Top Asian News 12:19 p.m. GMT

Putin thanks North Korea for troop deployment and promises not to forget their sacrifices

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea Monday for fighting alongside his troops against Ukrainian forces and promised not to forget their sacrifices, hours after North Korea confirmed its deployment for the first time. The back-to-back Russian and North Korean statements — which illustrate their expanding military partnerships — came two days after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last year. Ukrainian officials have denied the claim, insisting that the operation in certain areas of Kursk is continuing. In a statement posted on the website of the Kremlin, Putin praised North Korean soldiers who he said “shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, defended our Motherland as their own.” “The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the DPRK special forces.

The Vietnam War ended 50 years ago, but the battle with Agent Orange continues

DA NANG, Vietnam (AP) — The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. But millions of people still face daily battles with its chemical legacy. Nguyen Thanh Hai, 34, is one of millions with disabilities linked to Agent Orange. Born with severe developmental challenges, it’s a struggle for him to complete tasks others take for granted: buttoning the blue shirt he wears to a special school in Da Nang, practicing the alphabet, drawing shapes or forming simple sentences. Hai grew up in Da Nang, the site of a U.S. air base where departing troops left behind huge amounts of Agent Orange that have lingered for decades, leeching into food and water supplies in areas like Hai’s village and affecting generations of residents.

With China and the US at intense economic odds, nations are being forced to choose sides

WASHINGTON (AP) — One went to the United States. The other went to China. It was a sign of the times. While the Swiss president was in Washington last week to lobby U.S. officials over President Donald Trump’s threatened 31% tariff on Swiss goods, the Swiss foreign minister was in Beijing, expressing his nation’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with China and upgrade a free trade agreement. As Trump’s trade war locks the world’s two largest economies on a collision course, America’s unnerved allies and partners are cozying up with China to hedge their bets. It comes as Trump’s trade push upends a decade of American foreign policy — including his own from his first term — toward rallying the rest of the world to join the United States against China.

China and Philippines use their flags to stake out competing claims in the South China Sea

BEIJING (AP) — The Philippines on Monday rejected China’s claim to a group of three sandbars in the South China Sea, after recent displays by both sides of their national flags on the uninhabited outcroppings. The back and forth over Sandy Cay is the latest flare-up in a long-running dispute over territory in the hotly contested South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The flare-up began last week when a Chinese state-owned newspaper posted exclusive photos of coast guard officers on Sandy Cay from mid-April, including one of them holding up a Chinese flag. Three days later, a joint Philippines coast guard, navy and maritime police team headed on Sunday to the three sandbars and posed for a photo holding up their national flag.

China shrugs off threat of US tariffs to economy, says it has tools to protect jobs

China’s leaders are downplaying the potential impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, saying they have the capacity to protect jobs and limit damage from higher tariffs on Chinese exports. The briefing Monday by several senior officials of different government ministries appeared aimed at shoring up confidence with promises of support for companies and the unemployed, easier lending conditions and other policies to counter the impact of combined tariffs of up to 145% on U.S. imports from China. It followed a meeting of China’s powerful Politburo last week that analysts said had focused on ways to counter keep growth on track despite slowing exports.

Hong Kong’s business, political elite turn out for funeral of property tycoon Lee Shau-kee

HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong political and business leaders paid tribute Monday to the city’s late billionaire property tycoon Lee Shau-kee, who led one of the biggest real estate empires in the former British territory. Lee, who died at age 97 on March 17, was once ranked as the richest man in Asia. In Forbes’ February ranking, he was listed as the city’s second-richest person with $29.2 billion in assets. Lee founded Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. in 1976, and his empire helped shape the Asian financial hub’s skyline. The company’s portfolio includes landmarks such as the International Finance Centre complex and ifc mall in Central, a vibrant commercial district.

Humanitarian needs remain pressing a month after Myanmar’s deadly quake

BANGKOK (AP) — The humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands of survivors remain desperately pressing a month after Myanmar’s deadly earthquake, compounded by airstrikes that the military government is reportedly carrying out despite ceasefires meant to aid relief efforts during the country’s civil war. The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake hit a wide swath of the country, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyitaw. Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported Monday there had been 157 aftershocks after the big quake, ranging in magnitude from 2.8 to 7.5. State-run MRTV television reported on Sunday the quake’s death toll had reached 3,769, with 5,106 people injured and 107 still missing.

Bombing in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban kills 7 people and wounds 16

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — At least seven people were killed and 16 wounded on Monday after a powerful bomb went off outside the office of a pro-government peace committee in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest, police said. The attack happened in Wana, a main city in the district of South Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a local police chief, Usman Wazir, told The Associated Press. He said the bomb targeted the office of the peace committee, which publicly opposes the Pakistani Taliban. The committee also helps solve disputes among residents. Wazir said some of the wounded were listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

Pakistani troops kill 54 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces overnight killed 54 militants who attempted to cross into the country from Afghanistan, the military said Sunday, marking one of the deadliest such killings in recent years. The military said in a statement that intelligence reports indicated that the killed militants were “Khwarij” — a phrase the government uses for the Pakistani Taliban. Without directly blaming anyone, the military said that the slain insurgents had been sent by their “foreign masters” to carry out high-profile attacks inside Pakistan. The insurgents were spotted and killed near the former stronghold of Pakistan Taliban near North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border.

Lee Jae-myung nominated by South Korea’s liberal opposition to run for president

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Jae-myung, a liberal who wants greater economic parity in South Korea and warmer ties with North Korea, became the main opposition party’s presidential candidate Sunday, solidifying his position as front-runner to succeed recently ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol. The former Democratic Party chief had led the opposition-controlled parliament’s impeachment of Yoon over the imposition of martial law in December. The country’s Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon earlier this month, prompting an early presidential election on June 3 to find a new president. In a nationally televised announcement, the Democratic Party announced that Lee won its presidential nomination with nearly 90% of the votes cast during the primary that ended Sunday, defeating two competitors.