Korea’s largest-ever antitrust fine will cut into this year’s earnings at the brokerages and banks that underwrite government debt, but it is unlikely to weaken their capital buffers, according to Korea Investors Service (KIS), a Moody’s affiliate. In a report released earlier this week, the credit rating agency said the penalties imposed by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will make “a short-term decline in profitability unavoidable,” especially at the firms facing the largest penalties. It added that their capital strength and the earnings they built up in the first half should be enough to absorb the cost, creating a formidable yet manageable financial hurdle for the country's primary financial institutions. The regulatory crackdown stems from an investigation into primary dealers in Korea's sovereign debt market. The FTC issued corrective orders on Wednesday and imposed roughly 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in combined fines on 15 financial institutions — all designated primary dealers responsible for underwriting Korea Treasury bonds — for restricting competit

The ICT ministry said Saturday it will inspect disruptions to domestic companies' operations following a global outage of tech giant Microsoft's services. Microsoft 365 services experienced disruptions earlier this week, with some companies in the country reporting difficulty accessing their emails Friday. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it plans to check the restoration of the company's services and possible damage to users in South Korea by working with Microsoft Korea. It added that it will form a joint emergency response team with the company to continue monitoring the situation.

Disciplinary staff in Wuhan, provincial capital of Hubei in central China, were going about their routine workday when a red alert landed. It was from a large data model – flagging a possible case of corruption. “A company took on more than 10 projects this year. Its registered capital reduced from 50 million yuan (US$7.5 million) to 10 million, yet it’s paid-in capital is still zero,” the alert said. “Moreover, over 80 per cent of the projects it took were [residential] communities from...

Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation has warned that it will face significant cash flow pressures over the next few years, even with the government’s grant of eight new sites for developing the Northern Link rail project in the Northern Metropolis. The warning came as the Liber Research Community cast doubt on the MTR Corp’s model of using property developments to fund rail construction, pointing out that about a third of the 18 sites granted in total were idle plots where developers had opted for cash...

Drones are banned, security cameras bristle at intersections and some residents have been asked to vacate their homes as the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen counts down to the Apec meetings. Thousands of government officials, journalists, tourists and entrepreneurs are expected to descend on the city next week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where President Xi Jinping will hold talks with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as he chairs the 33rd Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting from...

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has reported to police the theft of 17,000 ticket QR codes from its online ticketing system and suspended sales through its website, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said on Saturday that an IT worker at the amusement park on Lantau Island had detected anomalies in the resort’s computer system, only to discover the QR code theft. Police have classified the case as access to a computer with a criminal or dishonest intent, and the Lantau district crime...

China and South Korea have agreed to use next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen to advance bilateral ties, according to their top diplomats. The pledge by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun after talks in Beijing on Friday comes as Seoul seeks Beijing’s help to revive stalled dialogue with Pyongyang. The Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting from November 18 to 19 is expected to mark the third summit between South Korean President Lee...

Hong Kong residents have been warned about fake vehicle airbag safety recall messages circulating widely on WhatsApp, with the Chinese-language notices bearing the Transport Department’s name. A department spokesman said on Saturday that the case had been referred to police for follow-up action. It urged residents not to provide any personal information in response to unofficial messages purportedly from the government. “At present, the department only sets out safety recall information provided...

From A-list underwear campaigns to everyday wardrobe staples, tight briefs are often hailed as the ultimate symbol of masculine appeal. However, a major new study out of China suggests that choosing tight underwear over classic boxer shorts could lead to higher rates of erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and prostatitis. A snug fit also impairs sperm quality, according to the findings published in the Asian Journal of Andrology last month. Loose underwear may offer a simple alternative...

Hong Kong police will activate artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition across their expanding smart surveillance network on Monday, the force’s chief has said. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming said on Saturday that the technology could help identify people even if they wore masks or used other methods to evade detection. “No matter what methods you use, if you commit a crime, we actually have the capability to arrest you. I believe that using facial recognition serves as a...

Hong Kong will launch a trial scheme next year to handle proxy voting via an electronic platform, a move designed to pave the way for a cap on proxies and curb rampant bid-rigging in private housing estates. Announcing the plan on Saturday, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said the government had decided against an immediate limit on proxy votes under proposed amendments to the Building Management Ordinance. The reforms follow the deadly Tai Po fire almost a year ago,...

China is updating a law that has underpinned one of the most remarkable industrial transformations of our time. After two decades of rapid renewable-energy development, China is preparing to rewrite the rules that have guided, supported and guarded its energy revolution. The draft revision to China’s Renewable Energy Law was released on November 6 for public comment until December 5. Twenty years ago, China, having just joined the World Trade Organization, saw energy consumption surge as...

Nearly a year after taking effect, the landmark High Seas Treaty risks becoming another geopolitical battleground among major powers, observers have warned. Ratified by 105 countries, including China but not the United States and Russia, the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) is the most significant maritime pact in decades, governing international waters that cover nearly two-thirds of the global ocean. While the treaty was designed to safeguard marine ecosystems and...

Slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung’s former brother-in-law began his defence in the seventh week of the trial over her alleged murder, describing himself as a close friend but claiming he “blanked out” while helping to dispose of her dismembered body and erase evidence of the crime. In a week of testimony filled with emotions and twists, Anthony Kwong Kong-kit tearfully identified his younger brother as the killer, denied having a motive for murder and admitted fabricating an earlier...

The world’s first attempt to edit genes inside a child’s brain, which killed a six-year-old girl in Shanghai last year, has led to the firing of scientists following an official investigation that found they had broken research rules and taken money from her family. The investigation, ordered by the Communist Party’s Shanghai municipal committee and the local government, concluded on Friday that the researchers had not shared worrying results from monkey tests with the girl’s doctors beforehand....

A war of words has erupted between a popular preschool in Hong Kong and a parent who alleges that his two-year-old son suffered a large bump on his head on campus, though police closed their investigation after finding no CCTV evidence that the child had been hurt on site. Cannan Kindergarten (Waterloo Road) told the South China Morning Post on Saturday that it had not received any medical reports or professional medical opinions substantiating the father’s claim that “the injuries occurred on...

Flights between the United States and Hong Kong will face continued disruptions over the next two days, the Airport Authority has warned, after a nationwide US ground stop forced the cancellation of nearly 10,000 flights and affected at least 16 services to and from the city. In reply to the South China Morning Post’s queries, the authority operating the city’s international airport said that at least 16 flights had been cancelled or delayed as of 6pm on Saturday. That included the cancellation...

Leaders of top British universities have urged the city to look beyond institutional rankings in its “Study in Hong Kong” campaign, warning that attracting and keeping top overseas talent requires government-backed career incentives and clear post-study visa pathways. The university leaders also pushed back against fears that artificial intelligence (AI) is devaluing higher education, arguing that campuses must shift away from routine essay-writing to a focus on collaborative problem-solving and...

Hong Kong police have arrested three teenage boys on suspicion of assaulting a 13-year-old fellow pupil on campus, after a social media post criticised the school’s handling of the alleged bullying. Police said they received a report on Wednesday that the boy had allegedly been assaulted at a school in Chai Wan the previous day. “Following preliminary investigation, the case has been classified as common assault … the boy sustained no superficial injuries and was sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole...

The Chinese military is mining big data to get better recruits and stamp out corruption in the march towards its centenary next year. As part of an overhaul called “end-to-end sunshine” recruitment, the People’s Liberation Army has been commanded to use data-driven systems across the the enlistment process to build a military “focused on war readiness”. The orders came this month from the general offices of the Central Military Commission and State Council and mark a renewed push to eradicate...

Li Haitao: AI Cooperation is a "multiplication effect"

“I thought spooks were supposed to be stealthy,” the uncouth, flatulent anti-hero Jackson Lamb complains in the hit British spy series Slow Horses as an annoying underling loudly enters his rundown office building, known to fans as Slough House. I have no idea if Alice Huang, the alleged love interest of billionaire Jensen Huang – who resigned as Nvidia CEO on Thursday – is really a Chinese Mata Hari. My own knowledge of espionage is confined to reading John le Carre and Robert Ludlum, and...

When Mao Hamasaki, also known as DJ Mao, took to the social media platform X earlier this month to recount the ordeal of consuming a spiked drink in Hong Kong, her comments were accompanied by an apology, leaving many local social media users perplexed. “They said, ‘You are the victim, why do you keep apologising and taking the blame’, making it sound like I’m putting the fault on myself. But that is honestly just how we [Japanese] talk,” she said. “People in Hong Kong are much more direct. They...

China owns 80 per cent of the world’s underwater data centre patents, giving it a decisive lead in critical technologies, according to a two-decade study of global patents in the field. The findings reveal a shift away from the West in the race to build future green computing infrastructure, as China transforms from an early follower into the dominant force in subsea data technologies. “China holds competitive edges in engineering-oriented technologies such as modular construction and in situ...

The White House on Friday confirmed an unprecedented meeting between leaders of the US, China and Russia on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen next week. “President [Donald] Trump will conclude his visit to China with a trilateral meeting between the president of the United States, the president of the People’s Republic of China and the president of the Russian Federation,” said Olivia Wales, the White House assistant press secretary. Wales added...

Modern fishing technology continues to advance. But on the island Zhaoshu Dao, fishermen Feng Jiahui and Xu Mingwen still practice an age-old skill: diving into the reefs on a single breath. Learned through years of experience and passed down through generations, this traditional way of fishing is becoming increasingly rare. How long can it survive?

No air tanks. Just one breath. On the island Zhaoshu Dao, fishermen Feng Jiahui and Xu Mingwen dive six or seven meters into the reefs to find their catch. It is a skill learned through years of practice and passed down through generations. But fish are becoming harder to find, and fewer young people are choosing to learn the traditional method. What happens to a way of life when the next generation moves on?

Food deliveries across the skies are a regular sight in bustling tourist areas of the Chinese tech-hub of Shenzhen, hosting APEC this week.

US lawmakers have been demanding answers about potential national security risks and White House oversight of advanced chip exports to China following revelations that former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was in a relationship with a businesswoman suspected of working for Chinese intelligence. Three Republican House committee chairmen and Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott separately sent letters Thursday seeking testimony from Huang. “As reports continue to come to light...

When G7 leaders gathered at the French resort of Evian-les-Bains in June, Donald Trump arrived late but wasted no time in grabbing the spotlight. With a cheeky declaration, “I am the boss”, the US president drew a ripple of awkward laughter from around the table. Months earlier, in his September 2025 address to the UN General Assembly, he told the gathering that “your countries are going to hell”. His lengthy speech blended boasts about his own record with sharp criticism of allies’ policies,...