We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump condemns ‘sick conspiracy’ against AI, says he is only guardrail needed US President Donald Trump downplayed growing concerns about artificial intelligence, claiming America already has guardrails to regulate the industry and warning that casting doubt on development only benefits...

The Airport Authority has averted a “lose-lose situation” by terminating a nearly 50-year contract with Hong Kong developer New World Development for the 11 Skies commercial project, with most facilities now set to open in 2028, the statutory body’s directors have said. Julian Lee Pui-hang, the authority’s executive director for finance, said on Friday that it could no longer work with a debt-ridden partner on the ambitious development and that the project needed to be brought forward. He said...

The MTR Corporation will hand over HK$2.25 billion (US$287 million) to the Hong Kong government as a one-off settlement for the delayed completion of the high-speed rail line, while reaching a consensus to avoid a payout over hurdles affecting the Sha Tin to Central Link. While the transport firm oversaw the design, construction, testing and operation of the two projects, both are owned by the government and involved public funds. Under the arrangements announced on Friday, the MTR Corp will pay...

China has set up several new institutions at military academies to train specialists in hi-tech and discipline inspection as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) works towards its centennial modernisation goals. The College of Unmanned and Intelligent Engineering, the College of Combat Support NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) and the College of Equipment Support NCOs were established within the PLA Army Engineering University on Wednesday. On the same day, the National Defence University (NDU),...

A director of Hotstone Yoga has been arrested on suspicion of contravening the Trade Descriptions Ordinance by accepting prepayments for services before the wellness chain’s abrupt closure, as the amount of financial losses claimed by customers surpassed HK$4 million (US$510,000). The company’s closure on Wednesday has also prompted lawmakers to urge the government to widen the scope of a proposed statutory cooling-off law to cover more sections of the wellness market. Chong Kai-shing, a...

Around 150 Chinese language teachers in the Philippines are returning home following mounting criticism from Philippine security officials that educational exchanges involving China could pose national security threats. The withdrawal affects teachers stationed at schools including the Immaculate Conception Academy in Greenhills and Jubilee Christian Academy in Quezon City, both in Metro Manila, according to local media. The Manila-based Chinese Commercial News reported on Friday that the...

Taiwan has hailed the much-delayed arrival of two F-16V fighter jets as a demonstration of continuing American military support, despite a US presidential hold put on a separate multibilllion-dollar arms package. The two single-seat aircraft, which reached Chihhang Air Base in the eastern county of Taitung on Friday, are the first new F-16s received by the island since deliveries of its original F-16A/B fleet began in 1997. Compared with the earlier versions, the F-16V configuration incorporates...

Hong Kong authorities have raised the minimum wage for domestic helpers by 2.35 per cent to HK$5,220 (US$665) per month, while keeping their food allowance unchanged, citing “more favourable” socioeconomic factors. The government announced on Friday that the minimum wage for domestic workers would rise from HK$5,100, with the new rate applying to all contracts signed on or after Saturday. Authorities added that while most employers provided free food to their helpers, those choosing to pay an...

Hong Kong stock debuts are losing steam as a deluge of initial public offerings (IPOs) overwhelms investor appetite. Seven of September’s 12 IPOs fell on the first day of trading, raising the third-quarter total to 15 flops out of 31, based on Bloomberg data. By contrast, there were only 14 declines among 77 debuts in the first half of the year. Medcaptain Medical Technology led September’s first-day flops, plunging 43 per cent. Fast-fashion giant Shein tumbled as much as 10 per cent on its...

Large-scale field trials across China show that irrigation water treated with natural minerals radiated by sunlight could dramatically increase the yields of several crops, according to Chinese scientists behind the experiments. The team said the trials, including on rice, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, sugar cane and vegetables, improved photosynthetic efficiency. Their study, conducted from Heilongjiang province in northeastern China to Hainan province in the south, recorded yield...

Hong Kong’s retail sales rose by 5.6 per cent year on year in August, with the latest figures showing consumer spending picking up after growth eased for two consecutive months. Retail sales value reached HK$32 billion (US$4.1 billion), according to provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Friday. Sales in the first eight months of the year rose by 8.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2025. “Growth was seen across many types of retail outlets, while online...

Not so long ago, Washington’s approach to relations with Beijing was anchored by a single assertive phrase: dealing “from a position of strength”. It was rooted in a unipolar mindset: a belief that the United States could dictate terms, manage competition unilaterally and demand compliance from a distance. Yet, at their recent summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump formally established a new strategic framework: a “constructive strategic stability relationship based...

"Why do you insist on living in Seoul? You could just live in your own region." Young people from outside the capital hear that question often, and they say it misses the point. About 30,000 of them move to Seoul each year in net terms for university or work, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The regional antagonism that split their parents' generation between the Jeolla provinces in Korea's southwest and the Gyeongsang provinces in the southeast has faded. In its place, the concentration of opportunity in Seoul alone has deepened their marginalization. Eight participants in a roundtable discussion described what that gap looks like from the other end of the country. Regional prejudice survives as mockery Participant 7: "The regional rivalry between Gyeongsang and Jeolla doesn't seem that strong among people in their 20s these days." Participant 6: "There isn't the same level of it as among people in their 50s and 60s. But I have encountered some anti-Jeolla sentiment. Some friends whose parents are from Jeolla make such comments even more openly." Participant 1: "I've har

Korea on Friday abolished the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office after 78 years and launched two new state agencies dividing its investigative and prosecutorial powers, ushering in one of the most sweeping changes to the country’s criminal justice system in decades. Under the new framework taking effect Friday, investigations will be divided among the newly established Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). The new Prosecution Service will review cases, decide whether to indict suspects, request warrants from courts based on applications from investigative agencies and conduct prosecutions in court. But the launch of the new system leaves several unanswered questions: How agencies will handle cases when their jurisdictions overlap, whether prosecutors can exercise sufficient oversight without investigative authority of their own and whether the new agencies are adequately staffed and equipped to take over complex major-crime investigations. In the days leading up to the overhaul, prosecutor’s office

President Lee Jae Myung has approved a request for a parliamentary confirmation hearing for his nominee to become the inaugural chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), a presidential spokesperson said Friday. The announcement came as the SCIA was set to launch later in the day to take over prosecutors' functions of investigating serious crimes as part of the Lee administration's prosecution reform. Lee's approval of a document requesting a parliamentary hearing for SCIA chief nominee Kim Ji-yong indicates the president might be taking steps to officially appoint him. The president nominated Kim early last month at the recommendation of the interior minister, but suspicions have since been raised within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including over claims that Kim had once opposed prosecution reform. The presidential office said the previous day that Cheong Wa Dae will soon submit a request to the National Assembly for a parliamentary confirmation hearing for Kim. It said it had carried out an additional verification process on Kim but found that his nomination shou

A second rescue operation will be carried out Friday afternoon to return “Bukangi,” a shark that has been stranded in an artificial waterway at Busan North Port Waterfront Park for 15 days, to the open sea. A joint rescue team of Busan city officials and other relevant agencies is slated to begin the second rescue attempt at 3:30 p.m. The operation will involve pulling a custom-made 50-meter-long, 6.8-meter-high net to draw the shark toward the open sea from the fourth pedestrian bridge spanning the waterfront park’s waterway. Two boats and 10 personnel will be deployed for the operation. The net will be stretched from one end of the waterway to the other to block any gaps through which Bukang could escape, before the team slowly moves toward the open sea. One boat will tow the center of the net, while five people will be positioned at each end of the waterway to hold the net and keep pace with the shark. Behind the net, another boat equipped with a water pump will create foam on the water to guide Bukangi toward the open sea. Once the shark passes through the fifth and sixth pedes

Armed with an artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to predict fall risks for the elderly, a Ukrainian entrepreneur walked away from a Seoul pitch competition this week with something far more valuable than cash: a golden ticket toward permanent residency in Korea. The winning startup, NeuroDetectYO, was named top entry at Seoul’s second annual "Jump Up, Start Up" foreign entrepreneurship competition. Founder Oleksandr Yuhai received a 2 million won ($1,500) cash reward, but the most crucial prize was 30 points toward Korea’s notoriously difficult D-8-4 technology startup visa — a vital bridge allowing foreign founders to convert ambitious ideas into permanent Korean businesses. As domestic birth rates plummet and economic growth slows, Seoul is aggressively pivoting outward, attempting to transform itself into Asia's premier hub for global tech talent. City officials are actively rolling out the red carpet for foreign founders, believing that international perspectives can ignite the capital’s next wave of growth. "Foreign entrepreneurs are creating new business opportu

President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that South Korea will take "additional measures" should Ukraine continue to refuse to officially apologize for denying its agreement to keep the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) secret. The South Korean president issued the warning on his X account amid a diplomatic wrangle with Ukraine over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's surprise disclosure last week of the transfer of two North Korean POWs to South Korea. Seoul has since accused Ukraine of breaching a bilateral agreement to keep the transfer secret, but Ukraine has denied the existence of the confidentiality agreement. "If (Ukraine) continues to deny the fact and refuse to offer an official apology, (Seoul) will take additional measures," Lee said. Lee affirmed that Ukraine unilaterally disclosed the transfer despite having previously demanded confidentiality from South Korea, and then made the head of state of the counterpart country a "liar" by saying the nondisclosure agreement did not exist. "In response to a demand to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, it has in

Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul underscored the South Korea-U.S. alliance and their firm combined readiness during his first visit to the main U.S. military base south of Seoul on Friday, his office said. The trip marked Kang's first visit in his new capacity to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, since taking office last month. Kang, a retired Army general and former deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), met with U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson and discussed "key pending issues," the defense ministry said, without providing further details. "Minister Kang reaffirmed the solid combined defense posture and close coordination between South Korea and the United States," the ministry said in a release. "He highlighted the importance of the resolve to 'fight together,' citing lessons from the history of war, and called for an airtight defense posture amid a grave security landscape on the Korean Peninsula," it said. Discussions may well have included last week's land mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ

President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea Kyung visited a traditional market in Seoul on Friday and met with citizens in the president's latest public outreach, a presidential spokesperson said. The presidential couple toured Yeongcheon Traditional Market in Seoul following their attendance at a ceremony marking the Day of Older Persons, and heard from merchants and citizens, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a press release. During the visit, Lee and Kim also talked to merchants and purchased food from them before having lunch at a restaurant in the outdoor market, where they chatted with other customers, Kang said. The market visit marks the latest in a series of Lee's public outreach activities, with the president often visiting markets across the country to speak with people.

A parliamentary committee on Friday passed a resolution led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to demand the expulsion of Rep. Kim Tae-kyu over his remarks denying that former President Chun Doo-hwan had committed an "insurrection." Kim of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) came under fire after he appeared in a YouTube interview the previous day and said he did not consider either Chun or former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law in December 2024, to have committed insurrection. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996, later reduced to life imprisonment, on charges that included insurrection for his roles in a 1979 coup and the military's violent suppression of the Gwangju democratization movement in May 1980. In a vote at the National Assembly's House Steering Committee, the resolution passed 16-0, with PPP lawmakers refusing to take part in the vote. "Defending those who committed insurrection and undermined the constitutional order amounts to giving up one's qualification as a lawmaker," DPK floor leader Han Byung-do said, referring to Kim. Shortly befo

President Lee Jae Myung’s renewed call for dialogue with North Korea following a recent land mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is highlighting differences in tone within his administration over how to respond to Pyongyang. While the government remains committed to restoring inter-Korean dialogue, Cheong Wa Dae, the unification ministry and the military have differed in how they have addressed North Korea’s responsibility for the incident and how Seoul should respond. Lee referred to the Sept. 21 explosion, which injured three South Korean soldiers, as an “unfortunate accident,” during his Armed Forces Day speech Thursday. Rather than directly blaming North Korea, he called on Pyongyang to “restore trust and resume the dialogue that has been severed.” “Firm security means creating peace in which there is no need to fight,” Lee said, pledging to continue “practical steps” to reduce military tensions. Cheong Wa Dae sought Friday to dispel criticism that Lee’s wording was intended to play down North Korea’s responsibility. “The expression ‘unfortunate

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. Sharing french fries with a friend can sometimes lead to a familiar moment: You take a bite, then plunge the same fry back into the communal ketchup. It may seem harmless, particularly among close friends. Children and teenagers sometimes jokingly call sharing food this way an "indirect kiss." As it turns out, the joke may have a little science behind it. Bacteria from the mouth can indeed make their way into a shared sauce when someone takes a bite and dips the food again, a practice known as "double dipping." But how many double dips would it take to transfer roughly as many bacteria as a 10-second kiss? The answer, based on a playful comparison of findings from separate studies, is around 800,000. Double dipping can transfer oral bacteria Researchers at Clemson University in the United States examined how much bacteria could be transferred when a person bites into food and then dips it back into a shared sauce. Their findings were published in the Journal of Food Safety. The experiment confirmed that bacteria from the mouth can enter the sauce

When a shark estimated at around two meters in length — believed to be a bronze whaler or dusky shark — drifted unannounced into the harbor off Busan’s North Port, it transformed almost overnight from a surprise guest into a viral mascot for Korea’s second-largest city. Now, municipal officials are stepping in to ensure that the unlikely local celebrity remains a public asset rather than a corporate cash cow. The city government said Friday that it will file trademark applications this month for "Bukangi," the affectionate moniker bestowed upon the shark currently frequenting the North Port Waterfront Park. The decision comes after officials discovered five unauthorized trademark applications filed by a private individual on Sept. 21. The private claims seek exclusive commercial rights over the name in both Korean and English, alongside design graphics covering roughly 40 product categories, including keychains, plush toys and apparel. While trademark filings do not grant automatic rights under Korean law, city administrators warned that a private registration could severely res

A special counsel team on Friday sought an 18-month prison term for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in a political funds case over opinion polls conducted in the lead-up to the 2021 mayoral by-election. Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team made the request at the Seoul High Court after a lower court fined Oh 10 million won ($7,400) for violating the Political Funds Act, putting him at risk of losing his mayoral post. Under the law, elected officials are stripped of their seats if they receive a finalized fine of 1 million won or heavier punishment for accepting illegal political funds. Oh was indicted on charges of having a supporter pay 33 million won for opinion poll results he received on 10 occasions from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the by-election in April 2021. The lower court partially recognized the charges, ruling that Oh had asked Myung for opinion polls on five occasions and his supporter paid a total of 21 million won. "Defendant Oh Se-hoon is a prominent politician who, more than anyone else, is in a position to follow the Political Funds Act," Min's team said,

A court of appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling in favor of Steve Yoo, a Korean American singer, in his third lawsuit seeking to overturn the Korean government's decision to deny him an entry visa after he renounced his Korean citizenship, allegedly to evade mandatory military service. The Seoul High Court ruled that the decision by the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles to deny Yoo an entry visa must be revoked, upholding a ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court in August last year. The high court did not provide a specific explanation for its ruling. The case is an appeal of Yoo's third lawsuit against the LA consulate general after it denied his visa application. Yoo, 48, also known by his Korean name Yoo Seung-jun, has been barred from entering Korea after he became a U.S. citizen and renounced his Korean citizenship in 2002, with the alleged goal of dodging his military duty. Yoo first filed a lawsuit in 2015 after the LA consulate general refused to issue him a visa. In 2020, Yoo won a Supreme Court ruling that the visa refusal was procedurally flawed. After the to

Zheng Yongnian is a political scientist in China and a government adviser. His academic work is mainly about contemporary China, particularly politics, the country’s transformation and its external relations. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions series. Many have offered a lukewarm assessment of the Xi-Trump summit in Washington, citing the lack of a breakthrough. What is your take? There are two primary views right now. One is nihilism, which holds that China and...

A small Singaporean research team has beaten scientists in China and the United States to build the world’s most accurate atomic clock. The clock, built with a single ion of a rare earth metal element known as lutetium, is so precise that it would lose one second every 260 billion years – nearly 20 times the age of our universe. It is about four times as accurate as the previous record holder, a calcium-ion clock developed by a Chinese Academy of Sciences team in Wuhan, and also surpasses an...

Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung died of head injuries after being hit with a hammer during a car journey she believed was to pick up her daughter from school, a court has heard. Prosecutors on Friday detailed how three of Choi’s former relatives rented a remote village house and went shopping to acquire items they needed before allegedly killing the 28-year-old and disposing of her body on February 21, 2023. Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 31, his father Kwong Kau, 68, and elder...

China has set a five-year goal for the expansion of intelligent computing capacity to drive artificial intelligence (AI) that calls for a more than fourfold increase on what was in place at the end of June this year. To reach the 2030 target while being blocked by the United States from importing the most advanced Western-made AI chips will require innovation, adaptation and the application and coordination of vast resources. Judging by the 177 per cent increase in capacity achieved in the year...