced labour and trade surpluses, even as the Donald Trump administration rails against a Supreme Court ruling that shot down sweeping tariffs imposed earlier.

Seven countries from the Association...