South China Morning Post - East Asia

As the ground shook beneath her feet and the powerful tsunami rolled in from the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011, Masako Saito feared for her coastal community. Saito’s entire family escaped from Soma City in Japan, where massive waves caused utter devastation, and she could not return to witness the chaos for herself until the following month. It was “beyond recognition”, accor...

For most residents of South Korea’s capital, the Han River is a place for evening strolls, picnics and a brief respite from city life. But for Kim Jun-young, chief of the Hangang Bridge CCTV Integrated Control Centre in Seoul’s Gwangjin district, it is where his team pulls people back from the edge every day. Established in 2021, the centre uses AI for comprehensive emergency re...

Restaurant operators in Japan have been forced to review their approach to hiring foreign workers since the government suspended the issuance of special visas needed to work in the sector, as the number of holders nears its preset quota. The sudden suspension by Japan’s immigration authorities has raised the spectre of fierce competition for foreign talent. Long known for its st...

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the US-Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the latest instalment of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we explore the massive upswing in capit...

What comes to mind when you think of China, Japan and South Korea? This was a question posed in a second-year sociology seminar during my time at Bristol, and it has stayed with me ever since. We were split into three groups and given 10 minutes to create posters capturing our immediate associations. Japan came first. Sketches of anime, sushi platters and temples appeared. My cl...