Guido Alberto Casanova

The first trip to Japan by a Seoul president in 12 years has resulted in agreements on the export of microchip components and intelligence cooperation against Pyongyang's actions. But the real obstacle to further agreements will be overcoming the historical mutual distrust still rooted in public opinion.

A public funding programme aimed at clinics wishing to expand their reception of patients from abroad has been launched. But the local population fears that the expansion of private for-profit businesses on the island, aimed in particular at Chinese patients, could damage public health and inflate the cost of health treatments.

The South Korean government plans to revise labour legislation that reduced maximum weekly working hours from 68 to 52. Employees will now also be able to turn overtime into more vacation time. Opposition parties and the country’s main trade unions are against the proposed reform.

A victims’ foundation will be set up to which South Korean companies that received compensation can make donations. The issue has fuelled political tensions and trade frictions between the two countries in recent years. South Korea’s President Yoon wants to turn the page to boost cooperation with Japan against North Korea’s threats.

Ryuho Okawa was 66 years old and in 1986 gave birth in Japan to a syncretic new-age movement that claims (with unverifiable numbers) 12 million followers. Among its proselytising channels were a series of cartoons and an extreme right-wing political party denying the atrocities committed in the Second World War.

Despite a court decision, some residents in the conservative city oppose the mosque; to prove their point, they held a “pork party” and someone placed a pig’s head in front of the building site. Previously, the arrival of Afghan and Yemeni refugees proved contentious as well. This side of the country conveys a very different image than the one propagated by K-pop.

Japan’s new H3 rocket is designed to replace an old one and cut costs. But Japan’s space agency, which is working Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has to first prove the reliability of the new technology after its first launch failed.

This morning, North Korea fired two missiles, two days after testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. For Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, how many missiles North Korea will fire will depend on Seoul and Washington. In South Korea, 70 per cent of the population backs an independent South Korean nuclear force.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon has launched an urban planning programme that aims to increase the capital's global appeal on the model of European cities. Among the poles to be regenerated is Nodeul Island, home to the Hangang Bridge. But according to many Koreans it risks destroying an important part of the cultural heritage of the urban fabric.

The families of the 159 boys who lost their lives on Halloween night held a rally and set up a memorial structure in front of the city hall. Civil society organisations and opposition party members accused the conservative executive of doing nothing to help the city overcome the trauma of the tragedy.

The South Korean Court of Appeal in Daejeon overturned an earlier verdict: the artifact must return to the Japanese temple on Tsushima Island. Public opinion is divided over the decision. The Bodhisattva in question had been made in Korea but stolen in Japan

Five pro-reunification South Koreans are accused of working with North Korea to destabilise the South. Investigators claim they communicated through coded messages. Left-wing groups reject this, saying that the accused were simply engaged in public protests, and that the government is only trying to throw mud at the opposition.