Hong KongCNN — Japan has ended its negative interest rate policy, marking a historic shift away from an aggressive monetary easing program that was implemented years ago to fight chronic deflation. As part of the decision, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years, lifting its short-term rate to…
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday that he had no choice but to defend his country’s territory in the South China Sea against what he called Chinese aggression and illegal actions in pursuit of Beijing’s own territorial claims. “It is unfortunate that despite the clarity provided by international law, provocative, unilateral and illegal actions…
TOKYO, Feb 27 (Reuters) – The number of babies born in Japan fell for an eighth straight year to a fresh record low in 2023, preliminary government data showed on Tuesday, underscoring the daunting task the country faces in trying to stem depopulation. The number of births fell 5.1% from a year earlier to 758,631,…
TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Japan’s efforts to rebuild its semiconductor industry are getting a shot in the arm as more and more Taiwanese chip companies expand here – not only to support a new TSMC plant but also excited about the Japanese sector’s prospects. The influx comes amid shifting alliances and priorities in the…
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (UPI) — In an effort to help South Korea revive its ultra-low fertility rate, a Seoul construction company announced it will begin offering a $75,000 bonus to employees each time they have a new baby. Seoul-based builder Booyoung held an event Monday, where it awarded a total of $5.25 million for 70 babies…
North Korea, despite international sanctions, aggressively invests in AI. A recent report sheds light on North Korea’s bold push into artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which includes critical areas like COVID-19 response, nuclear energy, surveillance, and even war games (via Reuters). The report, written by Hyuk Kim of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, emphasizes North Korea’s strategic…
A Japanese robot has successfully touched down on the Moon but problems with its solar power system mean the mission may live for just a few hours. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) put itself gently on the lunar surface near an equatorial crater. The feat made the Asian nation only the fifth country…
North Korean officials claim they have tested an “underwater nuclear weapons system.” According to Newsweek, the city of Pyongyang tested a “Haeil-5-23” weapon in the East Sea, sometimes called the Sea of Japan. The nation claimed to have first tested the underwater nuclear weapon in early 2023 and referred to it as an “underwater nuclear attack…
Rare footage obtained by BBC Korean shows North Korea publicly sentencing two teenage boys to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas. The footage, which appears to have been filmed in 2022, shows two 16-year-old boys handcuffed in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium. It also shows uniformed officers reprimanding the…
North Korea launched over 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast toward South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island between 09:00 to 11:00 local time, said Seoul’s military, the BBC reports. South Korea responded by ordering civilians on the island to seek shelter and conducting live-fire drills as a countermeasure. Yeonpyeong island, home to a military…