East Asia

"Confidite, Ego Vici Mundum" is the title of the song selected from 434 submissions, a work by a young South Korean composer, Francis Jiyoon Kim. The global tree-planting campaign "Breath of Life" has also been launched. The organising committee is reporting that the preparatory phase has now moved to implementation. Young people are invited to experience a "spiritual pilgrimage".

A young trainee died in the collapse of the factory where he worked, while five other Vietnamese workers saved their 90-year-old neighbour. More than 630,000 Vietnamese now live in Japan, employed primarily in sectors with the worst labour shortages.

Promoted by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and the Confucian Academy of Korea, the meeting will focus on the relationship between the "New Heaven and the New Earth" of the Apocalypse and the ideal of “Datong”, the "Great Harmony" described in the Book of Rites. Guidelines to Christian-Confucian dialogue developed by a group of experts will also be presented during the conference.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, digital psychological and psychotherapeutic support services have grown significantly in the country in response to the lack of adequate countrywide resources, as well as to the stigma surrounding this topic. However, those who exploit this need are also increasingly fuelling collective anxiety.

The death toll from the earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture has risen to 13. The quake disrupted production at automotive and semiconductor giants. Taiwan is among the first to offer assistance.

A few days after the episcopal ordination in Chifeng, a new ordination took place today in Inner Mongolia, under to the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China regarding the appointment of Bishops. The new prelate, 46, will join Bishop Du Jiang, who was secretly ordained in 2004 and recognised by the government in 2010.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 4:27 pm local time. The collapse occurred later due to an explosion. Extensive damage is reported in Kumamoto Prefecture. “Yatsushiro parish was also damaged. We entrust all those affected to the Lord,” reports the PIME community.

After serving an 18-month sentence for the “public sale of religious books”, the former head of Zhejiang’s large Catholic community was welcomed by hundreds of the faithful. The authorities are exerting ever-greater pressure even on “official” communities, including a ban on minors entering churches. by Andrew LawChina28 July 2026

The inquiry into allegations that thousands of Church members joined political parties has now extended to the ruling Democratic Party. The religious movement's founder, 95-year-old Lee Man-hee, has been in pre-trial detention for about a month. This case continues to fuel divisions in South Korean society.

A law has been passed that will allow the government to designate an alternative city in the event of major natural disasters. The measure cites the risk of earthquakes, but also revives the project – championed by the Japan Innovation Party – to transform Osaka into an alternative administrative centre to Tokyo.

An inappropriate remark by a singer in support of a film now playing in Beijing has caused a storm that has hit her foundation, resulting in plummeting donations. Distrust by the Chinese public now seems to extend to endorsements as well as charity as a whole.

Despite more high-level meetings with Xi and improved economic relations, Kim Yong-un's regime is cracking down on Chinese films and TV series and is careful with its official statements. Meanwhile, North Korean workers returning from China report being treated like beggars.