• Society

    International marriages in South Korea up 8.5 pct in 2018

    Sejong: The number of international marriages between a South Korean national and a foreigner rose 8.5 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday. There were 23,773 international marriages last year, up 1,856 from 2017, according to the data by Statistics Korea. It marked the second straight…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    Senior U.S. diplomat calls recent Moon-Abe meeting ‘encouraging’ sign

    Seoul: The top American diplomat for East Asia on Wednesday described this week’s meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as an “encouraging” sign in fence-mending efforts between Seoul and Tokyo. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell made the remarks after paying courtesy calls…

    Read More »
  • South East Asia

    Inexorably approaching the retirement milestone

    By Nasir Yousoff Contributor to AsiaN Kuala Lumpur: After serving this great organisation for some 37 years, 451 months and 13,505 days, the remaining 140 plus days before going into retirement seem so short, so negligible. Minus some 70 days of accumulated leave that I have to finish before retiring,…

    Read More »

  • Poaching accelerating extinction of protected species

    By Ravindran Raman Kutty Communications practitioner (Malaysia) Kuala Lumpur: “An endangered pygmy elephant was found dead in Sabah. It had been shot 70 times and its tusks were hacked off during a brutal attack by poachers…” This was the first thing I heard when I switched on the radio one…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    U.S. underscores commitment to Indo-Pacific region after RCEP deal

    Washington: The United States has underscored its commitment to free trade with the Indo-Pacific region after a bloc of nations led by China struck a major trade deal without U.S. participation. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest free trade agreement, was announced earlier Monday by the 10 member…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    South Korea’s president revs up ASEAN diplomacy, breaks ice with Abe

    Bangkok: Attending ASEAN-hosted summits here this week, South Korean President Moon Jae-in had multiple goals — from drumming up support for the dormant Korea peace process to reaching out to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He also placed a focus on drawing more attention to an upcoming ASEAN-South Korea commemorative…

    Read More »
  • Politics

    Kuwait’s Al Hajraf to be named new Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General

    By Habib Toumi Manama: Kuwait’s finance minister Nayef Al Hajraf will be the next Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reports in Kuwait said on Monday evening. The position rotates among the member states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Oman…

    Read More »
  • Culture

    Singapore academic freedom vs political control

    By Ivan Lim Contributor to AsiaN Singapore: A liberal arts course on Dissent and Resistance for new undergraduates proved to be more than an academic exercise in Singapore’s jealously contested political space. A Yale-National University of Singapore College (YNC) project was pulled from the Learning Across Boundaries programme because it…

    Read More »
  • Entertainment

    V4 countries launch Gulf charm offensive to promote tourism

    Manama: The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have launched a charm offensive to attract tourists from Gulf countries. Known as ‘Visegrad Group’ (V4), a cultural and political alliance between The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the four countries have joined forces to promote tourism to the four Central…

    Read More »
  • South Asia

    Pakistan closes Kabul embassy following harassment of diplomats

    By Nasir Aijaz AsiaN Representative Islamabad: Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul will remain closed from today (Monday) for an indefinite period due to the harassment of Pakistani diplomats in Afghanistan’s capital. “Due to security reasons, Consular Section of the Embassy of Pakistan, Kabul will be closed from tomorrow Monday, 4th November,…

    Read More »