Simon Denyer

SEOUL — In the offices of Grand Plastic Surgery in Seoul's glitzy Gangnam district, Rhee Se-whan has been busy nipping, tucking and keeping up with clients who see the coronavirus pandemic health rules as the ideal time to tweak their looks. The…

SEOUL — South Korea's ruling party is pushing a law through parliament that would criminalize sending leaflets, flash drives and money to North Korea, in what the opposition calls a "disgraceful submission" to Pyongyang and human rights groups say…

TOKYO — There are no laws telling you what to do, but everyone knows the rules. Wear your mask, keep your distance, sanitize your hands, have your temperature checked. Don't touch, don't shout. Don't cheer at soccer matches, and don't scream on…

TOKYO — Japan is paying 87 companies to shift production back home or into Southeast Asia after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted supply chains and exposed an overreliance on Chinese manufacturing. While China’s economy is already recovering from…

A South Korean heiress-slash-business executive crash lands in North Korea after her paraglider is caught in a typhoon, and ends up falling out of a tree, straight into the arms of a strait-laced and taciturn North Korean army captain. But, in South…

SEOUL — South Korea's ruling party has won a historic landslide win in parliamentary elections, delivered largely by its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party, together with a small satellite party, won 180…

SEOUL — The novel coronavirus outbreak has produced at least one new star in South Korea: the "virus patient travel log." The South Korean government is publishing the movements of people before they were diagnosed with the virus — retracing their…

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Japan announced a new plan Thursday to gradually test passengers on board the stricken Diamond Princess for the new coronavirus and allow some to disembark before the end of the quarantine period, as fears rise that the virus may…

The State Department heightened its travel advisory for China on Thursday, urging citizens not to travel there due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. The announcement came hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public…

In defeating the incumbent establishment candidate, Lucifer Siu contributed to a landslide win for the democracy camp in Hong Kong’s district council elections. A similar story unfolded citywide: A 23-year-old graduate beat a three-time incumbent in…

SEOUL — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to take action Tuesday after reports emerged that two homeless men were denied access to a government shelter during the weekend typhoon in Tokyo, as the death toll from the powerful storm rose to…

TOKYO — The Pacific Ocean is “crying out in despair,” said Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as he lamented the plastic contamination reaching even to the sea’s deepest and most remote spots. At the Group of 20 summit in late June, Abe unveiled what…

OSAKA, Japan — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened deliberations at the Group of 20 summit Friday by expressing his hope of achieving “beautiful harmony” among the world leaders gathered in the city of Osaka. Behind the scenes, divisions are as…

YOKOHAMA, Japan — My bagels come individually wrapped in sealed plastic bags. At the counter, if I’m not paying attention, they’re carefully packed together in another plastic bag, before being placed inside a third plastic with the rest of my…

KARIUZAWA, Japan — Environment ministers from the Group of 20 on Sunday recognized an urgent need to tackle the marine plastic litter that’s choking the world’s oceans, but failed to agree on concrete measures or targets to phase out single-use…

TOKYO — It’s grossly unfair for rich countries to send their plastic waste to poor countries that are already struggling to cope with their own waste problems, and the practice needs to stop, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said…

HANOI – As he boarded his train for the long journey home on Saturday, Kim Jong Un grinned, waved and clasped his hands above his head like a boxer celebrating victory. North Korean state media has already proclaimed his summit meeting with President…

HANOI — Ten hours apart, on very different modes of transportation, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived to separate red-carpet receptions in Vietnam’s capital city Tuesday, ahead of their two-day nuclear summit. Trump touched…

He has a covering of curly white hair. But he doesn’t wear a jacket to make him look stylish, nor a coat to keep him dry and warm. He has no bandanna around his neck, nor a bow in his hair. He certainly doesn’t wear trousers, or dog diapers, and we…