Vincenzo Faccioli Pintozzi

Since 2014, about 200 members of the religious group have arrived each year on Jeju Island, off southern South Korea. China has banned the sect as an “evil cult”. For the South Korean government if claimants can prove religious persecution, they can remain; otherwise they have to leave. The relatives of some asylum seekers demand South Korea send them back, claiming they were brainwashed.

The head of the State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission made the announcement. The government wants to improve the management of big state companies, increasingly shaken by scandals related to bad management and corruption. Vietnam is following the same path.

The South Korean president met the leaders of the five parties present in Parliament to discuss a declaration of good will towards the North Korean dictator. The historic visit of the "Young Marshal" to Seoul is expected before the end of the year. But South Koreans are divided.

The Buddhist leader, considered the future "regent" of the Tibetan religion, laments the "too many restrictions" imposed by the Indian government on his travels. The decision spares the plan prepared by the Chinese government ahead of the death of the XIV Dalai Lama.

An article published in the ruling party’s official newspaper calls on the regime to change its centrally planned model and open up to free enterprise. As a result of the fall of world communism and cooler relations with Beijing, Pyongyang must show that it can support itself.

A group of hibakusha, survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have protested against the US decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Nuclear war “could imperil all of humanity”.

Pope Francis and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met today. According to a South Korean presidential spokesman, the pontiff expressed encouragement for the peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula. "Move forward without stopping. Do not be afraid," he said. Now the ball is in North Korea’s court. The Vatican and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations.

The North Korean dictator reportedly bowed to the president of the Southern Korean Bishops' Conference, who had told him he wanted to inform the Vatican about his efforts for peace. The invitation to the Pope and the "warm welcome" announced by Pyongyang clash with the total repression carried out in North Korea against religious sentiment since the 1950s.

The conservative politician will have to pay some 20 million dollars in fines and forfeiture. His charges include abuse of power and embezzlement. All living former South Korean presidents have been jailed after completing their mandate.

According to a Gallup Korea poll, China is the greatest threat to peace for South Koreans. China does “not want inter-Korean reunification", followed by Japan, Russia and the United States. China’s economic boycott has radically changed South Korean attitudes towards China.

The Vatican Under-Secretary for Relations with States won first prize at the annual lottery organized during the National Day of the Republic of China. The prelate is the signer of the agreements between the Vatican and Communist China on episcopal appointments. Ambassador of Taiwan: "Happy with the understanding, this is a purely religious matter".

“There is a Project Dragonfly”, Google’s chief privacy officer Keith Enright told a US Senate hearing, but he is “not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of the scope for that project”. The search engine destined to the Chinese market would be able to censure items deemed sensitive by Beijing. With 802 million internet users, China is the largest online community in the world.