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
The film “Assassin(s),” which reimagines the 1974 shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo during a National Liberation Day ceremony, has sparked an intensifying debate over historical accuracy and artistic freedom.
The film, directed by Hur Jin-ho, opened on September 23 and has drawn more than 1.63 million viewers. Critics, mainly from the opposition People Power Party, say the title’s plural form and the film’s narrative suggest that the assassination may have involved figures beyond the convicted gunman, Mun Se-gwang, potentially implicating former President Park Chung-hee or the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
On September 29, former Seoul city councillor Lee Jong-bae filed a criminal complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the director, screenwriter and producer on charges of defamation through false statements regarding a deceased person.
The production company, Hive Mediacorp, said in a statement that the film was a work of fiction that combined historical records with cinematic imagination, and was not made with any political agenda. Hur Jin-ho told MBC he had never believed Park ordered the killing of his own wife.
At the National Assembly, People Power Party lawmakers on the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee sought to summon Hur as a witness for a parliamentary audit, but the motion was blocked by the ruling Democratic Party.
Norila Daud, Malaysia World News, Malaysia
Malaysia on September 29 began repatriating 1,476 Myanmar nationals to their home country aboard three Myanmar naval vessels, in the first phase of a programme to return about 5,000 Myanmar detainees despite warnings from the United Nations and human rights groups.
The group — comprising 1,370 men, 79 women, 20 boys and seven girls aged eight to 60 — was taken from immigration detention to Manjung District Stadium in Perak for health checks, identity verification and documentation before being transported in 46 buses to the Lumut naval base. Journalists were barred from the premises. The detainees were repatriated aboard Myanmar naval vessels UMS Moattama, UMS King Sin Phyu Shin and hospital ship UMS Thanlwin. The Home Ministry said the individuals were identified by Myanmar’s government through a diplomatic note dated August 13 and described their return as voluntary.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had no role in the operation and warned that conditions in Myanmar did not support safe and sustainable returns. “Refugees should not be returned to places they’ve fled and where their lives are at risk,” the agency said.
James Bawi Thang Bik, a representative of Myanmar’s Chin refugee community in Malaysia, said he was aware of asylum seekers among those being deported, including at least one UNHCR card holder. He warned that returnees could face forced military conscription or detention. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has defended the programme as a diplomatic effort, saying Malaysia cannot host refugees indefinitely and Myanmar must take responsibility for its citizens.
As of February, Malaysia was hosting about 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR, including about 126,000 Rohingya from Myanmar. Thousands have fled since the 2021 military coup, which triggered a nationwide armed conflict. The Rohingya have faced longstanding discrimination and are largely denied citizenship under Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law.
Chhay Sophal, Cambodia News Online, Cambodia
Cambodian Ambassador to South Korea Kuon Phonratanak met Pyeongtaek City Council Chairman Choi Jae-young on September 28 at the council headquarters in Gyeonggi Province to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation.
Phonratanak, accompanied by Consul Sopna, highlighted the rapid development of Pyeongtaek, home to a large Cambodian community, and discussed the well-being of local Khmer residents. He proposed broadening cooperation between Pyeongtaek and Phnom Penh in education, labor and trade, involving both public and private sectors, and invited the chairman to lead a delegation of business leaders to Cambodia.
Choi, joined by Vice Chairman Jeong Il-gu, said Cambodia and South Korea share economic complementarities. He noted Pyeongtaek’s transformation from an agricultural base into an industrial centre and pledged to promote cooperative efforts in the economic, cultural and educational spheres throughout his tenure.
Leo Nirosha Darshan, Express Newspapers, Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath addressed the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on September 28, calling for renewed multilateral cooperation and reforms to global institutions.
Herath said conflicts, climate disasters, debt and rapid technological change were eroding public trust in international institutions and called for collective responses. He pointed to Cyclone Ditwah, one of the worst natural disasters in Sri Lanka’s recent history, which killed hundreds of people and affected more than two million. He extended sympathies to Nepal and China over devastating floods, saying the events demonstrated the enormous human and economic cost of climate change borne disproportionately by countries that have contributed least to global emissions. “Climate justice must become an urgent reality,” Herath said. Sri Lanka is on track to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050, he added.
Herath also called for reforms to the international financial system to help developing nations achieve Sustainable Development Goals and expressed support for the UN80 Initiative to modernise the UN system. Reaffirming Sri Lanka’s neutral foreign policy, Herath said Colombo remained concerned about the suffering in Gaza and reiterated support for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel within pre-1967 borders. He also highlighted Sri Lanka’s contribution to UN peacekeeping, with more than 21,000 personnel having served in missions since 1957.
Herath noted that Sri Lanka had restored macroeconomic stability after the 2022 economic crisis and had been reclassified by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income economy.
Shakil Yamin Kanga, APNEC, Pakistan
Pakistani Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called on Afghanistan’s interim government to abandon what he described as a militant mindset and adopt a responsible approach to statehood.
Speaking at a seminar titled “Afghan Predicament and the Trajectory to Peace” in Islamabad on September 29, Tarar said the situation in Afghanistan was highly complex and required a sustainable solution. He said Pakistan believed in peace, dialogue and coexistence, and had sent high-level delegations to Afghanistan while holding talks in Istanbul and Doha.
Tarar expressed concern over the presence of safe havens for terrorists and members of internationally proscribed organisations in Afghanistan, and said the Afghan people should receive their basic rights and the power to decide their own future.
He noted that Afghanistan had significant potential for regional trade and connectivity. Peace could open trade routes from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan, boosting stability and development across the region, he said. “Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness. Any attempt to destabilise Pakistan has been responded to and shall be responded to,” Tarar said, while reiterating support for a negotiated resolution.
Kuban Abdymen, Centralasianlight, Kyrgyzstan
The United States is supporting Tajikistan in developing strategies to help returning labor migrants reintegrate into the domestic economy. The initiative focuses on creating opportunities for citizens to use experience gained abroad to launch businesses and develop sustainable income sources, with particular attention to expanding access to digital platforms, financial services and e-commerce.
The effort coincides with the Central Asia Digital Trade Forum 2026, held in Dushanbe from September 27 to 30, which brought together returning migrant entrepreneurs, business associations, financial institutions and international partners to discuss opportunities in the digital economy.
Tajikistan remains heavily dependent on labor migration and remittances, particularly from Russia. In the first half of 2026, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Labor provided business startup assistance to 1,256 unemployed citizens, of whom 87 were returning migrants who received subsidized loans for entrepreneurial activities.
Changes in Russian migration policies have increased the urgency of creating employment opportunities at home. However, implementation faces challenges including the limited size of the domestic market, restricted access to affordable credit and weak financial infrastructure in rural areas.
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