South Korea

The change in language in educational material for the military reflects the more belligerent attitude of South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, and the tensions fuelled by this year's long series of missile launches. For South Korea, a new nuclear test by the North is imminent.

New consistory for Aug. 27 announced at Regina Caeli. The new cardinals include Korea's Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; the archbishops of Dili (East Timor) and Singapore, Goa and Hyderabad (India); and the apostolic prefect of Mongolia. The Asian continent will touch a record number of 21 cardinal electors out of a college of 132.

Today's headlines: A famous Vietnamese hacker turns government agent; Seoul and Tokyo send fighter jets in response to an intrusion by Chinese and Russian jets during the Quad summit; Indian Catholic lay forum launches a call for an end to discrimination against minorities; 'one-way' airline tickets to Russia have reached 70% of sales.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity is not a free trade agreement. Its 13 members include India. Its focus is on international standards for investments in infrastructure, supply chains and the digital economy, but without tariff reductions it may not work. China speaks out against attempts to sow division and confrontation.

South Korea’s giant carmaker inked major investment deals in the United States during US president’s Seoul stop on his Asia tour. A new plant in Georgia is expected to open by 2025. The US administration's goal is to reach 40 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.

For South Korean President Yoon, “the door is always open for humanitarian aid, regardless of the political and military considerations of inter-Korean relations.” North Korean authorities have announced more than a million cases of “fever”. The crisis comes at a delicate time following North Korea’s latest nuclear tests and reports of a new, imminent launch.

In his inaugural speech, President Yoon pledges to focus on economic growth to solve the country's problems. However, South Korea’s National Assembly has not yet confirmed conservative Han Duck-soo as prime minister.

Approved last summer, the legislation seeks to force tech giants to allow its app customers to access third-party payment systems. However, Google has announced that as of 1 June it will remove apps that outlink to non-Google payment systems.

Data from the statistical yearbook published by the Bishops' Conference show that the number of Catholics in South Korea will grow by no more than 0.2% by 2021, compared to 3% just a few years ago. Catholics now make up 11.3% of the population, but the average age of the faithful is getting older and new vocations to the priesthood are declining. Bucking the trend, the contribution to the mission remains high, with 1115 Korean missionaries carrying out their ministry in 80 countries around the world.

A few days before taking office, the outgoing parliament is expected to vote on a law limiting the powers of the attorney general, the post held until a few months ago by the new president. In the background is the fear that the new political course will rekindle the cycle of judicial investigations. But conservatives are appealing to the Constitutional Court.

The archdiocese is undertaking this initiative as part of the year of Amoris Laetitia announced by the pope. In South Korea, the number of families with grandparents caring for grandchildren is up because both parents have to work. The programme includes courses on self-care, grandchildren care, and religious care.

Exports from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam are way down. Western sanctions against Russia weigh heavily. Conversely, imports from Russia are up, mainly because of higher gas, oil and grain prices. The same goes for China.