Top Asian News 3:47 a.m. GMT

Top aide of impeached South Korean president pleads for investigators to halt detention efforts

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The top aide of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol pleaded with law enforcement on Tuesday to abandon their efforts to detain him over last month’s martial law imposition, as authorities prepared a second attempt to take him into custody. In his statement, presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk said Yoon could instead be questioned at a “third site” or at his residence and claimed that the anti-corruption agency and police were trying to drag him out like he was a member of a “South American drug cartel.” However, Yoon Kab-keun, one of the president’s lawyers, said Chung issued the message without consulting them and that the legal team has no immediate plans to make the president available for questioning by investigators.

North Korea launches missiles toward eastern waters in 2nd launch of year, South says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday test-fired multiple missiles toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, as it continued its weapons demonstrations ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the short-range ballistic missiles were fired from a northern inland area and flew about 250 kilometers (155 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The joint chiefs said the South Korean military has strengthened surveillance while sharing the launch information with the U.S. and Japanese militaries. It said it strongly condemns the test, describing it as a “clear provocation” that poses a serious threat to the region’s peace and stability.

Naked, ash-smeared Hindu ascetics take holy dips at the Maha Kumbh festival

PRAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Naked Hindu ascetics and pilgrims took dips in the freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers in northern India on Tuesday, in the first major bathing day of the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on Earth. Holding tridents, swords, spears and small two-headed drums, ash-smeared Hindu holy men marched at sunrise toward the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers in the northern city of Prayagraj. The men — with matted dreadlocks and crowns of marigolds — chanted religious slogans praising Hindu deity Lord Shiva and were escorted to the bathing site on chariots in a large procession with singing, drumming and blowing of horns.

AP PHOTOS: Young people in sumptuous kimonos and sober suits mark Coming of Age Day in Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Japan’s Coming of Age Day is a sure sign of winter, arriving after New Year celebrations and before the cherry blossom parties of early spring. The national holiday is held on the second Monday of January. People turn out to admire the elaborate outfits young people don to celebrate the transition from child to adult. The age of adulthood has been lowered from 20 to 18, but many of the participants are still 20-year-olds. The men usually wear sober black suits, but the women are resplendent in kimonos woven in lustrous patterns — often of flowers — and a bright array of colors, many with elaborately constructed hairdos and fancy handbags.

India’s Modi inaugurates a strategic tunnel in disputed Kashmir

JAMMU, India (AP) — India’s prime minister marked Monday the opening of a tunnel in the northeast of disputed Kashmir that will grant all-year accessibility to a town that is isolated by heavy snow each winter. The $932 million project includes a second tunnel and a series of bridges and high mountain roads that will link Kashmir with Ladakh, a cold desert region nestled between India, Pakistan and China that has faced territorial disputes for decades. Amid high security, Narendra Modi visited the resort town of Sonamarg where he inaugurated the 6.5-kilometer (4-mile) tunnel. The town denotes the end of the conifer-clad mountains of the Kashmir Valley before Ladakh begins across the rocky Zojila mountain pass.

Taiwan iPhone maker Foxconn sets its sights on the ever more crowded EV market

BANGKOK (AP) — Auto industry newcomers like Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn and China’s Huawei Technologies are maneuvering to gain an edge in the electric vehicle sector, prompting automakers like Japan’s Nissan and Honda to announce plans to join forces against a flood of ambitious competitors. Also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn has been snapping up links in the automotive supply chain, one of a growing number of technology companies that are leveraging their knowhow in electronics and communications. Foxconn’s auto venture with Taiwan automaker and importer Yulon Motor Co., Foxtron, showcased its Model B, a sleek EV hatchback, as well as its automotive electronics, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

China’s exports in December up 10.7%, beating estimates as higher US tariffs loom

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports in December grew at a faster pace than expected, as factories rushed to fill orders to beat higher tariffs that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose once he takes office. Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier, according to official customs data released Monday. Economists had forecast they would grow about 7%. Imports rose 1% year-on-year. Analysts had expected them to shrink about 1.5%. With exports outpacing imports, China’s trade surplus grew to $104.84 billion in December, and nearly $1 trillion for the year, at $992.2 billion. Here are some highlights from the report.

Pakistani security forces kill 27 insurgents during raid in Balochistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout on Monday, killing 27 insurgents, the military said. The operation in southwestern Pakistan was conducted in Kachhi, a district in Balochistan province, the military said in a statement. Security forces were acting on intelligence. The slain “terrorists were involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as innocent civilians,” and were being sought by law enforcement agencies, the statement said. It provided no further details about the slain men, but small Baloch separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Balochistan, which is the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks, mainly on security forces.

A landslide in a Myanmar jade mining area kills at least 12 and leaves many missing

BANGKOK (AP) — An overnight landslide at a jade mining area in northern Myanmar has killed at least a dozen people and left many others missing, according to a resident, rescuers and independent media on Monday. They said about 50 houses were buried or damaged. The accident occurred early Monday in Kachin state’s Hpakant township, a remote mountainous region at the center of the lucrative jade mining industry, about 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon. It’s a region where sporadic fighting has broken out between the Myanmar army and ethnic guerrilla forces. Tarlin Mg, a resident near the accident area, told The Associated Press that the bodies of 12 people, including four children, had been recovered in Spott village.

Thailand’s Cabinet approves a draft bill to legalize casinos to boost tourism and economy

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Cabinet approved on Monday a draft bill legalizing casinos with the aim of boosting tourism and a sluggish economy Some forms of gambling, such as betting on boxing and horse racing, are allowed but casinos remain illegal in the Southeast Asian country. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters following the cabinet meeting the bill would also help attract more investments and solve issues of illegal gambling “It will benefit society as a whole in the future,” Paetongtarn said. “This is part of the government’s policy to support sustainable tourism, or man-made destinations, which was addressed in Parliament.” She said the Finance Ministry, which sponsored the bill, would later provide more details about the plans, which are being promoted as “entertainment complexes.” The current government, which took office in September, has pledged to make the country’s economic woes their top agenda.