South Korean parties may lower voting age to 18
Rival parties are in talks to lower the voting age by one year to 18. National Assembly speaker Chung Ui-hwa said Wednesday that parties are holding negotiations to increase the number of eligible voters by lowering the voting age. “They are talking about lowering the voting age to 18,” Chung said during a press briefing. […]
Former opposition leader bolts from party
The New Politics Alliance for Democracy party’s former leader Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo bolted from the main opposition party Sunday, further aggravating factional strife and foreshadowing a realignment of the opposition bloc ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for next April. During a press conference at the National Assembly, the entrepreneur-turned-politician pledged to establish a new […]
Saudi women vote and get elected for the first time in country’s history
Saudi voters elected 20 women for local government seats, according to results released on Sunday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country’s history. The 20 female candidates come from different parts of the country and they represent one percent of […]
US military’s largest overseas base under construction in Pyeongtaek, Korea
The U.S. military is in the final stage of construction on what is set to be its largest overseas base located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. If finished on schedule in 2017, the base will accommodate approximately 42,000 soldiers and their families. The site was first opened up to the media on Dec. 10 while engineers […]
Facebook CEO offers support for Muslims as Islamophobia increases
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared words of support for Muslims who fear retaliation for the recent violent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. In the wake of those attacks, Zuckerberg wrote on his personal Facebook page Wednesday that he wants to assure Muslims they are welcome on Facebook and that “we will fight to protect […]
82% South Koreans in favor of reunification
Eight out of 10 South Koreans believe unification with the North is necessary, a survey shows. The National Unification Advisory Council surveyed 1,000 adults last month and 82 percent said unification is necessary while 15.2 percent said it is not. The perception that the divided peninsula needs to be unified has grown from 71.8 percent […]
Another former sex slave dies; 46 victims remain
Choi Gap-sun, 96, a victim of the Japanese military’s sexual enslavement of women from Korea and other Asian nations, died on Saturday, according to a civic group. With Choi’s death, the number of Korean survivors of sexual slavery during World War II has dropped to 46. Including Choi, nine have died this year, according to […]
China turning hostile toward North Korean defectors
The Chinese government regards North Korean defectors as illegal immigrants, and said on Thursday that they should be forcibly repatriated. Its hostile approach came despite the United Nations’ growing criticism of Beijing’s forced repatriation of asylum seekers from the Kim Jong-un regime; and possibly reflects an improvement in relations between China and North Korea. “We […]
Ex-President Kim Young-sam’s funeral takes place
The funeral for former President Kim Young-sam began at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul at 2 p.m. today. Over 10,000 mourners attended including Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the head of the funeral committee, government officials, business representatives and foreign ambassadors and envoys. President Park Geun-hye partially attended the ceremony, paying her last respects at […]
Two Koreas hold working-level dialogue this afternoon
North and South Korea kicked off a working-level meeting on Thursday afternoon to decide details of a high-level talks that the two countries agreed in August to hold as soon as possible, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday. The preparatory meeting took place on the North’s side of the truce village of Panmunjeom at 12:50 p.m. […]
![[Novel] The Road to Shamawes ⑯](http://www.theasian.asia/wp-content/themes/city-desk/timthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theasian.asia%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F08%2FAshraf-2novel-news_9601.jpg&q=90&w=300&h=0&zc=1 "[Novel] The Road to Shamawes ⑯")
