December 25, 2024

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ASIA PACIFIC

Society

Science & Health

A protester wears a mask depicting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a rally calling for his impeachment, in Seoul, on Wednesday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS

Dec 12, 2024

South Korea's soft power gains at risk from extended political crisis

By Hyunjoo Jin, Lisa Barrington and Heekyong Yang

How the country — a top global destination for medical and plastic surgery tourism — gets through the period of uncertainty will impact foreign visitor numbers.

A restaurant owner waits for customers at her empty restaurant in Seoul on Oct. 31.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society

Dec 11, 2024

South Korea's fading nightlife signals shift in hard-drinking culture

By Cynthia Kim

The change has been driven by corporate Korea's slowdown on after-work drinking sessions, younger female workers' refusal to partake and inflation.

A man wearing a mask depicting South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol dances on a street as people gather for a protest calling for the ouster of Yoon outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Saturday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society

Dec 7, 2024

K-pop, carols and guillotines at South Korea impeachment protests

Protesters massed outside the National Assembly, many wearing the elaborate outfits, carrying home-made flags or blasting the K-pop tunes.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping speaks during a news conference in Brasilia on Nov. 20.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS

Nov 30, 2024

China’s lone-wolf attacks pose challenge for Xi’s security state

A new wave of deadly attacks is putting pressure on officials to expand the country's sprawling security system.

The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society

Nov 29, 2024

Australia passes social media ban for children under 16

By Byron Kaye and Praveen Menon

The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.

Farmer Hla Han, 52, who lost his leg after stepping on a mine, peels garlic outside his house in Demoso township, eastern Kayah state, Myanmar.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society

Nov 20, 2024

Myanmar led world in landmine victims in 2023, monitor says

Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left Myanmar littered with deadly landmines and munitions.

Workers remove flowers from a makeshift memorial outside the Zhuhai Sports Center in Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong province on Nov. 13, two days after 35 people were killed in one of the country's deadliest car attacks in years.

ASIA PACIFIC / Society

Nov 20, 2024

Mass casualty attacks in China put focus on mental health as economy slows

By Casey Hall

The events have led to a spike in worries about the health of society in China, where attacks have occurred with alarming regularity throughout 2024.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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