In one college major at Seoul’s elite Korea University, the courses are known only by number, and students keep their identities a secret from outsiders. The Cyber Defense curriculum, funded by the defense ministry, trains young keyboard warriors who get a free education in exchange for a seven-year commitment as officers in the army’s cyber warfare unit – and its ongoing conflict with North Korea. North and South Korea remain in a technical state of […]
Asia
Protests in Hong Kong over bookseller detention in China
by Laura MANNERING HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Angry protesters gathered in Hong Kong Friday after a city bookseller broke silence to reveal how he was blindfolded, interrogated and detained in China for eight months for trading titles critical of Beijing. In a surprise interview sure to infuriate Beijing, Lam Wing-kee late Thursday vowed to break bail, refusing to return to the mainland, and further defied Chinese authorities by blowing the lid on how he […]
Parents ‘kill pregnant woman for honour’ in Pakistan
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) — Relatives slit the throat of a young mother who was pregnant with her second child after she married against their will in eastern Pakistan, officials said Friday, the latest in a spate of so-called “honour killings”. Muqaddas Bibi, 22, married Taufiq Ahmed three years ago in defiance of her family, who considered a marriage for love — rather than an arranged marriage — shameful, police investigator Mohammad Arshad told AFP. Bibi’s […]
Indian court jails 11 for life over Gujarat massacre
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — Eleven Hindus were sentenced to life in prison by an Indian court Friday for their role in the murders of dozens of Muslims during religious riots 14 years ago when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state. Judge PB Desai also sentenced 12 others to seven years in jail over the massacre of 69 Muslims who were hacked and burnt to death in a residential complex in the […]
Japan man arrested for killing father with chopstick
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese man who stabbed his father to death with a chopstick was arrested on Thursday, police said. Michikazu Ikeuchi, 51, admitted that he stabbed his 80-year-old father in the throat with a 30-centimetre- (12- inch) long wooden, cooking chopstick on Wednesday night after a quarrel at their home in Osaka, western Japan, according to police. “Ikeuchi told us he had tried to stop his parents from arguing and he did […]
S. Korea holds navy drill near disputed border with North
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Thursday kicked off a live-fire naval exercise near its disputed sea border with North Korea — a move likely to fan already elevated military tensions with Pyongyang. The three-day exercise in the Yellow Sea is aimed at practising responses to simulated incursions by North Korean vessels and aircraft, the South’s navy said in a statement. The manoeuvres will involve 20 naval ships, including an Aegis destroyer, as […]
China ship tailing US aircraft carrier in Pacific
A Chinese observation ship shadowed the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis in the Western Pacific on Wednesday (June 15), the carrier’s commander said, as it joined warships from Japan and India for drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of U.S. naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry China is extending its influence into the western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes territorial claims in […]
Foreign protesters’ bark unleashes Chinese dog eaters’ bite
by Benjamin CARLSON YULIN, China (AFP) — International groups and celebrities, backed by millions of foreign petitioners, have rallied against an annual dog meat festival in the Chinese city of Yulin: but the protests may have backfired, residents say, spurring more people to eat man’s best friend. “My store’s dog-meat sales are much higher than before, last year was up more than 50 percent,” the owner of Yulin Number One Crackling Dog Meat Shop told […]
North Korea celebrates founding anniversary of International Taekwondo Federation
North Korea held a meeting on Wednesday (June 15) in Pyongyang to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). Video provided to Reuters by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, which cannot be independently verified, showed ITF members were seen watching demonstration of taekwondo and attending a meeting. ITF’s president Ri Yong Son, vice president Leong Wai Meng, honorary President Chang Ung and Taekwondo instructors and coaches attended at the events, […]
Tokyo governor resigns over spending scandal: official
by Kyoko Hasegawa TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The governor of Tokyo resigned Wednesday over spending public money on lavish hotels and spa trips, the latest setback on the mega-city’s troubled road to hosting the 2020 Olympics. Unpopular Yoichi Masuzoe fell on his sword just hours before facing a no-confidence vote, making him the city’s second governor to quit since Tokyo was named host of the 2020 summer games. Masuzoe’s predecessor Naoki Inose — who […]
Chinese spy ship shadows U.S., Japanese, Indian naval drill in the Western Pacific
(REUTERS) A Chinese observation ship shadowed the powerful U.S. aircraft carrier, John C. Stennis, in the Western Pacific on Wednesday, a Japanese official said, joining warships from Japan and India in drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of American naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry Beijing will look to extend its influence into the Western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes its territorial […]
Tokyo governor submits resignation over spending scandal: NHK
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo’s governor submitted his resignation on Wednesday after being criticized over lavish personal spending and faced with a no-confidence vote in the local assembly, reports said. Yoichi Masuzoe, 67, informed the speaker of the Tokyo legislature of his intention to quit, public broadcaster NHK and other media reported, ahead of a scheduled no-confidence motion vote by lawmakers later in the day. Tokyo officials could not immediately confirm the reports, which said […]
