‘Less than a minute’: Hong Kong travellers praise Japan’s new tax refund at airports

South China Morning Post - Nov 1, 2026

Hong Kong tour groups returning from Japan have praised a smooth roll-out of the country’s new tax refund arrangement that requires travellers to complete refund procedures at airports or ports rather than at shops. Under the “pay first, refund later” scheme, which took effect on Sunday to curb illicit domestic reselling and tax evasion, international tourists must now pay the 10 per cent consumption tax upfront at the counter. Travellers are now required to complete customs verification before...

Read full article

More News

Could a midterm defeat tame Trump? Not on foreign policy, Chinese experts say

A potential lame-duck phase may not deter US President Donald Trump from pursuing more “transactional” or “risky” foreign policy moves after the midterm elections, Chinese experts warn, while casting doubt on expectations of a powerful Democratic wave. Amid a season of high-stakes contests that could reshape global politics, the US vote on Tuesday stands out. The election, which will determine who takes control of the US Congress, could result in Trump and his fellow Republicans no longer...

Could a midterm defeat tame Trump? Not on foreign policy, Chinese experts say

China’s Xi says strict party governance has positive impact, does not stifle growth

Chinese President Xi Jinping has mounted a direct defence of the campaign for strong Communist Party governance and internal discipline, describing them as a “fundamental guarantee” for China’s rise and warning against any easing of scrutiny, according to state media. Xi took the floor as the party’s 20th Central Committee closed its fifth plenum on Thursday, to directly address the scepticism over the sweeping campaign, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. According to “side notes”...

China’s Xi says strict party governance has positive impact, does not stifle growth

Clarify crime thresholds and immunity in bid-rigging law: Hong Kong Bar Association

The Hong Kong Bar Association has called on the government to clearly define criminal thresholds and resolve whistle-blower immunity rules under its plan to outlaw bid-rigging following the deadly Tai Po inferno. A task force formed by the association, which represents the city’s barristers, spent 10 months reviewing four key areas of law and released a 140-page report on Sunday in the hope of providing direction to address the shortcomings that led to the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze last...

Clarify crime thresholds and immunity in bid-rigging law: Hong Kong Bar Association

Love hotteok? Here's how the sugary, oil-fried snack can affect your diet

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com. Comedian Shin Bong-sun, who has drawn attention for her slimmer figure, turned down even a tempting snack to stay on track with her diet. Shin recently posted a photo of a black plastic bag on social media, writing, “Hotteok my older sister bought me from Namdaemun. I won't eat it.” She also shared a full-body photo taken at a gym, saying she was playing tennis and attending a personal training session. Shin previously revealed that she had lost 11 kilograms in just 100 days. She has since continued to exercise regularly and manage her diet. Hotteok: A calorie bomb with sugar and oil Hotteok is a snack made by filling wheat flour dough with a sweet filling and cooking it in oil. The carbohydrates in the dough, combined with sugar and oil, make the snack high in calories. Its calorie content varies depending on its size, filling ingredients and the amount of oil used during cooking. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's food nutrition database, hotteok containing nuts has 314 kilocalories per 100 grams. Eating a 150-gram hotteok

Love hotteok? Here's how the sugary, oil-fried snack can affect your diet

Hanwha bags 1st US Navy shipbuilding order

Hanwha Group has won its first contract to build a warship for the United States Navy after its acquisition of Philadelphia-based Philly Shipyard in December 2024, marking a tangible step forward in the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation initiative known as Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA). Hanwha Group said Sunday that Hanwha Defense USA has signed a $269 million (357.5 billion won) contract with TOTE Services to build a landing ship medium (LSM). TOTE Services is a vessel construction manager entrusted by the U.S. Navy with overseeing shipbuilding contracts and managing vessel construction. The construction of the LSM is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of next year, and the contract also includes options for three additional vessels. The LSM is an expeditionary landing vessel designed to support the U.S. Navy's operations in contested coastal areas, including the Indo-Pacific region. It is tasked with transporting and deploying Marine Corps personnel, equipment and supplies to coastal areas. The U.S. Navy aims to secure 35 LSMs. The vessel measures 100 meters in

Hanwha bags 1st US Navy shipbuilding order

POSCO union to vote on tentative wage deal this week

Unionized workers at South Korean steelmaker POSCO will vote this week on a tentative wage agreement reached with management, the union said Sunday. The two sides have held 30 rounds of negotiations since June, while the union staged two partial strikes in September to demand higher wages and bonuses. Last week, the union said it would launch an "indefinite" strike from Nov. 2 unless the company presented an acceptable wage offer. On Friday, the union reached a tentative agreement on the company's latest offer, which includes a 2.6 percent increase in base pay, a one-off payment of 6 million won ($4,500) and improved benefits. Union members are scheduled to vote on the deal on Saturday. The union had initially demanded a 7.1 percent increase in base pay, a performance bonus equivalent to 600 percent of base pay, 50 company shares per worker and a holiday bonus equivalent to 200 percent of base pay. In addition to higher wages, the union cited staffing shortages and aging facilities as factors that could heighten the risk of workplace accidents. Management's previous offer included a 2.5 pe

POSCO union to vote on tentative wage deal this week

From 'Lake of Death' to Clavius, Korea searches moon for 2032 landing sites

Korea is shopping for real estate on the moon, and its newly established space agency has its eye on some of the lunar surface’s most forbidding neighborhoods. At a recent academic symposium, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) revealed a shortlist of prospective landing sites for two robotic missions scheduled for 2032. The agency is weighing 20 candidate zones for its flagship lunar lander and nine for a precursor soft-landing demonstration craft, signaling a decisive shift toward boots-on-the-surface ambitions for a nation long playing catch-up in deep-space exploration. Rather than sticking strictly to the lunar south pole — a crowded target for NASA’s Artemis program and rival missions seeking water ice — Korean scientists are eyeing a broader, strategically varied grid. The candidate list spans ancient impact basins, jagged basaltic plains, and deep pit craters that could house underground lava tubes. Among the standout targets for the early 2032 verification probe is Lacus Mortis, or the "Lake of Death," a pitted plain that scientists suspect holds collapsed lava tub

From 'Lake of Death' to Clavius, Korea searches moon for 2032 landing sites

Relatives from family separated by Korean War meet for 1st time in 3rd country

Two relatives from a family separated by the 1950-53 Korean War met for the first time in a third country in September, marking a rare reunion amid frozen inter-Korean relations. Tensions remain high on the divided Korean Peninsula as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ruled out talks with South Korea and defined inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other." The meeting came five months after South Korea's Unification Ministry received a request from a North Korean member of a separated family seeking help to find a maternal uncle in South Korea. The request was relayed to the ministry by a North Korean defector living in the South. The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, located the uncle in its database of separated families, only to learn that he had died 30 years earlier. After trying to contact the uncle's adult children using information in the database, a ministry official made contact with a 65-year-old cousin living in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul. The South Korean cousin readily agreed to contact the North Korean relative, saying the cousin's

Relatives from family separated by Korean War meet for 1st time in 3rd country

Overseas trips add to debate over Korea's shifting political standards

President Lee Jae Myung’s overseas trips have again drawn attention to Korea’s shifting political standards, adding to a familiar cycle of disputes over presidential golf and the presidential plane whenever power passes between conservative and liberal administrations. The controversies center on taxpayer money and the public's attitudes toward presidential privilege, with governing parties defending certain activities as necessary for diplomacy or official duties and the opposition calling them wasteful or excessive — arguments that often switch sides under successive administrations. In the latest controversy, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Friday defended the frequency of Lee’s overseas trips accompanied by first lady Kim Hea Kyung. “Korea’s international standing requires its president to attend regular multilateral gatherings and bilateral visits,” Wi said. “Spouses also accompany leaders as an established diplomatic practice.” Wi’s defense followed an Oct. 1 analysis by Rep. Lee Jin-sook of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). It counted 14 tri

Overseas trips add to debate over Korea's shifting political standards

Sejong University team finds link between retail investor attention, lower stock returns

A research team at Sejong University has found that stocks attracting greater attention from retail investors tend to generate lower returns in subsequent periods. The university said the findings were published last month in the prestigious Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money. The team was led by Lee Eun-mi, a professor at the university’s College of Business and Economics, and included doctoral students Yang Pujian and Yang Liu. The paper, titled “The Retreat of Arbitrage Capital: Attention Level and Nonlinear Order Flow Dynamics,” lists Yang Pujian as the first author, Lee as the corresponding author and Yang Liu as a co-author. The research team examined how retail investor attention affects institutional trading behavior and stock market returns. The researchers analyzed data from China’s A-share market spanning 2012 to 2024 and measured investor attention using the Search Volume Index (SVI) provided by Baidu, China’s leading search engine. The analysis found that stocks attracting greater investor attention tend to generate relatively lower retu

Sejong University team finds link between retail investor attention, lower stock returns

Hana sponsors autism awareness race for 7th straight year

Hana Financial Group said Sunday it participated in the 2026 Autism Race the day before to promote public understanding of autism and foster a culture of respect and inclusion. The group has officially sponsored the annual running campaign, organized by the Autism Society of Korea, for seven consecutive years since 2020. About 100 participants, including Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung, employees and their families, voluntarily joined Saturday’s event, running alongside participants with autism. All registration fees paid by the group’s employees will be donated to the association to support people with autism. The campaign aims to encourage people to view differences not as barriers or grounds for discrimination, but as diversity that enriches society. “It is meaningful to join efforts to broaden understanding and respect for people with autism and build an inclusive society,” Lee said. “We will continue providing sincere attention and support so that people with autism and other members of society can grow together as respected members of our communities.” Han

Hana sponsors autism awareness race for 7th straight year

Samsung chairman highlights chip packaging, visits Japanese unit

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company’s semiconductor advanced packaging technology laboratory in Japan, Sunday, pledging to continue expanding its research workforce there and develop the lab into a global R&D hub for next-generation packaging technologies. According to Samsung Electronics, Lee visited Advanced Package Lab (APL) in Yokohama and discussed with researchers the latest developments in technologies for advanced packaging materials and processes, as well as ways to strengthen cooperation with Japan's materials, parts and equipment industries. Lee stressed the importance of securing advanced packaging technologies, as they are emerging as critical for artificial intelligence (AI) processor chips. APL was established in 2023 and held its official opening ceremony in September this year. Starting in 2024, Samsung Electronics has been investing 40 billion yen ($254 million) over five years to establish its research infrastructure in Japan and strengthen its competitiveness in advanced packaging technologies. APL specializes in developing and va

Samsung chairman highlights chip packaging, visits Japanese unit

Recommended