AJA Newsbites is a curated roundup of major news and developments from across Asia, brought to you by members of Asia Journalist Association (AJA)
Lee Sang-ki, THE AsiaN, Korea
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reportedly held a “chimaek” meeting—fried chicken and beer—with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Silicon Valley. According to business sources, the two met on February 5 at a chicken restaurant in California, with their daughters also in attendance.
The meeting has sparked speculation that the two leaders discussed deeper mid- to long-term cooperation, including the potential adoption of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) in Nvidia’s next-generation products, as well as collaboration on future AI data center projects.
SK hynix, already considered one of Nvidia’s most critical partners, remains at the center of the global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) race. As Chey continues his schedule in the United States, attention is growing in Korea over whether the “HBM alliance” between SK and Nvidia will further solidify.
Lee Joo-hyeong, THE AsiaN, Korea
Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has failed to recover approximately 125 Bitcoins (worth about 13 billion KRW) out of the 620,000 Bitcoins it mistakenly distributed. In response, Bithumb stated that “approximately 3 billion KRW (around 2.04 million USD) was cashed out, while about 10 billion KRW (approximately 6.81 million USD) was exchanged into other cryptocurrencies. We are currently contacting customers individually to recover the funds.”
Earlier, on February 6, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. local time, Bithumb mistakenly issued a total of 620,000 Bitcoins as event rewards to 695 customers after listing the payment unit as BTC instead of KRW. As recipients rushed to sell the Bitcoins, Bitcoin prices on Bithumb briefly dropped to around 81 million KRW (approximately 56,000 USD), about 15% lower than the global market price at the time, resulting in losses for some investors.
As a result, experts and investors have pointed out that “while Bitcoin’s total supply is capped at 21 million, Bithumb is reported to hold fewer than 200 Bitcoins, yet it arbitrarily credited 620,000 Bitcoins—far exceeding its actual holdings.” This has reignited controversy over alleged price manipulation by so-called “B-book exchanges,” where trades are conducted solely based on ledger entries without corresponding actual asset holdings.
Chhay Sophal, Cambodia News Online, Cambodia
Cambodia last weekend deported hundreds of foreign nationals involved in online scams and illegal border crossings as part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on scam-related activities.
According to the General Department of Immigration (GDI) on Sunday, in cooperation with the Chinese Embassy and as part of efforts to combat and eliminate cybercrime to ensure the safety of citizens both regionally and globally, the Ministry of Interior deported 312 Chinese nationals from the Kingdom via special aircraft at the Techo International Airport Police Station.
On Saturday, the GDI also deported a total of 625 foreign nationals, including six women, of six different nationalities—India, Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Indonesia—who were involved in online scams and illegal border crossings. The deportations were carried out via Techo International Airport and the Prey Vall International Border Police Station.
The General Department of Immigration stated that the deportations were conducted in accordance with the Royal Government of Cambodia’s strict legal measures, without exception for those orchestrating the crimes. The objective, the GDI said, is to rescue victims who were deceived into working in cyber scam operations and to allow them to return freely to their home countries.
Bhanu Ranjan Chakraborty, Asia Journalist Association, Bangladesh
Two hundred election observers from 27 member states of the European Union (EU) will begin field operations across Bangladesh starting February 10, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) Bangladesh 2026 announced on Monday.
According to the EU, all short-term observers are currently undergoing training in Dhaka on election-day procedures, including voting, vote counting, and results tabulation. So far, 90 short-term observers from Europe have arrived in Bangladesh, with an additional 35 international observers from the EU diplomatic community and partner countries set to join them. In addition, 11 analysts and 56 long-term observers are already deployed across Bangladesh’s 64 administrative districts.
Chief Observer Ivar Ijabs is scheduled to present the EU mission’s preliminary findings and initial observations at a press conference in Dhaka on February 14. Bangladesh’s 13th national election is scheduled to take place on February 12.
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