A survey by the Pew Research Center confirms a trend that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. Answers tend to reflect a country's economy and performance by the incumbent government. In both Japan and South Korea, the top political leaders show lowest approval rates ever.
On the day the Church calls for reconciliation on the anniversary of the start of the war, Archbishop Chung Soon-taick urged people to pray "not to change the other, but to imitate God's boundless mercy and patience, choosing the path of peace". Tonight there are still 350 balloons loaded with rubbish from the North, while tomorrow the joint military exercises of South Korea, the United States and Japan begin.
The three-storey Aricell plant in Hwaseong caught fire this morning, causes still unknown. Some 22 people are confirmed dead, mostly from China, but many are still missing. Firefighting crews struggled with the blaze because of burning lithium batteries. The government held an emergency meeting.
The President of South Korea visited Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in recent days. The focus of attention was access to rare earth minerals, which are particularly needed by Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and accumulators.
Even those who claim to have no creed engage in some form of ancestor worship, burning incense and leaving offerings at temples, this according to a report just released by the Pew Research Center on Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. The study highlights the difficulties of investigation in view of the local notion of religion, which in local languages is often associated only with hierarchical organisations. The rate of religious switching is higher in this region than anywhere else in the world.
Some North Korean soldiers crossed the demarcation line, probably by mistake, South Korean authorities report. North Korea continues to float waste-laded balloons, while Kim Jong Un's sister warns that more South Korean propaganda could provoke "new countermeasures". Meanwhile, military activities are intensifying.
