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
South Korean lawmakers received 4,396,560 won (about $3,230) each as a Chuseok holiday allowance this year. The payment equals 60 percent of their monthly general allowance of 7,327,600 won. An identical payment for Lunar New Year brings each lawmaker’s annual holiday allowances to 8,793,120 won (about $6,470). Their total annual compensation stands at about 161 million won.
A survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises by the Korea Federation of SMEs found that 45.1 percent planned to pay Chuseok bonuses, while 38.5 percent did not and 16.4 percent had yet to decide. Among firms offering a fixed bonus, the average payment was 665,000 won (about $489) per employee — roughly one-sixth of a lawmaker’s Chuseok allowance.
Forty percent of the surveyed firms said their holiday funding conditions were worse than last year. Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party said she donated her entire holiday allowance to social welfare organizations through the Community Chest of Korea, as she did at Lunar New Year.
Norila Daud, Malaysia World News, Malaysia
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal described Malaysia as an “honest broker” whose role in the Bangsamoro peace process remains indispensable.
Speaking to reporters after a special meeting of the Peace Implementing Panels of the Philippine Government and the MILF in Kuala Lumpur on September 25, Iqbal said Malaysia had earned deep trust from both parties through its impartiality since it began facilitating talks in 2001.
“There is no reason why Malaysia should not continue as the facilitating country. It has delivered,” he said, expressing hope that Malaysia would remain involved until the parties reach an exit agreement, as reported by the New Straits Times.
The meeting, the second since the panels resumed joint operations in Davao City on August 4, was held at the invitation of Malaysian facilitator General (Retired) Tan Sri Zulkifli Zainal Abidin. It came less than two weeks after the BARMM’s first parliamentary elections on September 14. The Philippine government panel was led by Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Mel Senen Sarmiento.
According to AFP, the decades-long conflict between the Philippine government and the Moro independence movement has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives since the 1970s. The Philippine government delegation did not hold a separate press conference.
Chhay Sophal, Cambodia News Online, Cambodia
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn told the 81st UN General Assembly on September 26 that more than 20,000 displaced Cambodian citizens remain unable to return to their homes along the Thai border.
Prak Sokhonn said the UN was already aware of the situation, noting that UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia Tom Andrews had visited the affected areas. Andrews toured the Boeng Trakuon area, where he documented Thai military barriers including barbed wire and shipping containers around Cambodian homes, and visited a “waiting village” where displaced families remain stranded, according to Prak Sokhonn.
He called for the full implementation of ceasefire agreements and the prompt resumption of border survey and demarcation work through the two countries’ Joint Boundary Commission. Prak Sokhonn also said Cambodia had initiated compulsory conciliation proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea after Thailand terminated a 2001 memorandum governing the maritime dispute.
The figure of more than 20,000 displaced civilians was also cited by the UN Special Rapporteur following his visit in July 2026.
Bhanu Ranjan Chakraborty, Asia Journalist Association, Bangladesh
Bangladesh and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation in New York on September 25, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Rehan Asad, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Science and Technology, signed on behalf of Bangladesh, while Jacob Helberg, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, signed on behalf of the United States.
The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) media cell announced the agreement on its verified Facebook page on September 26, describing it as a continuation of the nuclear cooperation initiative that began in 1981, when an initial bilateral agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy was signed during the tenure of President Ziaur Rahman.
Under the MoU, opportunities for the exchange of nuclear technology and scientific knowledge between the two countries are expected to expand. The agreement comes as Bangladesh seeks to diversify its long-term energy sources, with the country’s first nuclear power plant at Rooppur currently under development.
The MoU follows US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor’s recent visit, during which Washington proposed the civil nuclear cooperation framework to Dhaka.
Shakil Yamin Kanga, APNEC, Pakistan
US President Donald Trump on September 25 shared an 87-second clip of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s UN General Assembly address on his Truth Social platform without adding any comment.
In the clip, Sharif credited Trump’s “timely intervention” with helping end the May 2025 military confrontation between India and Pakistan. Sharif described India’s Operation Sindoor — launched on May 7, 2025, targeting what India called terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people — as “external aggression” and praised Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir’s leadership.
Sharif told the Assembly that Trump’s “resolute and visionary leadership” had saved millions of lives as the two nuclear-armed neighbours neared the brink of all-out war. He called for resolving the Kashmir issue to prevent a recurrence and offered dialogue with India on all outstanding issues.
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THE AsiaN Korean : 아자뉴스바이트 20260926 – 아시아엔 THE AsiaN
