Asia - South China Morning Post

He called himself a spiritual guide. Prosecutors called him a fixer. This week, a court in Seoul called him something else: guilty of accepting bribes – a verdict that may yet determine the fate of South Korea’s disgraced former first lady Kim Keon-hee.

The man at the centre of it all is Jeon Seong-bae, a high-profile shaman better known as “Monk” Gunjin who was convicted on Tuesday of acting as a go-between for Kim and senior figures of the Unification Church – channelling luxury gifts, cash...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was under pressure on Wednesday after it emerged she gave congratulatory gift catalogues to lawmakers from her ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) following its landslide election victory this month.

Each of her party’s 315 MPs was given the option to choose an item from the catalogue “as an expression of appreciation for their success at this very tough election”, Takaichi wrote in a social media post, saying that no taxpayer money was used.

The...

The news rippled through Malaysian social media with something close to glee.

Nick Adams, the Australian-born, self-described “alpha male” whom US President Donald Trump had nominated as ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, was not coming after all.

“They do listen sometimes,” said Muhammad Izuan Ahmad Kasim, a youth leader from the People’s Justice Party who had been among the dozens who marched to the US embassy last July demanding Washington reconsider the appointment.

Adams himself offered a very...

This story was published on February 25, 1986.

Marcos on brink of Manila turmoil

From Harvey Stockwin

The Philippine capital Manila was last night (February 24, 1986) in revolutionary turmoil as a people’s government led by Corazon Aquino sought to take over the country backed by a massive demonstration of non-violence by hundreds of thousands of unarmed supporters.

But President Ferdinand Marcos clung to the illusion that he is still in control.

Yesterday evening he effectively declared war on...

The mayor of New Zealand’s capital city took an afternoon dip on Wednesday hoping to assuage public fears after a breakdown at a local waste water treatment plant pumped raw sewage into the ocean and sprayed faecal matter on coastal homes.

Millions of litres of raw sewage have flowed into the waters off Wellington’s picturesque south coast beaches since the breakdown of the Moa Point facility on February 4.

Sporting swimming trunks and a rash guard shirt, Mayor Andrew Little dived face first...

An American convicted of killing the mother of his then-pregnant teenage girlfriend at an Indonesian luxury hotel was deported on Tuesday after his early release from prison, immigration authorities said.

Tommy Schaefer, 32, was released last week from prison on the island of Bali and moved to an immigration detention facility there on Friday. He boarded a flight late on Tuesday bound for the United States, a local immigration official confirmed.

Schaefer is set to appear in a Chicago courtroom...

Hundreds of AI-generated Chinese-language YouTube videos have been targeting Singapore and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as part of an ongoing disinformation campaign.

Seven in 10 videos attack Wong specifically, fabricating narratives about his leadership role being under threat and spreading conspiracy theories about political infighting in Singapore.

The videos have racked up millions of views since surfacing late last year, though experts suggested that bot traffic or automation could be...

Brazil’s dismissal of the idea of a Brics currency suggests that the bloc may continue to pursue less politically fraught monetary cooperation that stops short of challenging the US dollar’s dominance, such as swaps and seamless payment systems, according to analysts.

During Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s recent trip to India, Lula sought to play down speculation that the 10-member grouping of developing nations was drafting plans for a shared currency.

In an interview with an...

A Malaysian resort offering pangolin soup and meat for an “exquisite” experience for tourists is going to pay dearly after authorities swooped in on their illegal activities.

In an integrated crackdown dubbed “Ops Khazanah” on Monday, Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) officials, together with the police, raided a resort in Semporna district after getting information that the operators were storing and serving the protected species.

“During the raid, a live pangolin as well as several pots...

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte personally drew up “death lists” and boasted about murders committed during his war on drugs, an International Criminal Court prosecutor alleged on Tuesday at a crimes against humanity hearing.

On day two of proceedings against Duterte, ICC prosecutor Edward Jeremy laid out searing testimony, including allegations that children had their heads wrapped in packing tape and were strangled to death.

“As president, Duterte publicly named persons he alleged...