https://www.scmp.com/rss/523284/feed The latest news and top stories on Ewha Womans University, a South Korean private research university for women. Ewha is dedicated to nurture women leaders and advancing women's higher education. Founded in 1886 by the American missionary Mary F. Scranton, it is one of Asia's earliest and the world's largest female educational institutions, with a range of undergraduate and graduate programs across liberal arts sciences engineering and medicine. Ewha is South Korea's first accredited four-year... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea is unlikely to rush into joining a US-led military effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz, officials and analysts have said, after President Donald Trump urged other nations to send ships to the strategic waterway. Seoul is expected to seek parliamentary consensus before making any decision and is waiting for the outcome of a summit on Thursday between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, as well as a formal request through diplomatic channels. A key US ally, South Korea... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346756/south-korea-catch-22-situation-over-trumps-call-warships-secure-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346756/south-korea-catch-22-situation-over-trumps-call-warships-secure-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:11 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong Kim Jong-un will have seen the footage. A supreme leader of nearly 37 years, killed alongside members of his own family. Citizens celebrating in the streets. Rivals already angling for a role in the political transition. If the US-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday was intended to send a message to the world, analysts say North Korea almost certainly received it. Though the lesson likely learned – do not negotiate with the US and never be in Iran’s position... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345084/us-strikes-iran-north-korea-sees-nuclear-vindication?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345084/us-strikes-iran-north-korea-sees-nuclear-vindication?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:07:48 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has warned that Pyongyang is ready for confrontation with the US but has also left the door open for dialogue, depending on Washington’s stance. The prospects for North Korea-US relations hinge “entirely on the attitude of the United States”, he said on Wednesday. Pyongyang was prepared for both “peaceful coexistence or eternal confrontation”, but the choice lay with Washington. So long as the US respected North Korea’s nuclear-armed state status, which is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344668/confrontation-or-dialogue-you-choose-north-koreas-kim-tells-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344668/confrontation-or-dialogue-you-choose-north-koreas-kim-tells-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation after Japan’s ruling coalition secured a landslide victory in the lower house election, even as analysts warn that sharpening China-Japan rivalry and unresolved historical disputes could complicate Seoul’s regional diplomacy. The result, which consolidates the Liberal Democratic Party’s grip on power, has strengthened Takaichi’s political position – but also revived... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343056/south-korea-japan-eye-deeper-ties-after-takaichis-landslide-win-it-feasible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3343056/south-korea-japan-eye-deeper-ties-after-takaichis-landslide-win-it-feasible?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong The summit between South Korea and Japan has exposed a growing divergence in how the two neighbours are responding to a more volatile regional order, as supply chains harden into strategic tools and great-power rivalry sharpens, analysts have said. During a meeting in Nara, the hometown and electoral district of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pressed the case for broader regional cooperation that included China, while Tokyo emphasised closer... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339886/south-korea-japan-summit-exposes-strategic-divide-amid-great-power-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339886/south-korea-japan-summit-exposes-strategic-divide-amid-great-power-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 09:58:52 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong A missile test by North Korea in the aftermath of the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro signals what analysts have said is Pyongyang’s cautionary stance over the vulnerability of countries without credible military and nuclear deterrence. While overseeing the launch of multiple missiles on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un alluded to the US attacks on Venezuela and Maduro’s arrest a day earlier and Iran in June as justifications to bolster his nuclear arsenal. The test of what... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3338745/north-koreas-missile-test-after-maduros-arrest-signals-denuclearisation-equals-suicide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3338745/north-koreas-missile-test-after-maduros-arrest-signals-denuclearisation-equals-suicide?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2026 06:37:19 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong North Korea’s move to publicly reveal the full hull and displacement of its first nuclear-powered submarine under construction appears to be a strategic counter to bids by the US and South Korea to expand their undersea capabilities. North Korea’s state media on Thursday released images of leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” being built at an undisclosed location. Kim was accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju and daughter Kim Ju-ae, believed to be... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337712/north-koreas-new-nuclear-sub-reveal-bid-counter-us-south-korean-naval-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3337712/north-koreas-new-nuclear-sub-reveal-bid-counter-us-south-korean-naval-power?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:13 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee When Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong took the stage at an Nvidia event in Seoul last month, his wry observation – “Why are there so many iPhones here?” – was met with knowing laughter from the assembled crowd. For a country that prides itself on the global success of home-grown brands like Samsung, South Korea is seeing an increasing number of its young people opt for American alternatives. A July poll by Gallup Korea found more than 60 per cent of respondents in their twenties used an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333733/apple-their-eye-why-south-koreas-gen-z-want-american-brands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333733/apple-their-eye-why-south-koreas-gen-z-want-american-brands?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:10 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea’s bid to reboot ties with China and deepen trade links while strengthening its military alliance with the United States has stirred warnings of renewed pressure from both powers, with last week’s Apec summit underscoring the fragility of Seoul’s balancing act. President Lee Jae-myung’s meetings with his Chinese and American counterparts, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, have been hailed as diplomatic wins. However, analysts say Seoul could pay a steep price for trying to hedge between... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331323/did-south-korea-pop-champagne-too-early-us-china-balancing-act-apec?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331323/did-south-korea-pop-champagne-too-early-us-china-balancing-act-apec?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:26:09 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The first meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung could not have gone off to a better start, with analysts noting the two leaders’ warm rapport sealed with handshakes, smiles and vows to look to the future. While they projected goodwill during their summit ahead of the Apec forum in the South Korean city of Gyeongju on Thursday, long-standing tensions over history and territorial disputes, and domestic political pressures arising from the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331057/takaichi-lee-meeting-raises-hopes-japan-and-south-korea-burying-history-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3331057/takaichi-lee-meeting-raises-hopes-japan-and-south-korea-burying-history-row?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Oct 2025 07:54:55 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea and the United States reached a comprehensive trade deal on Wednesday, ranging from tariffs and investment to shipbuilding, at the summit in Gyeongju between President Lee Jae-myung and his American counterpart, Donald Trump. “We reached a deal. We did a lot of different things. Great session,” Trump said. The two countries agreed to maintain tariffs at 15 per cent following a preliminary deal reached earlier this year, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom told... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330803/south-korea-us-reach-trade-deal-trump-lee-summit-tariffs-investment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330803/south-korea-us-reach-trade-deal-trump-lee-summit-tariffs-investment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:00:30 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall As Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office, she wasted no time extending an olive branch to South Korea, calling it an “important neighbour” and praising its culture. But how long will the goodwill last? Concerns linger in South Korea that Takaichi, known for her nationalist leanings, may eventually adopt a more hawkish stance, risking again straining ties over long-standing issues such as Japan’s wartime history and territorial disputes. “I would say there is optimism about the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329927/japans-new-pm-talks-ties-south-korea-her-past-casts-long-shadow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329927/japans-new-pm-talks-ties-south-korea-her-past-casts-long-shadow?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:00:14 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong With the Apec summit in South Korea just days away, the nuclear-armed North fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday in an apparent bid to remind the world of its growing arsenal. The launch, occurring against the backdrop of deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia, has reignited fears of escalating provocations and their implications for global stability. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the missile, presumed to be a Hwasong-11da-4.5, was launched from North Hwanghae... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329877/north-korea-prepares-apec-ballistic-missile-launch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3329877/north-korea-prepares-apec-ballistic-missile-launch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 03:43:16 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi North Korea’s recent military parade, which featured an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the continental United States, suggested that China had “tacitly accepted” Pyongyang as a nuclear state, analysts said. The October 10 parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea was attended by Li Qiang – the first Chinese premier to visit the country in 16 years. It featured several advanced weapons systems, including tanks, artillery and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3329525/north-korea-pushing-china-more-openly-accept-its-status-nuclear-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3329525/north-korea-pushing-china-more-openly-accept-its-status-nuclear-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 12:00:08 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi In a break from past practice, the United States did not send an aircraft carrier to its military drill with treaty allies Japan and South Korea last week. Some analysts said this suggested that the US was playing down the exercise to boost its dealings with China and North Korea. Others highlighted the Trump administration’s insistence on greater contributions from Asian allies in its strategy to contain China within the strategically crucial first island chain. The trilateral multi-domain... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3326285/us-held-major-military-drill-minus-aircraft-carrier-what-does-it-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3326285/us-held-major-military-drill-minus-aircraft-carrier-what-does-it-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Sep 2025 12:00:11 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong The daughter of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un could present a softer image for Pyongyang, away from her father’s sabre-rattling reputation as he continues to hint at his choice of successor by placing her under the glare of the world’s media. As Kim Ju-ae flanked her father at China’s Victory Day events on Wednesday, observers have drawn parallels to the precedent set by her paternal grandfather Kim Jong-il, who accompanied his own father – North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-sung – on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324230/why-daughter-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-has-inched-closer-becoming-next-ruler?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3324230/why-daughter-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-has-inched-closer-becoming-next-ruler?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 01:30:24 +0000