Kim Jong Un, speaking on the final day of the eighth congress of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party on 12 January, warned, “We must further strengthen the nuclear war deterrent while doing our best to build up the most powerful military strength,” signaling that North Korea will likely be an early challenge for US President Joe Biden’s administration.… Read the rest
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s administration has continued its diplomatic overtures to the Japanese government after sending National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Park Jie-won to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and other senior leaders earlier this month.… Read the rest
Park Jie-won, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), traveled to Tokyo this week for meetings with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, and other senior Japanese officials.… Read the rest
North Korea, at a dawn parade on Saturday, 10 October celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), unveiled two new ballistic missiles, highlighting the extent to which Pyongyang has upgraded its arsenal despite the long-range ballistic missile testing freeze introduced after negotiations with the US began in 2018.… Read the rest
North Korea may be reeling from its worst economic shock in decades, as heavy rains have inflicted widespread devastation on a country already suffering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.… Read the rest
The Moon Jae-in administration unveiled South Korea’s largest-ever supplemental budget, a KRW 35.3tn (USD 29bn) package that is more than its first two emergency budgets combined. Although the total spending is less than meets the eye, since it includes the budget includes KRW 10tn (USD 8.2bn) in savings due to “revenue adjustments,” the new budget provides significant new outlays for emergency measures, including subsidies to help employers retain workers, strengthen the safety net for unemployed workers, help ailing exporters, and boost household consumption.… Read the rest
Below is the latest edition of our weekly Asia coronavirus update. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to discuss any of the countries mentioned in more detail.… Read the rest
