Guido Alberto Casanova

A large proportion of the victims lived in "banjiha," the basements where the film "Parasite" is set, the only affordable housing solutions for 5 percent of the population. The local government promises a plan to empty them, but without saying where it would settle the more than 200,000 families who currently reside there.

Kim Hyung-ryul managed production and supplies from Vietnam. Telegram platform used to manage the dealing. In the first six months of 2022, drug shipments intercepted by Seoul police increased by 11.2%, with users among the very young on the rise.

A US State Department report reveals poor preformance. A controversial apprenticeship programme set up in 1993 continues to allow the exploitation of migrant workers. The efforts of the organisation that is supposed to oversee the initiative are insufficient.

Since 2 June, the subcontract workers at the Okpo shipyard are out on strike, demanding better economic conditions. President Yoon threatens forced removal but management and workers reach a last-minute tentative deal.

Investigators increasingly see a connection between the former Japanese leader’s murder and the resentment his assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, felt towards the religious sect for getting his mother to squander the family’s assets. In a letter he describes Abe as one the “influential sympathizers of the Unification Church” even though the link did not go beyond political considerations.

After the successful launch of the Nuri rocket - with technology developed entirely in the country - the South Korean government plans to hand over the leadership of the Kari aerospace programme to companies. A new agency entirely dedicated to the development of the "space economy" will open its doors in the city of Sacheon.

The 8 July attack produced no "Abe effect”. Voter turnout was 52 per cent. With a substantial majority, the LDP will be free to set the coming legislative agenda. Police are still looking into the killer's motive, apparently connected to his mother's ties to the Unification Church.

Japanese media report he had died in Nara hospital. The longest-serving Prime Minister in Japan's recent history, he had left government leadership for health reasons, but continued to play a leading role in the Liberal Democratic Party. Economic reforms, nationalism and a push for rearmament were his policies that deeply polarised public opinion.

In South Korea there is no national legislation that recognises the right to sick leave. Now a pilot project is introducing coverage for all in five cities and one district of the capital. The pandemic brought the problem to light as employees infected with the Coronavirus showed up at work to avoid losing their income.

With his popularity declining because of rising prices, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida faces a crucial test next Sunday. Young people have taken to the streets to demand action on climate change, an issue hitherto absent from the current campaign, this despite Japan’s vulnerability as evinced by recent events.

The rainy season, which started late, seems to have already ended in Japan. The excess demand for energy, exacerbated by the use of air conditioners, has led the government to appeal to citizens to but back on energy. Climate change is now on the political agenda.

South Korea’s new president has presented his reforms to revive growth, held back by the global economy. Moon’s solidarity provisions on the country’s 100 largest corporations will be scrapped. The legal limit of 52-hour working week could also be revised. But all measures will go before a parliament where the conservatives People Power Party does not have a majority.