Li Haitao: AI Cooperation is a "multiplication effect"
PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — When a group of Korean War veterans visited Camp Humphreys on Nov. 5, the emotional meeting with a new generation of American soldiers offered a rare moment of recognition. However, for the roughly 20,000 Korean veterans of the 1950-53 war still living — now averaging 94 years old — the more urgent question is whether the government can provide adequate care, medical support and financial assistance in their remaining years. Vice Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kang Yun-jin, who accompanied them, said the visit brought back memories of her earlier work promoting exchanges between Korean and American veterans. Watching the veterans receive a warm welcome from U.S. soldiers was particularly moving, she said. But beyond such occasions, Kang said the government’s priority must be ensuring that veterans receive proper care and recognition while they are still alive. “What matters most is ensuring that veterans can spend their remaining years in good health and comfort, with the pride and honor they deserve for their service to the country,”
PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — More than seven decades after the 1950-53 Korean War, a group of Korean veterans returned to a U.S. Army base where they once served — this time as honored guests of a new generation of American soldiers. “It feels like coming home,” said Kang Ku-kon, who was 15 when he volunteered and began helping care for wounded American soldiers at an Eighth Army field hospital. “I served here 70 years ago. The moment I walked in, even the smell was the same.” Kang was among a group of Korean War veterans welcomed to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 5. As their bus arrived at the Van Fleet Hall, a U.S. Army band began playing. For many of the visitors, now in their 90s, the trip offered a chance to see a place tied to their wartime service and meet the soldiers stationed there today. The visit grew out of a request from the veterans themselves. Vice Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kang Yun-jin said several veterans, including Ryu Jae-sik, head of the Korean War Veterans Association’s Seoul branch, raised the idea at a mem
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
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...
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,...
The European Commission is moving to shield its industrial machinery and chemical sectors from Chinese imports, and is weighing a “kill switch” mechanism. Together with Washington, Brussels has settled into a familiar narrative: a record trade deficit with China is framed as proof of its “overcapacity” and attributed to state subsidies that allegedly tilt the global playing field. For European Union audiences frustrated by stagnant domestic manufacturing, this argument sounds intuitive. Held up...
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday blamed the Commerce Department, led by Howard Lutnick, for delaying the blacklisting of Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer suspected of diverting advanced AI chips to China, days before US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Shenzhen. Bessent spoke a day after Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive following reports that he had an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based...
The United States and China held the inaugural meeting of their bilateral Board of Trade on Friday, just days before US President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Shenzhen. “Today, the Office of the US Trade Representative, alongside the @USTreasury, held the first official US-China Board of Trade meeting with our Chinese counterparts,” the US Trade Representative (USTR) said on social media. “The Trump Administration looks forward to continuing our engagement with China...
The head of Hong Kong’s Catholic diocese has asked all of the city’s parishes to hold special masses and prayers to mark the first anniversary of the deadly Tai Po fire later this month. Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan invited parishes to offer mass for the deceased on November 26, one year after the blaze broke out, according to a notice issued by the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Liturgy Commission on Friday. The inferno at the Wang Fuk Court housing estate raged for more than 43 hours, killing...
US President Donald Trump will press Southeast Asian economies to join Pax Silica, his campaign to China-proof AI and chip supply chains, when he attends the Asean summit in Manila next week. According to people familiar with the matter, artificial intelligence and critical minerals will top his agenda at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering, his first trip abroad since his party’s bruising midterm defeats. In particular, he is expected to urge regional leaders to sign up for AI...
Hong Kong’s construction industry is facing mounting public scrutiny following a string of scandals involving substandard work, defective installations and questionable maintenance practices. From malfunctioning hospital lifts and missing fire-safety components in lift door frames to defective columns at a railway station and structural flaws in residential projects, the incidents have raised concerns over construction quality, regulatory oversight and accountability. Secretary for Development...
Jensen Huang’s abrupt resignation from Nvidia has cast uncertainty over the US chip giant’s multibillion-dollar investments in open-source artificial intelligence, while potentially depriving Chinese developers of one of their most influential advocates in Washington. His departure could prompt Nvidia to scale back spending on open-weight models and their supporting infrastructure, analysts said, although strong commercial incentives would likely keep the company committed to the broader...