Top Asian News 3:23 a.m. GMT

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo reinstated as acting president after impeachment overturned

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation’s No. 2 official as acting leader Monday while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his shocking imposition of martial law late last year. Many observers said the 7-1 ruling in Han’s case did not signal much about the upcoming verdict on Yoon, as Han wasn’t a key figure in the imposing martial law. But the ruling could still embolden Yoon’s staunch supporters and ramp up their political offensive on the opposition. Following his reinstatement, Han thanked the court for what he called a “wise” decision and told reporters he would focus on the “most urgent matters,” including a fast-changing global trade environment, in an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s aggressive tariffs policy.

A mix of science and tradition helps restore relics in China’s Forbidden City

BEIJING (AP) — It’s highly technical work in what looks more like a lab than a museum: A fragment of a glazed roof tile from Beijing’s Forbidden City is analyzed in a state-of-the-art X-ray diffraction machine that produces images, which are then projected onto computer screens. The fragment being examined has a dark area on its surface that restorers want to understand. Their objective is to better preserve the artifacts at the sprawling imperial palace, the former home of China’s emperors and its seat of power for hundreds of years. “We want to learn what the black material is,” said Kang Baoqiang, one of the restorers at the complex, today a museum that attracts tourists from all over the world.

The US lifts bounties on senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, says Kabul

The U.S. has lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government, officials in Kabul said Sunday. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who acknowledged planning a January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people, including U.S. citizen Thor David Hesla, no longer appears on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. The FBI website on Sunday still featured a wanted poster for him. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said the U.S. government had revoked the bounties placed on Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.

China’s premier says US relations at ‘an important juncture’ during meeting with pro-Trump senator

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Premier Li Qiang said Sunday that Beijing and Washington should choose dialogue instead of confrontation, as the two countries are locked in rising friction over trade tariffs and efforts to combat illegal fentanyl trade. Li was speaking during a meeting with U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, who is the first member of Congress to visit Beijing since Trump took office in January. The meeting also involved the leaders of several American businesses, including FedEx Corp. CEO Raj Subramaniam, Boeing Co.’s senior vice president Brendan Nelson, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon and Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla.

2 firefighters die in South Korea as dry winds fuel dozens of wildfires

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — At least two firefighters died and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in South Korea on Saturday as emergency workers struggled to contain more than 30 wildfires fueled by dry winds. The largest fires were in southeastern regions, including the rural county of Sancheong, where 260 people fled to a temporary shelter as flames spread across the surrounding hills, according to the South Gyeongsang provincial government. Two firefighters were found dead, while another firefighter and a government worker remain missing after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds in the area. Rescuers pulled out five emergency workers, who are now receiving treatment for their injuries, the provincial government said.

Japan, China and South Korea discuss trilateral cooperation

TOKYO (AP) — Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea sought trilateral cooperation on common ground in areas like aging, declining births, natural disasters and the green economy at a meeting that took place at a time of growing tensions. At a joint news conference after the talks, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and South Korea’s Cho Tae-yul agreed to promote mutual understanding and trust, while tackling shared and multi-generational concerns to gain wider support for trilateral cooperation. Iwaya emphasized his concerns about North Korea’ s nuclear and missile development and cooperation with Russia as threats, and stressed the need to pursue the North’s full denuclearization under the U.N.

Pakistani security forces kill 16 militants attempting to cross border from Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan ‘s security forces said 16 militants were killed on Sunday in a remote northwestern border area as they tried to cross the border with neighboring Afghanistan. A military statement said the “Khwarij,” a phrase the government uses for Pakistani Taliban, attempted to enter Pakistan from Ghulam Khan, a border town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It said Pakistan has long urged Afghanistan to ensure effective border management. Pakistan often accuses the Taliban government in Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to militants operating near the frontier. Kabul denies the charge. The statement said the Afghan government “is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil” by militants “for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.” Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks, most claimed by Pakistani Taliban who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and are allies of the Afghan Taliban.

UNICEF calls on the Taliban to lift ban on girls’ education as new school year begins in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.N. children’s agency on Saturday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift a lingering ban on girls’ education to save the future of millions who have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan without girls beyond sixth grade. The ban, said the agency, has deprived 400,000 more girls of their right to education, bringing the total to 2.2 million. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education, with the Taliban justifying the ban saying it doesn’t comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.

North Korean leader reaffirms support for Russia’s war in Ukraine in talks with top official

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his unwavering support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during a meeting with a top Russian security official in Pyongyang, North Korean state media said Saturday. Friday’s meeting between Kim and Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Security Council secretary, followed a South Korean intelligence assessment in late February that North Korea had likely sent additional troops to Russia after its forces suffered heavy casualties fighting in the Russian-Ukraine war. Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the two countries’ leaders, though it remains to be seen when it might take effect and what targets would be off-limits.

Hegseth to fly to the Philippines and Japan in first visit to Asian treaty allies at odds with China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to visit the Philippines, the first stop in his first trip to Asia next week, for talks that will include increasing deterrence against aggression in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine official said Friday. Hegseth will be in Manila on March 28-29 to meet his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Talks will touch on increasingly assertive actions by Beijing in the South China Sea and “more significant support” to Philippine security forces by the Trump administration, Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez told The Associated Press.