Top Asian News 3:58 a.m. GMT

Wildfires ravage southern South Korea, killing 18 people and destroying a 1,300-year-old temple

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever were ravaging the country’s southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday. A 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles were among the structures destroyed in the wildfires that have burned 43,330 acres and injured 19 people, the government’s emergency response center said. In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the wildfires that began last Friday were causing worse damage than many other past wildfires. “Damages are snowballing,” Han said. “There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.” Han said crews were struggling to extinguish the wildfires because strong winds swept the areas overnight.

America’s allies alarmed by a leaked group chat about attack plans

LONDON (AP) — As wake-up calls go, the alarms don’t get much louder. Allies of the United States see the group chat between top U.S. officials about a planned attack in Yemen that accidentally included a journalist as a jaw-dropping security breach which casts doubt on intelligence-sharing with Washington and the security of joint military operations. “Scary” and “reckless” was the verdict of one European diplomat about the discussion on the Signal messaging app about strikes on Houthi rebels. Neil Melvin, a security expert at defense think tank the Royal United Services Institute, called it “pretty shocking.” “It’s some of the most high-ranking U.S.

South Korea’s truth commission says government responsible for fraud and abuse in foreign adoptions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s truth commission has concluded that the government bears responsibility for facilitating a foreign adoption program rife with fraud and abuse, driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs and enabled by private agencies that often manipulated children’s backgrounds and origins. The landmark report released Wednesday followed a nearly three-year investigation into complaints from 367 adoptees in Europe, the United States, and Australia, representing the most comprehensive examination yet of South Korea’s foreign adoptions, which peaked under a succession of military governments in the 1970s and ’80s. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a government-appointed fact-finding panel, says it completed investigations into 56 complaints and aims to review the remaining cases before its mandate expires in late May.

Court in Japan orders the dissolution of the Unification Church

TOKYO (AP) — The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The South Korea-based church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which would take away its tax-exempt privilege and require liquidation of its assets. The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families. In the ruling, the court said the church’s problems were extensive and continuous, and a dissolution order is necessary because it is not likely it could voluntarily reform, according to NHK television.

What is the Unification Church and why did a Japanese court order it dissolved?

TOKYO (AP) — A controversial South Korean church with powerful political connections faces dissolution in Japan after a Tokyo court ordered a revokation of its legal status after the government accused it of manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families. The Tokyo District court’s ruling would end the Unification Church’s tax-exempt status in Japan and force it to liquidate its assets. The church said it is considering an immediate appeal to the country’s highest court. The Unification Church has faced hundreds of lawsuits in Japan from families who say that it manipulated members into draining their savings to make donations, but for decades it largely escaped official scrutiny and maintained close links with the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

Olympic venue plans are in place for Brisbane 2032 and now the wait for construction begins

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Ready. Set. Wait. It’ll be another year or two before construction begins on the main Olympic stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. And this is racing mode. It’s taken almost four years since the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2032 Summer Games to Brisbane to finalize a cohesive venue plan, and now the countdown is serious for the 7.1 billion Australian dollars (US$4.4 billion) construction program. Stephen Conry, chairman of the Brisbane 2032 independent infrastructure coordination authority, on Wednesday said “the likely date or year for shovels in the ground for the (main) stadium would be 2026, ’27” after the design and approvals phase.

Taiwan deports a Chinese woman for praising Beijing’s military ambitions to conquer the island

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan on Tuesday deported a Chinese woman back to her country after she posted praise online for Beijing’s ambitions to conquer the self-governing island democracy by force. China, which considers the island a wayward province that split from it amid civil war in 1949, has been vastly expanding its navy and missile force with an eye to bringing Taiwan quickly to heel or blockading the high-tech island, with potentially dire effects on the global economy. Liu Zhenya, a full-time influencer who posts under “Yaya in Taiwan,” was charged with violating rules governing Chinese living in Taiwan who are “considered a threat to the national or social stability,” according to the Interior Ministry.

Han Jong-Hee, who elevated Samsung’s television business, dies

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Han Jong-Hee, a senior Samsung Electronics executive credited with elevating the company’s television business, died Tuesday, the company said. He was 63. Han, a co-chief executive who oversaw the company’s consumer electronics and mobile devices businesses, died at a hospital after being treated for a heart attack, Samsung said. Han joined Samsung in 1988 and spent most of his career in TV-related divisions, during which the company became the world’s leading TV manufacturer. He was appointed co-vice chairman and CEO in 2022. Samsung, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has dual strengths in components and finished consumer products.

Columbia student protester can’t be detained for now as she fights deportation, judge rules

NEW YORK (AP) — A Columbia University student from South Korea who is facing potential deportation for her involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest can’t be taken into immigration detention for now, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The order marks at least a temporary reprieve for Yunseo Chung, and a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to throw noncitizens out of the country for participating in campus protests that the government deems antisemitic and sympathetic to the militant group Hamas. The students say the government is targeting them for advocating for Palestinian rights. “As of today, Yunseo Chung no longer has to fear and live in fear of ICE coming to her doorstep and abducting her in the night,” Chung attorney Ramzi Kassem said after court, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Motorcyclist who disappeared into huge Seoul sinkhole found dead after overnight search

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A motorcyclist who fell into a cavernous sinkhole that opened on a Seoul street was found dead after an overnight search, officials in South Korea’s capital said Tuesday. The roughly 20-meter-wide, 20-meter-deep sinkhole appeared at an intersection in the Myeongil-dong neighborhood in eastern Seoul on Monday afternoon, swallowing the motorcyclist and injuring a woman whose van was passing over the site, according to safety and emergency offices. The motorcyclist, who was in his 30s, was found before noon on Tuesday, emergency officer Kim Chang Seob told a televised briefing. Kim said the man was found wearing a helmet and motorcycle boots, and that rescue workers found his Japanese-made motorcycle and mobile phone before reaching his body.