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December 04, 2024
 

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Joyce Lee
INC-5 Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso (on screen) speaks during an open plenary session during the fifth session of the U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 2, 2024
Countries fail to reach agreement in U.N. plastic talks
Countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty and could agree only to postpone key decisions and resume talks at a later date.
Sacks of untreated and shredded plastic waste, left unattended, collect at an inoperative recycling site in Asan, South Korea, on Nov. 19.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 25, 2024
South Korea's mountain of plastic waste shows limits of recycling
Seoul says that it recycles 73% of its plastic waste, but environmentalists say the real number is about 27%.
People shop at a flea market hosted by Bunjang, an e-commerce platform for secondhand sales, in Seoul on Aug. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2024
South Korea's birth rate drive struggles to sway 'YOLO' generation
Asia's fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges.
A petrochemical plant in China. Asia's producers face the toughest outlook, with oversupply likely to persist.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2024
Petrochemical makers enter survival mode amid global glut
Major petrochemical producers in Asia and Europe are selling assets, shutting older plants, and retrofitting facilities.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the virtual AI Seoul Summit hosted jointly by South Korea and Britain, in Seoul.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2024
Second global AI summit secures safety commitments from companies
Sixteen companies at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence pledged on Tuesday at a global meeting to develop the technology safely.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the U.K. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, Britain, on Nov. 2, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2024
South Korea and U.K. to host second global AI summit as boom fans risks
The breathtaking pace of innovation since the first AI summit in November leaves governments scrambling to keep up with a growing array of risks.
SoftBank is in talks with South Korea's Naver over control of LY, which operates the popular messaging app Line, the telecommunications firm's CEO has said.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2024
SoftBank in talks with Naver over control of Line operator LY
LY is majority owned by a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.
Samsung's Seocho building in Seoul on Tuesday. The electronics company said that its first-quarter operating profits had risen nearly tenfold year-on-year — a 931.8 percent increase — amid recovering chip prices and growing demand.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 30, 2024
Samsung says AI to drive technology demand in second half after strong Q1
The upbeat outlook sent its shares 1.8% higher after it reported a more than 10x rise in first-quarter operating profit.
Polish soldiers near a K2 tank, delivered in the first batch of arms from South Korea under contracts signed in recent months, in Wierzbiny near Orzysz, Poland, in March last year
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2024
Financing uncertainty clouds South Korea's push for massive arms deals
Both parties in South Korea have introduced bills to boost the state bank as the country seeks to expedite a $22 billion weapons purchase from Poland.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee arrives at a court in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2024
Samsung chief Jay Y. Lee cleared of charges in 2015 merger case
The sentence prevents a return to jail for Lee who was convicted in 2017 of bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye.
Japan's industry ministry said it would provide Samsung subsidies worth up to ¥20 billion as it looks to support the revitalization of domestic chip manufacturing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2023
Samsung to set up chip packaging research facility in Japan
Samsung's investment comes at a time of easing tensions between South Korea and Japan.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un stands on a multipurpose armored vehicle after a visit to an important munitions factory at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 14, 2023
Kim Jong Un calls for more missiles ahead of South Korea and U.S. drills
Seoul and Washington say the exercises are staged to improve their ability to respond to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 6, 2023
South Korean doctors flee pediatrics as low birth rate makes funding unviable
Fewer children combined with a failure of the insurance system to adapt to the situation has left the sector starved of resources, with specialists shunning a field they think has no future.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2023
Inside South Korea's race to become one of the world’s biggest arms dealers
South Korea's arms sales jumped to more than $17 billion in 2022 from $7.25 billion the year before, according to its defense ministry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
May 23, 2023
China's Micron ban adds regulatory pressure as Sino-U.S. tensions grow
The move by Beijing is seen as retaliation for U.S. efforts to limit China's access to key technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2022
South Korean inflation raises risk of widening worker unrest
Warnings have been given about a new wave of agitation by contract workers who have long borne the brunt of the country's corporate cost cutting.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Dec 8, 2021
South Korea 'webtoon' firms leverage low-cost stories with potential huge upside
The 'webtoon' format, which began in Korea two decades ago, has shaken up content creation for the movie industry around the globe.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2021
Hyundai bought chips when rivals didn't — now its assembly lines are still rolling
The South Korean automaker kept buying chips even as rivals cut orders to reflect diminished demand because of the pandemic.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2019
Chinese raids target 'Underground Railroad' of North Korean defectors
A decade after leaving her family behind to flee North Korea, the defector was overwhelmed with excitement when she spoke to her 22-year-old son on the phone for the first time in May after he too escaped into China.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 15, 2019
'Gangnam style' sex crime: K-pop scandals uncover dark side of Seoul's flashiest district
On a recent weekend night, the dance floor at one of the hottest clubs in Seoul's swanky Gangnam district held only a few dozen people surrounded by mostly empty tables.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Australian says romance scam tricked her into smuggling drugs into Japan
Donna Nelson says her life was turned upside down when she learned that the man she was falling for had tricked her into smuggling 2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Japan.
Trump says will 'block' Nippon Steel from taking over U.S. Steel
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says he will "block" a planned takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel.
Japan witnesses warmest fall on record
Hibiya Park in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Saturday. Warm weather has delayed the country's autumn foliage season — when tourists flock to see leaves turn vibrant reds and yellows.
South Korea's Yoon backs down after parliament rejects martial law
Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul, after South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday evening.
U.S. Space Force launches first unit in Japan
Activated on Wednesday, U.S. Space Forces Japan — a component similar to the one established at South Korea’s Osan Air Base in 2022 — will operate out of Yokota Air Base in the city of Fussa, western Tokyo, with a staff of about 10.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service.
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

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