Theme: East Asia

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Trump’s November trip to Asia appears increasingly unlikely after the Republican election defeat, according to analysts. Kim Yo Jong signaled on Wednesday that Pyongyang had “no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile persons.” A possible encounter had been floated around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, set for November 18 and 19. Experts note that Democratic control of Congress could make it harder for South Korea to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and limit a Trump deal with the North.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is pushing for a centralized cybersecurity agency after passport details and other personal information of 168 people, including the president, his wife and senior security officials, were reported to be accessible online for nearly five months, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Technology experts warn that creating a new organization alone does little to address the deeper problem of complacency, with businesses and government agencies viewing tighter cybersecurity as an unnecessary expense until a serious breach occurs.

Japan’s Defense Ministry has estimated that its five-year defense plan beginning in fiscal 2027 will require about 80 trillion yen (about $507 billion), nearly twice the amount allocated under the current plan. The figure is preliminary: given funding constraints, the government is expected to review equipment procurement and other expenditures and adjust the total toward the upper end of the 70 trillion yen (about $443.5 billion) range. The new spending is likely to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, according to a source familiar with the matter. The review is taking shape as a year-end deadline for revisions to three key security documents looms.

North Korea test-fired a newly designed air-defense missile system and staged a cruise missile strike drill on Wednesday, state media KCNA said. The test confirmed the technical specifications and reliability of the new materials and multiple guidance modes used by the missile, as well as the system’s ability to identify and track targets. A sub-unit of the country’s long-range strategic cruise missile unit in the east struck a virtual airport target in the drill. The KCNA report appeared to confirm a South Korean Defense Ministry statement that Pyongyang fired multiple missiles toward the sea from the Sondok area on the east coast, the fourth North Korean weapons launch in a month.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing is maintaining contact with the relevant parties regarding a meeting between the leaders of China, Russia and the United States. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is set to take place in Shenzhen on November 18-19. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agenda of a possible meeting of the leaders in China is being coordinated with the Chinese and US sides: “It is being agreed upon now.” Peskov ruled out, for now, continuing the talks at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami: “No, this is out of the question yet.”

China's foreign ministry said that Beijing is in communication with the relevant parties about a summit between Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19. Spokesperson Mao Ning gave no details on the possible meeting, according to EFE, in a text republished by ABC Color. The Kremlin said on October 21 that the meeting was being prepared; according to the Financial Times, officials from the three countries had been holding serious talks for days about arranging the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that work is under way on organizing it.

North Korea launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately disclose the number of projectiles, their flight distances or other specifications. If confirmed as ballistic, it would be the North’s 19th such launch of the year, following the firing of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on October 29.

China appears to be testing a stealthy new trimaran at sea, according to a photograph circulating on social media, in what could be a further effort to develop unconventional naval platforms, the South China Morning Post said. The image first emerged on Weibo on Sunday and appears to show a vessel featuring an inverted wave-piercing bow, a three-hull design and angular superstructure surfaces that could reduce its radar signature. The newspaper noted that the time and location of the picture have not been independently verified and that details about the boat’s specifications, intended role and operational status remain unclear.

North Korea tested a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, in a Yonhap story. Monday’s test was overseen by Kim Jong-sik, a member of the Workers’ Party Central Military Commission. The country’s Warhead Institute said the mid-sized dispersal warhead is capable of “turning into ashes” a target area of 5 to 6 hectares. On Saturday, the country had tested a cluster bomb for tactical ballistic missiles and vowed to field various types of cluster warheads by the end of the year.

Japan’s government and ruling coalition are weighing defense spending of 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen (US$457 billion to US$508 billion) over the five years from April 2027, about 1.8 times the 43 trillion yen in the current plan, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which cites sources quoted by Reuters. Some of the money is expected to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones, and a weaker yen has pushed up the cost of procurement, one of the sources said.

Japan launched a new national agency to boost its disaster response. Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono, newly named to serve concurrently as disaster management minister, spoke at a press conference at the National Disaster Management Agency in Tokyo on November 2, 2026.

A South Korean army staff sergeant died after suffering external injuries at a frontline unit in Cheorwon near the North Korean border on Monday morning, Seoul's Defense Ministry said. A South Korean sergeant was killed on the border with external wounds, as tensions with the North escalate.

Japan has asked the US for thorough discipline enforcement after Marine Kalvin Montoya Cardona was arrested in Okinawa on suspicion of drunk driving during curfew hours — caught at around 12:25 a.m. on Saturday with twice the legal blood-alcohol limit, according to Kyodo News.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry says it launched a new drone headquarters on Monday and plans to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost, expendable combat drones, while accelerating the Korean Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (K-LUCAS) program, according to the Korea Herald.

United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after a meeting with Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministers in Atlanta that President Donald Trump remains open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but no meeting has been scheduled. North Korea denounced the combined South Korea–US Iron Mace exercise, which integrates South Korean conventional and US nuclear capabilities. The exercise was a tabletop simulation at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul, from September 29 to October 2, to deter North Korean threats. Pyongyang said its nuclear deterrence will grow stronger at an ever faster pace.

The cluster warhead North Korea tested on Saturday for its tactical ballistic missile can devastate an area of 12 to 13 hectares (29 to 32 acres) with what research institutes described as ultra-high density, according to TRT World. The standard Type-2 warhead was assessed in a test conducted by the Missile Administration to examine how effectively it could be used in combat and the extent of damage it could inflict, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard said China is harassing ships with its latest patrol off the island’s east coast and trying to exert a fictional jurisdiction. Two Chinese ships took part in the operation, and the Coast Guard sent its own vessels to monitor them, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Hindu. The Coast Guard said China’s “attempts to harass ships at sea through radio communications are a clear expansion of power that violate international law, undermine regional peace and stability, and deviate from reality.”

Foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) voiced “grave concerns” over the use of trade restrictions and other measures they view as economically coercive, without naming the country, and committed to providing over $85 million in technical and financial assistance to improve access to trusted artificial intelligence across the Indo-Pacific, according to Kyodo News. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group was not “an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition” and that the joint statement addressed behaviors and activities that, he said, were “coming repetitively from one country”.

North Korea’s Missile Administration tested on Oct 31 a cluster-bomb warhead intended for tactical ballistic missiles, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The test assessed the warhead’s adaptation to combat and its power. The agency said the Standard Type 2 warhead can turn a target area of 12 to 13 hectares into ashes with its highest-density power. Analysts quoted by Reuters said the tests could be part of efforts to modernize the military, which gained experience in modern warfare by sending troops to the war in Ukraine alongside Russia, according to Reuters, in a report republished by the Straits Times.

The United States, South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearisation” of North Korea at a meeting on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers’ gathering in Atlanta. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pledged full implementation of Security Council resolutions, according to the US State Department.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi demanded on Friday the immediate release of a Japanese national detained in Sakhalin Oblast, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a meeting of about 30 minutes with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, which began at 1:35 p.m. local time. According to Reuters, in a text republished by the WQXC website, Russia said this month it had detained a Japanese journalist in its far eastern Sakhalin region on suspicion of espionage.

China’s coast guard carried out an exercise featuring water cannons and drones near two disputed reefs at the center of its simmering contention with the Philippines in the South China Sea, according to the South China Morning Post. The drill simulated a foreign fishing vessel entering the waters of Second Thomas and Sabina shoals for “illegal fishing”.

Kim Jong Un put the development of drones and the incorporation of artificial intelligence into weapons systems among the central priorities of North Korea's military modernization, at the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development 2026 exhibition, according to TASS. The exhibition, held on October 29, showcased multipurpose drones for strategic and operational-tactical missions, kamikaze strike drones and other combat systems, the Russian state news agency reported.

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States (US) and Japan will meet in the US on Friday to discuss Korean Peninsula issues, economic security cooperation and the response to Pyongyang, officials cited by Yonhap said — the discussion covers the North's latest missile launches and closer Pyongyang-Beijing ties following Kim Jong-un's recent visit to China. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will meet in Atlanta on Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, the Korea Herald reported, as Seoul seeks to manage sensitive issues in its alliance with Washington.

China conducted takeoff-and-landing operations of the GJ-21 drone from its first Type 076 warship, the Sichuan, this month, state media said on Friday, as cited by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The leadership of the Communist Party of China elected Gen. Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, to the Politburo, according to AP News. Xi Jinping had earlier purged two of China’s top generals, leaving Zhang as the commission’s only member besides Xi himself, also according to AP News.

Kim Jong-un attended an exhibition of unmanned aerial technology and a weapons demonstration featuring suicide drones, cruise missiles and a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher, state agency KCNA reported, according to Yonhap. The launcher, known as “Sniper,” was shown in a firing exercise in public for the first time, and KCNA claimed that air-to-ground missiles fired from suicide drones and multipurpose drones, along with cruise missiles, hit an island target “with 100 percent accuracy” — a claim by the state agency that has no independent verification. In a speech, Kim called for the rapid expansion of the country’s unmanned aerial capabilities and for breakthroughs in unmanned aerial technology and defense artificial intelligence.

North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, launched at around 12:30 p.m. local time from the Wonsan area and flew about 250 km, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, according to G1. The South Korean Joint Chiefs said further analysis of other specifications was under way in coordination with the United States, according to Yonhap. The launch came about a week after Seoul proposed holding military talks with Pyongyang, as tensions have heightened since the Sept. 21 land mine blast that injured three South Korean soldiers, Yonhap reported.

The United States and Japan agreed to build a final assembly and inspection plant for the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) in Japan, NPR reported. The announcement was made by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi at a news conference on Wednesday night in the central Philippine province of Cebu, where he met US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The missiles to be produced under the joint effort called Operation Supercharge are essential for F-35 fighter jets, Koizumi said.

Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is consolidating her status as his designated successor, and Pyongyang is increasingly portraying her as a future military leader, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) in a Thursday statement reported by the Korea Herald.

China could launch its fourth aircraft carrier as early as next year, which US researchers believe would be the country’s first with a nuclear-powered system, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

A record 33 members have been expelled from China’s Communist Party as it concluded a major annual political gathering, the fifth plenum, which was attended by 279 Central Committee members, compared with 315 at the fourth plenum in October 2025 and 364 at the third one in July 2024, according to the BBC.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee apologized on Thursday and announced that his housing secretary, Winnie Ho, had resigned, after an investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades found inadequate regulatory oversight, according to France 24. The fire began last November, engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killed 168 people and displaced thousands, France 24 reported. According to the South China Morning Post, the report attributed the blaze to a combination of a lit cigarette and an abundance of combustible materials, and concluded that contractor PC&E and consultant Will Power were fully aware of the fire risks.

North Korea launched more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South Korean military said it detected the launches from the Wonsan area at around 12:30 p.m. Japan’s government said the suspected North Korean missile has already fallen, according to Kyodo News.

The United States on Wednesday banned imports from three Chinese genomics companies over their alleged roles in enabling the forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com. BGI Genomics, MGI Tech and Shenzhen BGI Technology, which the US says is also known as the BGI Group, were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Former Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong died of illness on Wednesday at the age of 80, the South China Morning Post reported. The official obituary released by Xinhua described her as an “outstanding leader” in the Communist Party’s united front work, in China’s education, science and technology, healthcare, and women and children’s affairs, according to the newspaper.

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Japan plans to boost “denial defense”, according to Kyodo News. In the meeting, the two discussed munitions production and the strategy the two governments call “deterrence through denial”, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense chiefs' summit in the Philippines, according to the Japan Times.

Indonesia deployed buses fitted with oxygen tanks in a city on Borneo island, where residents are choking on forest-fire haze that shows no sign of letting up. More than 300,000 people in seven provinces were struck by respiratory tract infections from August to October, according to Indonesia’s health ministry, cited by AFP in a report published by Malay Mail.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz kicked off a five-day tour of Asia on Monday, travelling to Singapore before scheduled visits to Japan and South Korea, DW reported. Merz is accompanied by 30 senior businesspeople from industry, technology, defense and energy, and is expected to meet Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Pyongyang has sent a letter to the UN Security Council accusing Seoul of fabricating a landmine explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers, according to North Korea’s state Korean Central News Agency, as cited by Al Jazeera. The letter was delivered on Sunday by the country’s permanent representative to the UN and describes the incident as “a sinister obstructive move to brand as a ‘military invasion’”, saying that South Korea’s claims are a “farce to evade the responsibility for the ever-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula”. Last week, South Korea’s foreign ministry had sent a letter to the Security Council president calling on the North to take responsibility for the landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone, the Korea Herald reported. Seoul blames a September 21 explosion in the Demilitarized Zone on North Korean mines.

Japan is considering including in its revised three key security-related documents plans to study and research the possibility of introducing a nuclear-powered submarine, according to The Japan Times. The Japanese government is considering starting an investigation into whether to acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of the upcoming regular update to its defense strategy, according to Nikkei Asia.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that Moscow, Beijing and Washington are, basically, prepared for a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and that preparations for it have already begun, according to Sputnik. The summit will be held in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19, according to the agency.

Kim Jong-un returned to North Korea overland on Saturday after visiting a Korean War memorial in Dandong, on the border with China, and crossed a newly inaugurated bridge between the two countries, a gesture seen as symbolizing Beijing's and Pyongyang's effort to expand bilateral trade ties, according to G1. North Korean state media described the bond as “unbreakable”, and Kim thanked the Chinese people, who helped “our revolution with blood”, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Typhoon Champi continued to batter China’s eastern coast on Saturday, grounding over a hundred flights and prompting the authorities to relocate tens of thousands of people, according to the South China Morning Post. The typhoon was weakening as it moved towards Japan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed into China on Saturday over the new Yalu River bridge, entering the border city of Dandong on an unannounced visit confirmed by South Korea's Unification Ministry, according to the Korea Herald. It is Kim's first trip to China since September 2025, when he attended a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported his arrival in Dandong over the new bridge, according to Kyodo News.

Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than 500, as powerful winds and torrential rain brought down trees, disrupted flights and knocked out electricity to thousands of homes, according to the Times of India. Taiwan's fire department said 527 people were injured and kept the death toll at one, a man swept away by waves on Liuqiu Island. State-owned utility Taipower said more than 167,000 homes had lost electricity at one point.

Typhoon Champi struck Taiwan, killing one person and injuring at least 350, as authorities warned of “destructive winds” and instructed people to stay indoors, according to Al Jazeera. The storm swept past the island’s northeast on Friday, toppling trees, shutting shops and schools, cutting power to thousands of households and forcing more than 4,300 people to evacuate from their homes.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck Tibet on Thursday, an autonomous region of China, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) confirmed the magnitude and said the quake was felt in the region; as of the latest update, no damage or casualties had been recorded, G1 reported.

North Korea warned that new counter means will stand ready along the entire southern border line and the loudspeakers against South Korea will be ready within days, according to Kyodo News. In a separate statement on Wednesday, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare will be in operation along the whole border by the end of October.

South Korea’s defence ministry urged North Korea to hold urgent military talks to ease frontier tension and prevent accidental military clashes, shortly after Pyongyang severed the cross-border military hotline and declared it will no longer seek dialogue or unification with its foe, TRT World reported. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said propaganda loudspeakers aimed at the South will be ready to restart within days along the entire border, according to the Guardian. TRT World reported that she also said “our new counter means will get into the alert for duty at all the southern border line” and that the loudspeakers “will be on standby in a matter of days”.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reiterated Monday that Seoul should retake wartime operational control (OPCON) at an early date, Yonhap reported. The Pentagon told the outlet that the transition “remains a conditions-based process mutually agreed upon by the United States and the Republic of Korea”. US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson said that “conditions have changed”, citing North Korea's recent missile launches, and indicated that the change called for new standards for the transfer.

South Korea's top military officer ordered troops on Tuesday to sternly respond to any enemy provocations, a day after North Korea threatened to deploy more weapons along the inter-Korean border, according to Yonhap.

The US State Department announced sanctions on five Chinese entities under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), over suspected theft of trade secrets from American companies. The targets include Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, founded by former Google software engineer Ding Linwei, venture capital firm MiraclePlus and three related entities, according to the South China Morning Post.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% year on year in the third quarter, according to official data. The world’s second largest economy rose from 4.3% in the previous quarter but stayed below the 5% recorded from January to March, the BBC reported, citing official Chinese data.

A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers visited the war-linked Yasukuni shrine, and Japan’s prime minister sent a monetary offering to the same shrine, according to Kyodo News.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made a ritual offering to the Yasukuni shrine, while four of her Cabinet colleagues, including Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, visited the site, according to China Daily. Beijing lodged formal protests with Tokyo and described the shrine as “a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism”. The South China Morning Post reported that China criticized Takaichi over the offering and warned of “remilitarisation”.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his government on Friday (October 16) protested remarks by China’s ambassador to Manila, Jing Quan, calling them “a thinly veiled threat of the use of force”, the latest flare-up in the two countries’ longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, according to The Hindu. Jing said the characterization was “nonsense” and added that the Philippines should feel fortunate to have China as a neighbor: “If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not choose force and we love peace”.

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the United States military will hold the large-scale joint exercise Keen Sword 27 in various locations across Japan from October 19 to 29, deploying about 45,000 and 12,000 personnel respectively, with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines also taking part, according to Xinhua.

Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister Kiuchi visited the war-linked Yasukuni shrine, according to Kyodo News. The Japanese government said that whether Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will visit the shrine during the autumn festival, which starts on the 17th, is a matter for her to judge appropriately, according to SBS.

Japan is increasingly turning to foreign companies to accelerate its military modernization, drawing on overseas technology, expertise and production capacity to plug defense gaps that could prove critical in a potential regional conflict involving China, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi confirmed last Friday that Japan had signed a contract to acquire interceptor drones from Ukrainian start-up SkyFall, according to the SCMP.

North Korea says it test-fired on October 14 two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles in the East Sea, according to SBS News. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), via SBS, stated the test inspected the mobilization readiness of underwater combat systems and the Navy strategic mission execution capabilities, while state media published photos of what it said were the Wednesday test, according to DW.

Min Aung Hlaing received a red carpet welcome, complete with an honour guard, in Kuala Lumpur last week, according to Al Jazeera. Anwar pledged to help reintegrate Myanmar into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the bloc that has barred Min Aung Hlaing from its high-level meetings for refusing to carry out its peace plan.

South Korea will continue supporting Ukraine “as a responsible member of the international community,” despite a diplomatic dispute, according to the South China Morning Post. The dispute involves Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public disclosure of the transfer of North Korean prisoners during his UN General Assembly speech on September 23.

North Korea said it test-fired submarine-launched cruise missiles on Wednesday, according to Kyodo News.

The US Army established the 4th Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) at Fort Carson, Colorado, on October 8, the latest in a series of specialised formations developed for operations in the western Pacific, according to the South China Morning Post. Such formations were earlier activated in Washington state, Germany and Hawaii.

Senior American diplomats, administration officials and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo earlier this month, in a gathering one source called unusual, ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in November. According to the Chosun Ilbo, observers suggest the meeting aimed to review US strategies toward China and North Korea. On the 8th, senior State Department officials and 10 US ambassadors to Asian countries visited Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they met Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Monday, its fourth launch in a month, and one of the types flew more than 900 km after being launched at around 9:20 a.m. local time from near Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by the Hindustan Times.

Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov has arrived in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to discuss cooperation in disaster prevention and management, according to TASS. A delegation from Russia's emergency ministry visited Pyongyang to discuss ways to expand cooperation in disaster management, North Korea's state media reported on Monday. The two ministries plan to sign a joint action plan for 2027-2029, according to TASS.

China imposed sanctions from Monday on Paraguay's communications minister and Belize's foreign minister over the two countries' ties with Taiwan, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale. The measures include barring entry visas to Hong Kong and Macau and prohibiting Chinese organizations and individuals from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities, the ministry said in two notices.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea, according to South Koreaʼs Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by France24, and Japanʼs Defence Ministry separately confirmed the launch of at least one suspected ballistic missile. The South Korean body did not immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew, according to The Hindu.

The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on October 8, downgraded Hong Kong to Tier 3 from the Tier 2 Watch List, according to the Times of India. Hong Kong rejected the assessment, calling it “entirely unfounded” and accusing Washington of double standards. According to the report, Hong Kong authorities investigated 11 human trafficking cases in 2025, all involving forced labour, compared with seven in 2024.

Commercial satellite imagery taken on September 30 showed eight K-8/JL-8 trainer aircraft at Ban Keun Airport in Laos, according to Reuters, in a text published by the South China Morning Post. That is twice as many as the Laotian air force is assessed to possess. The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy began operations at the airport a day earlier.

China and Laos inaugurated a joint support and training centre at Ban Keun airport, about 50 kilometres northwest of the Lao capital Vientiane, according to VOA News. Satellite imagery from September 30 showed eight aircraft and more than 20 military vehicles at the site, according to a Reuters report cited by VOA News. China’s Defence Ministry says the centre is intended to help Laos strengthen the training of air force pilots.

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) found former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte fit to stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity, Al Jazeera reported.

The Trump administration began direct talks with Myanmar’s military-installed government, according to Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post, in a reversal of the isolation policy adopted after the 2021 coup. Michael Vance met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on September 15 and 16. The US Department of State said it engages with all groups in Myanmar on issues affecting American interests — and that violence must cease and political prisoners must be released.

Details of the alleged murder by Marine Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, sparked a protest outside the US Embassy in Tokyo, according to CGTN, and US military authorities in Okinawa imposed movement restrictions on their personnel. The victim was identified as Anna Yagi, 39, a local resident of Naha, the prefectural capital, and an autopsy indicated death by strangulation, according to CGTN, citing local police. Benjamin Watson, head of US forces in Japan, ordered on Wednesday a 30-day off-base restriction starting October 9, banning off-base outings between midnight and 5 a.m., according to CGTN. Genta Koja, newly elected governor of Okinawa, announced he would travel to Tokyo on Wednesday to lodge an official protest with the central government, according to CGTN.

Police in Okinawa arrested a US Marine accused of robbing and killing a woman, according to the Associated Press. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her government protested to the US side and demanded maximum cooperation with Japanese authorities in the investigation, tougher discipline for service members and preventive measures, according to the Associated Press. The arrest sparked growing outrage in Japan, according to Al Jazeera.

A 20-year-old American Marine stationed in Okinawa was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, according to the Times of India. The suspicion involves the death of 39-year-old Anna Yagi and the theft of a wallet and a backpack at a hotel in Naha in the early hours of Saturday. Japan’s foreign ministry said it would lodge a protest with US ambassador George Glass.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised the launch of an intermediate-range strategic missile, which according to KCNA flew 1,000 km before hitting its designated target, Sputnik reported. The Russian state agency TASS registered that the North Korean hypersonic missile hit a target 1,000 km away.

North Korea said it launched an intermediate-range missile from the country’s east on Saturday that hit a target 1,000 km out at sea, in a drill overseen by Kim Jong Un, according to The Hindu, in a Reuters report. South Korea’s military said on Saturday it had detected a ballistic missile launch and assessed the missile had flown more than 700 km toward the sea off its east coast. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the drill was intended to train troops operating a hypersonic strategic weapon system and to assess the reliability, efficiency and mobility of the country’s war deterrent.

North Korea said on Saturday it had tested an intermediate-range missile with built-in artificial intelligence, according to G1. In its statement, Pyongyang said the missile was able to change its trajectory on its own at low altitude. South Korea’s armed forces said the launch flew more than 700 kilometres toward the sea off the east coast. According to Kim Yo-jong, sister of the leader, Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the exercise, in a statement cited by Sputnik.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it will take compensatory measures to strengthen its defense capability in response to what it calls Japan's remilitarization, according to Sputnik. Japan announced plans to use Type 25 missile systems, stationed in the country a few months ago, during the joint Japan-US Keen Sword 27 drills scheduled for October, Sputnik reported.

Japan issued an emergency alert on Saturday about the launch of a suspected North Korean ballistic missile, on the day South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired at least one ballistic missile from the Wonsan area, on the peninsula’s eastern coast, towards the sea. The projectile flew more than 700 km, according to the same Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by the Yonhap news agency.

The first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets from a batch of 66 US-made planes ordered by Taiwan in 2019 landed at Chihhang Air Base near Taitung on the island’s mountainous east coast at midday Friday local time. The aircraft flew via Hawaii and Guam, according to DW, and the jets, made by Lockheed Martin as part of an $8 billion sale agreed seven years ago, are equipped with advanced avionics and radar systems.

Pyongyang said it will not discuss military sovereignty issues with Seoul, ruled out talks on the demarcation of the borderline and once again rejected South Korea’s demand that it apologize for a recent incident where a landmine exploded, according to TASS. On October 2, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young proposed talks on the situation in the demilitarized zone and the division line.

Three South Korean soldiers were injured by mines about 10 meters south of the military demarcation line, according to DW. South Korea accused the North of sowing mines to the south of the line, a breach of the armistice, and demanded an apology, according to DW. The UN Command said it had determined that an Armistice Agreement violation occurred. The North dismissed the South’s allegations as a self-staged farce, according to DW.

US President Donald Trump announced an $8.4bn oil recovery project under the deal with South Korea, according to Middle East Eye. He provided no location or explanation of how the project would operate, according to Middle East Eye. The deal committed South Korea to investing $350 billion in the United States in return for lower US tariffs, according to Yonhap.

Chinese refiners suspended oil product exports planned for October, four people briefed on the matter told Reuters, to preserve domestic stocks. China canceled some October exports, including diesel and gasoline, to ensure domestic demand, according to Sputnik Globe, citing Bloomberg.

Taiwan’s first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets are expected to arrive within a few days, according to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Ting-yu. Wang said the two aircraft have taken off from Hawaii and will land at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung either Friday or Saturday. The sale of 66 F-16V Block 70s was approved by the United States in 2019, with deliveries originally scheduled to begin in 2023.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung threatened to take unspecified further action if Ukraine does not issue a public apology for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to the South, according to the BBC. The South Korean president expressed anger at Ukraine over comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech at the UN that appeared to reveal a secret deal, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the situation as a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said Kyiv was working to resolve it, according to the BBC.

The US Commerce Department has slowed licensing for airplane parts to China and considered new limits on COMAC shipments, using aerospace supply chains to gain leverage in trade talks, according to Reuters. The effort to slow vital goods is part of Washington’s push to loosen Beijing’s grip on rare earth minerals needed by a wide range of US industries, including vehicle manufacturing, chipmaking and aerospace.

The UK Security Service (MI5) said that more than 100 UK-based academics had contributed to projects funded by the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI), according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Olympian. According to Reuters, in a text republished by UNN, MI5 established that CGTRI’s primary purpose is to fund academic research that directly enhances the technical espionage capabilities of China’s state security service (MSS). The funded projects include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography.

Hong Kong police arrested two people, including a journalist, for allegedly acting “with seditious intent”, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Local media identified the detainees as independent journalist Tang Ho-wing and activist Lee Ying-chi. They were detained for investigation under a homegrown national security law passed in 2024.

The joint Keen Sword military exercises, by the US and Japan, will take place from October 19 to 29 in Japan and adjacent waters, with seven other countries taking part, according to the Russian news agency TASS. On the Japanese side, about 45,000 troops, 40 warships and 250 aircraft are taking part, and the size of the US contingent was not disclosed, also according to TASS.

The death toll from the military airstrike on a market in Kyauktaw, in western Rakhine state, Myanmar, rose to 50 on September 29, two local aid workers at the scene told AFP, in a text republished by the Kuwait Times. Rescuer Wai Hun Aung said the death toll had reached 50 and that 58 people were injured. Witnesses said military aircraft struck the riverside commercial hub of Kyauktaw, in western Myanmar, around midday on Monday (0530 GMT).

A Myanmar military airstrike near a market in rebel-controlled territory in western Rakhine state killed at least 49 people and injured 58 others on Monday, according to the Arakan Army and a rescue official, the Times of India reported. The Associated Press (AP) reported the same toll of 49 dead and 58 wounded, attributed to the rebel group and a rescue official. According to the Arakan Army, a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market around noon, killing vendors, shoppers and pedestrians.

The mayor of Kadena Town in Okinawa Prefecture visited the Japanese Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau on Monday to protest the planned storage of the US Typhon mid-range missile system at Kadena Air Base, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported. According to Japan's Defense Ministry, the US Army will temporarily store the Typhon system and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa starting in mid-October. The Typhon system includes launchers, missiles and a battery operations center and can fire both SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the US approval for South Korea to build its first nuclear submarine is “a dangerous development” that adds new instability to the region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. According to the ministry, the move is another demonstration of US nuclear proliferation through the AUKUS pact (Australia, United Kingdom and United States). The statement was published by state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said on Monday that “appropriate, substantial and corresponding” measures would be taken if the explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is confirmed to have been caused by land mines planted by North Korea. Two South Korean soldiers were severely wounded and a third suffered minor injuries, according to Yonhap. Brig. Gen. Hwang Ju-bong, chief of the ground operations division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a regular press briefing that the command received testimony that what the troops saw was similar to a wooden-box land mine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said that Russia does not trust Japan’s promises to remove US missile systems after the joint military drills are over and warned that such actions will not go unanswered, according to TASS. In an interview with the Izvestia daily, Rudenko said the Japanese authorities promised that the missiles would supposedly be removed after the drills ended. According to earlier reports, US forces were set to deploy on Kyushu Typhon ground-based systems, designed to launch intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, along with HIMARS launchers, during drills held from June to September.

The US ambassador to Beijing, David Perdue, said in a Fox News interview that President Donald Trump asked Xi Jinping whether he wanted to buy American weapons. The remark came while answering about the administration’s stance on Taiwan’s independence, according to the Daily Beast. Trump and Xi agreed to meet again at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen in November and at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Miami in December, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Typhon missile systems will stay in Japan after the exercises. According to the Russian agency TASS, Japan’s Defense Ministry said the Typhon systems deployed at Kanoya air field in Kagoshima Prefecture during the June and September exercises will be transferred to storage at Kadena air force base in Okinawa by mid-October, aboard C-17 transport aircraft. The ministry said the American side explained that storing the equipment at Kadena is not a permanent deployment in Japan. For the Daily Sun, the longer Typhon presence in the country creates a distributed network of strike, air-defence and targeting capabilities that complicates Chinese military operations around Taiwan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, September 25, 2026, that trade with China had reached $240 billion and keeps growing, TASS reported. Putin said he intends to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, depending on the domestic situation, TASS reported, and that Russia welcomes any positive agreement between China and the United States, Sputnik reported.

Typhoon Dujuan killed four people and left six others missing in eastern Japan, in the prefectures of Chiba and Kanagawa, and injured 22, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) of Japan, cited by The Japan Times and Jiji Press. Chiba recorded three of the deaths. The typhoon, Japan’s 25th this year, cut power to tens of thousands of homes and forced more than 1.6 million people in the Tokyo area to leave at-risk areas, BBC News reported. The storm also brought record rainfall: Oshima island recorded 832 millimetres over 48 hours, more than double its average rainfall for the whole of September, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Japan’s meteorological agency lifted or downgraded most heavy rain and landslide warnings on Tuesday.

Typhoon Dujuan left at least four people dead and 22 injured in Japan, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA) said, cited by Agence France-Presse on Tuesday, September 22: three deaths in Chiba prefecture and one in Kanagawa, both near Tokyo. Searches for six people missing after landslides continued on Tuesday morning. More than 45,000 households in Chiba were still without power and 460 houses were damaged. The death toll, put at two on the night of Monday, September 21, rose as rescue teams advanced. The storm moved away from the coast and out into the Pacific on Tuesday morning, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to lift or downgrade most heavy rain and landslide warnings. Oshima island recorded 832 millimetres of rain in 48 hours, more than double its average for the whole of September, public broadcaster NHK reported, and Tokyo’s Edogawa ward logged a local record of 282.5 millimetres in 24 hours. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delayed her departure for New York by about four hours and arrived late on Monday, Kyodo reported; she is due to meet Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Two New Zealand Navy vessels — the frigate Te Mana and the tanker Aotearoa — transited the Taiwan Strait on Friday, September 18, as part of a three-month Indo-Pacific deployment, the country’s Defence Force said on Monday, September 21. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the transit “a routine activity,” carried out “in international waters” and under international law, and said he did not expect any reaction from China, New Zealand’s largest trading partner. China’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said the strait is an international waterway and that it does not proactively disclose the movements of allied forces. Reuters reported, citing one source, that the Aotearoa was tracked by Chinese forces when it last transited the strait in November 2025.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, two days before the US president’s summit with Xi Jinping at the White House, The Japan Times and Reuters reported. Takaichi wants to press Trump on Japan’s positions over Taiwan and trade so that he does not lean toward conciliation with China, according to The Japan Times. Reuters notes that Takaichi angered Beijing in 2025 by saying Tokyo could be drawn into a conflict over Taiwan, and that analysts say allies fear Trump may offer concessions to Xi in return for an economic win he could showcase before November’s midterm elections. Takaichi, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Trump are all scheduled to speak at the General Assembly on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The United States, Japan and South Korea reaffirmed on Monday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea and called on Pyongyang to resume dialogue, according to the State Department and South Korea’s foreign ministry. The joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also reiterated the three countries’ commitment to the defense of Japan and South Korea and expressed support for Taiwan’s “meaningful participation” in international organizations, according to Reuters. The statement came three days before Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, scheduled for Thursday, September 24.

North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that what South Korea identified as two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday was a test of a “new combat weapon system,” carried out in the presence of Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim called the test “an unquestionable demonstration of advanced defense technology” and “a clear renewal in the modernization of the armed forces,” and said the country’s adversaries would better understand what the technological advance means militarily, according to the state agency. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the two launches, from the Wonsan area about three hours apart, flew roughly 450 kilometers and more than 600 kilometers. The North did not specify what type of weapon was tested.

Typhoon Dujuan has killed two people in Japan, in landslides in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, according to local governments cited by Japanese media, including the Kyodo news agency, and by Agence France-Presse (AFP). Early on Tuesday the storm had moved away from the coast and was heading northeast out to sea with weaker winds, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Japan Airlines cancelled 135 flights and All Nippon Airways (ANA) cancelled 140, and more than 9,000 households near Tokyo lost power, according to AFP. The rain forced the early closure of the Tokyo Game Show, one of the world’s biggest video-game trade fairs, on Monday, its final day, and led to the cancellation of a music festival and a baseball game in Chiba.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung takes a phased proposal on North Korea’s nuclear programme to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday: halt the advance of nuclear and missile capabilities, then reduce them, then dismantle them, according to the Associated Press (AP) and The Korea Herald. Lee says denuclearisation cannot be achieved in the short term and that sanctions pressure has made the problem worse, and he offers Pyongyang three commitments: respect for the North’s system, no unification by absorption and no hostile intent, according to The Korea Herald and the Inquirer. In an interview with The New York Times, he backed easing sanctions on the North, according to the paper. The speech follows Kim Jong-un’s remarks on Sunday that there is no reason not to sit down with Washington if the United States drops its demand for denuclearisation, and his repeat that the North will never give up its arsenal, according to AP. Lee also called on the Security Council to add seats for non-permanent members, according to Bloomberg.

Typhoon Dujuan churned along Japan’s east coast on Monday, prompting authorities to urge more than 1.9 million people to evacuate and to cancel hundreds of flights, according to the BBC. The 25th typhoon of the season is not expected to make landfall but could bring record rainfall near Tokyo, with landslide warnings in Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, according to The Independent. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported more than 1 million people under evacuation advisories and power outages along the east coast, and United Press International (UPI) reported grounded planes and trains in the central Chubu region.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington has proposed a mechanism with China to notify each other of artificial intelligence incidents that threaten national security, for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to consider at their meeting in Washington this week, according to NBC News, CNN and Al Jazeera. Bessent said the two sides discussed setting up a bilateral AI dialogue focused on national security and that “moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important”. China’s state Xinhua news agency confirmed that Bessent and Vice Premier He Lifeng discussed issues “relating to AI”, without mentioning the US proposal. What would trigger a notification has not been disclosed.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25 at the invitation of Donald Trump. The Associated Press (AP) reported that Trump will greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews when he arrives on Wednesday and that the state dinner is set for Thursday; according to the agency, the first state visit by a Chinese leader in more than a decade has trade, rare earths and artificial intelligence on the agenda, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets Vice Premier He Lifeng over the weekend.

China expelled General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the country’s highest-ranked officer, and Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department, from the Communist Party and the military. The state news agency Xinhua said the two were accused of disloyalty, of forming cliques and factions and of accepting “exceptionally large sums of money”, with their cases sent to military legal organs for review and prosecution, according to Reuters. The expulsion still requires ratification at a plenary session of the party’s Central Committee, and the announcement came three days before Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington and weeks before the October plenum on internal party discipline.

North Korea said new sanctions cannot block its development, according to KCNA as cited by Reuters.

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles three hours apart over the East Sea, according to G1, the Hindustan Times, The Hindu, CGTN World and Reuters. Seoul and Tokyo are monitoring the launch and Washington played down any immediate threat, according to G1.