South China Morning Post - East Asia

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the long-running Korean war, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Russia while asserting its status as an “irreversible” nuclear state. The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict, triggered by a North Korean attack, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Lee m...

More than 86,000 football fans passed through Kai Tak Stadium over two nights recently as Manchester City faced Inter Milan and Chelsea took on Juventus. Supporters filled nearby malls and restaurants, with some merchants reporting foot traffic three to four times higher than usual. For those few hours, Kai Tak offered a glimpse of what Hong Kong’s day-to-night economy could bec...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, while the country’s defence chief Shinjiro Koizumi visited the site as Japan marks the 81st anniversary of the end of the second world war. Sources have said Takaichi, a conservative, is likely to refrain from visiting the war-linked shrine on the war annivers...

Record rainfall left thousands of travellers ‌stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Friday morning as flooding in the surrounding area disrupted transport, knocked out power to homes and claimed at least four lives. More than 360mm (1 foot 2 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours in parts of Chiba prefecture, which adjoins the capital ⁠Tokyo, inundating roads and railways and knocking...

South Korea is banking on moonshots in a post-AI economy to stem sluggish growth potential amid an ageing population and deepening reliance on its semiconductor exports. From quantum chips and fusion power to a lunar landing, Seoul this week unveiled a strategy to build seven next-generation industries over the coming decades. The aim is to secure a foothold in technologies shap...