Guido Alberto Casanova

Wastewater surveys show the presence of cancer-causing compounds, 172 times higher than legal. The US-Japan alliance comes under stress as the US military presence is increasingly unpopular and a source of frictions and tensions, starting in Okinawa. In September, a student attempted to attack the US embassy with explosives.

This is the fifth and most provocative launch in the last 10 days. While Japan warned its population to see shelter, the missile fell into the Pacific after travelling 4,500 kilometres. North Korea’s rhetoric against South Korea is increasingly harsh.

Despite recent protests, a 600-metre queue of mourners stood waiting to bid farewell to the former prime minister killed in July. Current Prime Minister Kishida delivered the eulogy. About 4,300 guests took part in the ceremony, including 700 from abroad. The funeral cost taxpayers US$ 11 million.

Adopted under Syngman Rhee's authoritarian rule, the law provides for the imprisonment of anyone expressing sympathy for North Korea; it leaves ample room to charge people of conspiracy. The Constitutional Court is examining 11 petitions submitted by individuals and district courts.

Following Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, delegations are expected to be in Tokyo on 27 September for a final farewell to Japan’s former prime minister who was killed in July. However, polls indicate that more than 60 per cent of the Japanese population is now opposed to solemn celebrations. The country’s main opposition party has also announced that it will not attend.

Starting in 2000, family reunions had become a way to promote inter-Korean dialogue. But in the last decade, this became increasingly rare with the last reunion held in 2018. Currently, in South Korea about 43,700 people are registered with the government's reunification programme, 85 per cent of them are over 70.

In spite of the turmoil of recent months around Taiwan, with Okinawa prefecture in the front line, discontent over the concentration of US bases in the area of Japan continues to dominate among its inhabitants. Conservative candidate defeated.

Workers dispute deadlines and impossible routes set by the algorithm. The pandemic has given a further significant boost to e-commerce in Japan: last year the three biggest shipping companies delivered a record 4.68 billion parcels.

According to official government data, migration to the countryside, especially by young couples, grew by 5.6 per cent in 2021, the highest rate in a decade. Koreans call this trend "kwichon", caused by high city housing prices, pandemic-related telework, and growing frustration with the ruthless competition in the labour market that has led some to choose farming.

The pandemic has led to a new all-time low in pregnancies with another 20,000 fewer births. If the trend continues at the end of the year, the phenomenon is expected to reach levels that were predicted for 2030. In 2021, Japan's population dropped by about 726 thousand. Government policies to help combine parenthood and work life have yielded little result.

South Korea announces huge contracts with Poland for tanks and howitzers at the NATO summit in Madrid. South Korean companies will also work with Russia’s Rosatom to build reactors for Egypt’s nuclear power plant in El Dabaa. President Yoon wants to sell at least 10 new nuclear plants by 2030.

The turning point in the plan officially presented by Kishida: new-generation reactors should come into operation in the thirties. There are also plans to extend the life of existing plants by not counting the post-Fukushima shutdown years. Currently, 17 of the current 33 nuclear reactors in Japan have received approval from government regulators to restart, which should be completed by summer 2023.