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East Asia
Neglected No Longer: Washington Returns to Central Asia
Central Asia is not, and has never been, a United States foreign-policy priority. Neither will it displace the importance of other regions to Washington anytime soon. Moreover, numerous analysts discount it as a promising area for expanded attention. Indeed, they expect US and European presence and influence there to decline…
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East Asia
Moon Jae-in and the Politics of Reform in South Korea
One year and five months have passed since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office. During this period, Moon’s democratic leadership style and spirit of service have lifted public morale and salved past wounds. In his inaugural address, he voiced his desire to become a president who communicates with the…
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East Asia
North Korea Ready to Expand Internet Access
North Korea is a country where residents do not have free access to the internet, but the country’s science-priority policies are leading to an expansion in the number of new users. On Aug. 31, the Korean Society for Internet Information (KSII), a South Korean institute focusing on information technology, published a…
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East Asia
Seoul taxis to implement QR code payment systems
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced Tuesday it will launch a platform which people can use to pay their taxi fares via QR codes. According to the city government, it will establish a standard for the “taxi QR code simple payment” system and implement it in all 71,845 Seoul taxis starting…
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East Asia
Moon ratifies Pyongyang Declaration
President Moon Jae-in ratified an agreement signed between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their third summit in Pyongyang last month. “Moon ratified the Pyongyang Joint Declaration. An official announcement will soon follow,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said. As a procedural step for the ratification, the Cabinet earlier…
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South Asia
Pakistan’s native languages have Perso-Arabic alphabets
Being a multinational and multi-lingual country, Pakistan could be portrayed as a bouquet of language-flowers, each of its flowers having a unique fragrance and richness of folk and contemporary literature. As many as 24 languages are spoken in Pakistan, which include Urdu, Punjabi, Siraiki, Sindhi, Balochi, Brohvi, Pashto, Hindko, Shina,…
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East Asia
Why are Naver blogs and online cafes blocked in China?
Internet users in China have not been able to access Naver’s blogs and online cafes over the past week, raising speculation that the Chinese government may have intentionally blocked access as it had done previously to foreign online services. Access to Naver’s blogs has been blocked in China since Oct.…
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East Asia
Arabic Letters: the Sacred Alphabet
Arab citizens are living in their alphabet letters; the street names and signs, the shop banners and café’s panels, the schools and factories, the back of their cars decorated with different proverbs, and the front of their uniforms. This could be the same for all nations, but when it comes…
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East Asia
Korea’s economic cul-de-sac
Korea is likely to be among the most vulnerable economies in Asia if the Sino-American trade war escalates. While Korea’s economic strength rests on exports, this also proves to be its biggest weakness when global trade slows. Although the country recently signed a revised free trade agreement with the U.S.,…
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West Asia
Crisis of the Government and Naming of Ministers
Some sources warned the forces that the delay in forming the government reflected negatively on Lebanon and all Lebanese. “But what happens is otherwise, where the sticks are put in the wheels of the president-designate’s movement for a simple reason, because he wants to form a balanced government and reflect…
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