Asia in 3 minutes: From Korea’s war on gay soldiers to Vietnamese villagers’ battle with authorities by taking cops as hostages

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US President Donald Trump’s comments about South Korean history in a Wall Street Journal story upset many Koreans. Photo: AP

Published: 8:16pm, 21 Apr 2017Updated: 8:16pm, 21 Apr 2017

Trump’s retelling of Asian history stirs backlash in South Korea

In retelling a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump has told the Wall Street Journal: “He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years ... and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China.” This claim was largely buried in the April 12 news coverage of Trump’s wide-ranging interview with the Journal. But it belatedly went viral in South Korea. Trump’s unartful retelling of Sino-Korean history sparked widespread outrage among Koreans, who are particularly sensitive to the US president’s rhetoric amid heightened tensions between North and South Korea.

What next? Trump will take part in a summit with Asean leaders and the East Asia Summit in the Philippines as well as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.

Posters around Tokyo warn of people dressed as monks soliciting money. Handout photo

Japanese posters warn tourists about people posing as monks

Posters have appeared in locations in central Tokyo calling on foreign tourists not to give donations to people dressed as monks because they are imposters. The warnings are being posted despite the arrest earlier this month of a Chinese national on charges of violating the terms of his tourist visa, heightening concerns that the arrest was not a one-off and that an organised crime group is targeting overseas visitors in Japan.

What’s next? Japanese police have called on the public to be aware of the problem, although the fake monks appear to be targeting foreigners, in part because they are less comprehending of traditional customs. They also believe that an organised group is carrying out the scam.

A woman rides a motorcycle on an alley with loose rocks and logs placed by villagers inside the Dong Tam commune in My Duc district on the outskirts of Hanoi, where a hostage stand-off was under way. Photo: AFP

Villagers hold 20 hostages amid heated land dispute in Vietnam

The mayor of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city, urged villagers engaged in a land dispute with authorities to release the remaining 20 police and officials they’ve been holding since the weekend. The stand-off began in Dong Tam village in My Duc District last Saturday when police clashed with villagers who say their farmland was taken illegally for sale by a military-run telecoms firm. The villagers held 38 officials and police at a community house, but later released 15 riot police while three others managed to escape. “I will ask the villagers to soon release those who are being held,” Nguyen Duc Chung said. “The cadres are to protect people, not to suppress them. They are like your brothers and children.”