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James Pearson
For James Pearson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A Chinese hacking group known as Volt Typhoon has alarmed intelligence officials, who say it is part of a larger effort to compromise Western critical infrastructure.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 31, 2024
What is Volt Typhoon, the alleged China-backed hacking group?
Intelligence officials say the group is part of a larger effort to compromise Western critical infrastructure.
A redacted online resume of a North Korean IT worker is shown in this screenshot obtained on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 21, 2023
North Koreans use fake names to land remote IT work for cash
Landing a job outside North Korea to secretly earn hard currency for the country demands highly-developed strategies to convince Western firms.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit an exhibition of military equipment on July 27.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 8, 2023
North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile-maker
Experts say the incident shows how the isolated country will even target its allies in a bid to acquire critical technologies.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2022
Russia downed satellite internet in Ukraine, Western officials say
Russia was behind a massive cyberattack that took tens of thousands of modems offline at the onset of Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. and other countries have said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 2, 2021
Facebook and Instagram remove Chinese network over fake COVID-19 claims
The claims targeted English-speaking audiences in the United States and Britain and Chinese-speaking audiences in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 12, 2021
How Vietnam's 'influencer' army wages information warfare on Facebook
Force 47 soldiers are tasked with setting up, moderating and posting on pro-state Facebook groups, to correct "wrong views" online.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 1, 2021
Vietnam's answer to Tesla has U.S. in its electric sights
A recent arrival on the automotive scene and the No. 5 car brand in Vietnam, VinFast is not short on ambition.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 21, 2021
Vietnam steps up 'chilling' crackdown on dissent ahead of key Communist Party congress
The country has seen a record number of political prisoners, longer jail terms, and increased harassment of activists in recent years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2019
Sino-U.S. trade war brings chances and challenges for Vietnam's skilled laborers
A new front has opened in the U.S.-China trade war as companies shifting manufacturing to Vietnam engage in a fierce battle for skilled labor, aggravating an existing shortage and prompting calls for education reforms to address the problem.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 13, 2019
Lovers, comrades! Forbidden love in North Korea finds a way in Vietnam
A young couple with matching expressions stare nervously into the camera with deep brown eyes. He, a Vietnamese student, has just met the love of his life. She, a North Korean, is forbidden to love him back.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 8, 2019
North Korea could emulate Vietnam-style reforms if Kim Jong Un chooses to follow Hanoi
Nestled in a leafy park between a rusting Soviet fighter jet and the old East German Embassy, a lonely statue of Lenin stands in the center of Hanoi as a symbol of the Russian revolutionary's inspiration to communist-ruled Vietnam.
WORLD
May 25, 2018
Chinese claims in South China Sea overlap with Vietnam's oil projects
Some oil blocks off Vietnam's sprawling coastline fall within an area of the South China Sea demarcated by China's "nine-dash line," the basis for Beijing's controversial claims to most of the resource-rich waterway.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 20, 2018
'No job, no money': Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by U.S. in violation of 2008 bilateral deal
It wasn't until Pham Chi Cuong saw the plane waiting to deport him from the United States that it sunk in that he was about to be sent back to Vietnam, the country he fled in 1993.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2018
As South Korean births dwindle, 'penis parks' multiply
Even the bright-red lighthouse in the tiny South Korean port of Sinnam is shaped like a penis.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 1, 2017
The thinking behind Kim Jong Un's 'madness'
On an icy December day in 2011, North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by seven advisers as they escorted the hearse that carried his father, Kim Jong Il, through the streets of Pyongyang.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 7, 2017
Fake meat, free markets ease North Koreans' hunger woes
Take the dregs left from making soy bean oil, which usually go to feed the pigs. Press and roll them into a sandy-colored paste. Stuff with rice, and top with chili sauce. The dish's name, "injogogi," means "man-made meat."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 18, 2017
How a homemade tool helped North Korea's missile program
In 2009, a pop video from North Korea celebrated a new national hero — one that outside experts would later realize was at the heart of the secretive state's banned nuclear and missile programs.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2017
North Korea's Kim works to turn missile-testing outpost into tourism cash cow
In the seaside city of Wonsan, North Korean families cook up barbecues on the beach, go fishing, and eat royal jelly flavored ice cream in the summer breeze. For their leader Kim Jong Un, the resort is a summer retreat, a future temple to tourism, and a good place to test missiles.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 18, 2017
Late summer rains, private food supplies limit impact of North Korean drought
Late summer rains and the growing importance of privately produced crops mean North Korea will likely avoid acute food shortages this year despite earlier fears of drought and mounting international sanctions, defectors and experts say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 2, 2017
North Korea uses 'lofting' technique to bring it ever closer to long-range missile goal
In mid-May, a rocket launched by North Korea soared to an altitude five times higher than the International Space Station, and an analysis of publicly available data by Reuters shows how that may have brought leader Kim Jong Un closer to his goal of producing a missile capable of hitting the United States.

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A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world