South Korea’s highest court upheld a municipal ordinance easing building restrictions near heritage sites. This is a victory for Seoul’s incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Places like the Jongmyo Shrine are at risk. According to the UN body, "uncontrolled vertical development" can have negative impacts.
The Japanese prime minister is open to a summit regarding the case of 17 Japanese nationals, a matter that has dragged on since the 1970s. The last meeting between North Korean and Japanese leaders was in 2004 when Junichiro Koizumi was Japan’s prime minister. For its part, Pyongyang considers the matter closed. Meanwhile, the defence ministers of South Korea and the United States made their first joint visit to the Demilitarised Zone since 2017.
The US leader met with the South Korean president today on the eve of the APEC summit, signing an agreement on autos, steel, and investments. Yesterday, an agreement was reached with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, criticised by the Asahi Shimbun for being too soft. Tomorrow, the long-awaited meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping takes place in Busan. The Chinese leader will also have a bilateral meeting with the Japanese prime minister.
Delivered by the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), Monsignor Andrews Thazhath. No Pope has visited the subcontinent since John Paul II's last visit in 1999. In 2024, Prime Minister Modi renewed the government's invitation to Pope Francis. Meanwhile, in Seoul, the Minister of Unification hopes that the pontiff's presence at World Youth Day 2027 will be a step towards ‘de facto unity’ between the Koreas.
The South Korean government has banned travel to some Cambodian provinces following the killing of a young South Korean abducted and forced to work in an online scam centre. A South Korean delegation has asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to repatriate its citizens still held in the compounds, while the US and the UK have imposed sanctions on Chen Zhi's Prince group, accused of links to criminal networks, which, despite Phnom Penh's statements, continue to thrive in Cambodia.
According to a survey conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, only 40.4% of respondents said they would organise Charye - one of the rituals that characterise today's traditional harvest festival. In 2016, the figure was 74.4%. This is an indication of the changes taking place in Korean society. For the younger generations, the holiday that marked the return to their hometowns has become the season for travelling abroad.
