Guido Alberto Casanova

Although South Korea is one of the world's largest armaments manufacturers, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that his country is only providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, not war materiel. Media reports suggest, however, that South Korean artillery pieces are reaching Ukraine via the United States. This comes at a time of renewed tensions with North Korea.

In the Itaewon tragedy that cost 156 people their lives, some hotel structures built without permits are also being investigated, allegedly making the alley where the young men died crushed in the stampede even narrower. Meanwhile, President Yoon met with religious leaders to seek advice on how to respond to the grief caused by this mourning that affects the whole country.

Not since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, has Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund experienced such losses. Yet, it remains one of the most important institutional investors in financial markets. Despite the crisis, investments in Japanese start-ups will continue.

The agency responsible for safety wants to introduce ten-year checks with upward limit to a plant’s operating life. Only a few nuclear power plants in operation before the Fukushima disaster are still running but Japan’s energy crisis is putting pressure for more to restart.

The country’s highly competitive labour market plays a major role as people sought fortune by investing borrowed money in stocks or cryptocurrencies. With the latter collapsing, they lost everything. Today almost 20 per cent of cases in bankruptcy court involve under-30s.

The US Armed Forces have withdrawn all atomic weapons since 1991, but threats from North Korea are worrying. The politicians who have made the proposal are marginalised by the Conservative Party itself. 55% of citizens would like to see the development of a national nuclear programme.

After weeks of controversy, Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned. A picture of him with Hak Ja Han, leader of the religious group, surfaced. The opposition is unable to profit from the situation. By the end of the year, a probe by the Ministry of Education and Culture could lead to request to dissolve the Church founded by the late Rev Sun Myung Moon.

Prosecutors are seeking arrest warrants for a former defence minister and a former Coast Guard general commissioner in connection with two cases that touch Moon’s détente policies with North Korea. According to the opposition Democratic Party, President Yoon Suk-yeol is the mastermind of the whole affair.

After years of debate and speculation about a possible exemption, the hugely popular K-pop band has announced that it will follow enlistment procedures like all South Koreans. The compulsory conscription is the most tangible legacy of the continuing conflict and tensions with Pyongyang, which has been ill-supported by young people in the hyper-competitive South Korean labour market.

Pressed by public opinion, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida opened an investigation into the huge donations to the religious group that got it caught up in the Abe assassination. Kishida told parliament that a help line for alleged debt-stricken victims received 1,700 calls. The investigation could see the church lose its status as a religious entity and related tax benefits.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida named his 31-year-old son, Shotaro, as his new executive secretary, a key post on his staff. Although this is not unusual in Japanese politics, it has revived criticism of nepotism. Meanwhile, the prime minister’s popularity is at an all-time low.

South Korea’s foreign policy intrudes directly into its domestic politics. The opposition slams the government for holding joint military exercises with the United States and Japan, accusing the conservative government of favouring Japan’s return to the peninsula. The interim leader of the conservative People Power Party counterattacked saying that the opposition’s statements echo those of North Korea.