ASIA

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North Korea has reportedly revised its constitution to mandate an automatic nuclear response if leader Kim Jong Un is assassinated or removed from power, a move that comes amid rising tensions across several global flashpoints.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov have inaugurated a memorial and museum in Pyongyang dedicated to North Korean soldiers killed in the Ukraine conflict. The ceremony featured a statue unveiling, military jet flyovers, and the release of white balloons. While official casualty numbers are not public, South Korean intelligence estimates that at least 15,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to assist Russia, particularly in the Kursk region.

Seoul also estimates that about 2,000 North Koreans have died in the conflict - neither Pyongyang nor Russia have provided any official numbers.

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A Chinese military court has handed suspended death sentences to two former defense ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, for bribery charges. Wei Fenghe was found guilty of accepting bribes, while Li Shangfu was convicted of both accepting and offering bribes. Suspended death sentences in China are typically commuted to life imprisonment. The verdicts were reported by the official Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.

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Japan has announced a $10bn support package aimed at helping Asian economies secure vital energy supplies, as disruption linked to the Iran war continues to rattle global oil markets.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi revealed the initiative following a virtual summit with regional leaders, outlining a coordinated effort to stabilise fuel access and reinforce fragile supply chains across Southeast Asia.

Speaking after the meeting, Takaichi stressed that Japan's economic stability is closely tied to that of its neighbours. She noted that supply networks across Asia are deeply interconnected, particularly in sectors reliant on petroleum-based products such as medical manufacturing.

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The family behind South Korea’s corporate giant Samsung Group has completed the payment of a record breaking inheritance tax bill totaling about 12 trillion won, equivalent to 8 billion dollars. The settlement, confirmed after the final installment was made, stands as the largest inheritance tax payment in the country’s history and highlights both the scale of the Samsung empire and the strict tax regime in South Korea.

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Speaking during a televised interview, Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of up to 50% on Chinese goods if evidence emerges that China is supplying weapons to Iran.

The remarks followed intelligence reports suggesting China could be preparing shipments of man-portable air-defense systems capable of targeting low-flying aircraft.

While officials have not confirmed the reports publicly, the possibility of such transfers has heightened scrutiny of China's role in the conflict.

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Starting Friday, China will eliminate tariffs on imports from 53 African nations, expanding a policy that previously only applied to 33 least-developed countries. The move covers the entire continent with the exception of Eswatini, which Beijing excluded due to its diplomatic ties with Taiwan. This unilateral duty-free status is scheduled to remain in effect until April 30, 2028, though China has not specified its plans beyond that date.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Cheng Li-wun, the leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), in China on Friday. The rare meeting, which focused on cross-strait peace, marked the first visit by a sitting KMT leader in a decade. High-level communications between Beijing and Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have remained severed since 2016, following President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to endorse the "one China" principle.