Iran war likely to sideline North Korea at Trump-Xi summit of reduced ambitions SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - North Korea is expected to take a back seat at this week’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping as the Iran war, disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and intensifying superpower rivalry overshadow Pyongyang in what increasingly appears to be a crisis-management meeting rather than a breakthrough summit. Iran looms large over the two superpowers even as both sides seek to avoid openly framing the summit around the conflict. Broader issues including trade tensions, Taiwan, rare earths, semiconductors and energy security are expected to dominate the two-day talks, leaving limited room for North Korea to emerge as a central agenda item. Trump departed for China aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, leaving Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at 2:36 p.m. local time. He is expected to arrive in Beijing late Wednesday afternoon ahead of a two-day official visit beginning Thursday. Trump is making the first U.S. presidential state visit to China in nearly a decade after the trip was delayed by the Iran war. The meeting is also the first of several planned face-to-face encounters between the two leaders this year. The summit comes after Washington and Beijing lowered tensions in their trade war, but the two sides remain divided over tariffs, rare earth minerals, advanced semiconductors, electric vehicles and sanctions linked to Iranian oil shipments. Trump said last week, “We’re doing a lot of business with China.” He also said the United States was “making a lot of money” from trade with China. But the meeting arrives under the shadow of the unresolved Iran conflict that delayed Trump’s Beijing trip and sharply reduced expectations for major diplomatic breakthroughs. Instead of projecting decisive strength after the U.S. strikes on Iran, Washington now faces mounting pressure over the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy flows. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil traditionally flows, remains closed with no clear pathway toward reopening. The disruption poses a direct threat to China’s economy and its Gulf relationships because Beijing relies heavily on energy imports transiting the route. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on China this week to “step up with some diplomacy,” as Washington looked to Beijing for help in easing the crisis. Rather than pursuing sweeping diplomatic breakthroughs, the summit is increasingly shaping into an exercise in managing instability across trade, Taiwan, energy security and supply chains amid mounting uncertainty over the Iran war. Taiwan is also expected to be among the most sensitive agenda items. Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to take control of it, using force if necessary. Washington does not formally recognize Taiwan but continues to provide defensive weapons to Taipei. An $11 billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan has reportedly been stalled ahead of the summit. Beijing is also expected to press Washington to change its official wording on Taiwan from saying it “does not support” Taiwanese independence to explicitly “opposing” it. Against that backdrop, North Korea appears likely to remain a secondary issue despite historically serving as an occasional diplomatic icebreaker between Trump and Xi as the two share a degree of personal rapport with reclusive ruler Kim Jong-un. Political scientists and regional experts broadly predicted that the summit would focus overwhelmingly on Iran and economic security rather than the Korean Peninsula. Dov Levin, a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, predicted that there will be no significant discussion on North Korea at the summit. Levin said the Iran war and maintaining the truce in the U.S.-China trade war would be the two major topics. He said Trump may ask Xi for help on Iran to get Tehran to “make more concessions to the U.S. regarding the nuclear issue” and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “I do not expect North Korea to emerge as a key issue during the summit,” Christopher Fariss, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan agreed. Fariss said he expects the meeting to focus on trade and tariff issues, noting chief executives of major U.S. Big Tech and Wall Street firms are accompanying Trump to China. He added that South Korea and Taiwan could emerge as talking points within broader economic discussions. Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg are reportedly included in Trump’s delegation to China. Greg Albo, a professor in the Department of Political Science at York University, also argued that North Korea would not be treated as a major agenda item. “The main items will be on several economic matters,” Albo said, citing as examples “the tariff war, e-vehicles and rare earths, the chip war and international monetary issues.” Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz instead would be treated as important agenda items. He added that “the Gulf states bending away from the U.S. adds to the east-east trade linkages between the GCC and China.” James Morrow, a professor of world politics at the University of Michigan, said other issues are likely to overshadow North Korea during the visit. He pointed first to U.S.-China trade and broader global trade tensions, followed by Taiwan, which he said Xi is expected to raise, and the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Compared with those issues, Morrow said North Korea appears less urgent in Washington, noting that Kim Jong-un has not pushed the country back onto the international agenda as he did in 2017, when Pyongyang conducted a series of missile and nuclear demonstrations. While South Koreans may view the situation differently, Morrow said North Korea’s tests this year are not seen as a central concern in the United States. Watchers in South Korea are in general agreement. “I expect that North Korean issues will not be addressed, as this U.S.-China summit is focused on economic security,” said Rep. Kim Young-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea, vice chair of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. “I think North Korean issues may be addressed sometime next year after the Iran issue is settled following the U.S. midterm elections in November,” Kim added. Rep. Yoon Hu-duk of the Democratic Party of Korea, also a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, similarly predicted that North Korean issues would not be addressed at the summit. “Ahead of last year's U.S.-China summit in Busan, President Trump continued to send love calls to Kim Jong-un, raising the possibility of a North Korea-U.S. summit, but currently President Trump is not sending any love calls to Kim Jong-un at all,” Yoon said. “North Korean issues appear to be outside President Trump's current area of interest,” he added. “The Iran issue and economic issues such as rare earths will make up most of the discussions, and North Korean issues may be addressed formally but will not become a major agenda item,” said Rep. Kim Ki-woong of the People Power Party, a former vice unification minister. Kim said that for Trump, North Korean issues are not urgent and remain merely a diplomatic card that could be used later as a political achievement before the U.S. midterm elections. He added that with Trump currently needing Xi’s cooperation because of the Iran war, there is little reason for Washington to specifically press Beijing on North Korea. “There are many other issues, and North Korea is not responding to the United States, so the possibility of a North Korea-U.S. summit is slim,” said Rep. Kim Joon-hyung of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party and former chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. “However, as six meetings are scheduled between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, I expect the U.S. side will bring up a discussion on North Korea at least once,” Kim added. Dong Wang, a professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University, maintained that the two leaders would still treat North Korea as an important agenda item. He said regional security in Northeast Asia is a “critical matter for peace and stability,” and therefore the two leaders will address it as a major issue. 2026-05-13 11:40:53

ASIA INSIGHT: Bangkok's survival in socialist ring In the sweltering heat of the Indochinese Peninsula, Bangkok is performing a masterclass in geopolitical hedging that the West—and its neighbors—ignore at their peril. The thick, humid silence of the Kanchanaburi jungle is about to be broken by a sound that remains unfamiliar to many in the West. It is not the roar of an American-made turbine or the familiar cadence of English-language commands that have echoed through these valleys since the early years of the Reagan administration. Instead, as the final weeks of May 2026 approach, the canopy will vibrate with the hum of Chinese-manufactured tactical drones and the rhythmic marching of the People’s Liberation Army. These are the opening movements of Assault 2026, a joint special forces exercise that, despite its relatively small scale, represents a tectonic shift in the strategic landscape of Southeast Asia. To the casual observer, this looks like a kingdom in the midst of a messy divorce from Washington. To the structural skeptic, it is something far more ancient and calculated. Thailand is a capitalist island navigating a socialist sea. To its east and north lie Laos and Vietnam, Marxist-Leninist states that have spent a century balancing ideological purity with the harsh realities of global trade. To the west, Myanmar remains trapped in the grip of a military junta that has long flirted with isolationist socialist doctrines and now relies on authoritarian gravity to survive a brutal civil war. Even Cambodia, though nominally a monarchy, functions as a one-party state deeply tethered to Chinese patronage. For Bangkok, the pursuit of a partnership with Beijing is not a rejection of democratic ideals—it is a survival strategy forced by the sheer, unyielding geography of its neighborhood. The structural reality is that Thailand cannot afford the luxury of picking a side in a world that increasingly demands binary loyalties. This is a nation that currently ranks as the 24th strongest military power in the world and the 10th most powerful in Asia. It is a formidable regional anchor with a professionalized officer corps and an arsenal that reflects its dual identity. By hosting the United States-led Cobra Gold exercises in the spring and the Chinese-led Assault drills in the summer, Bangkok is performing a masterclass in what scholars call "Bamboo Diplomacy." Like the bamboo, Thailand aims to bend with the prevailing winds of power without ever being uprooted by them. The evolution of these military marriages tells the story of this friction. Cobra Gold, which began in 1982, remains the crown jewel of American presence in mainland Asia. It is a massive, multi-national spectacle involving over 30 nations and nearly 8,000 troops, designed to project a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific through humanitarian aid and high-end interoperability. But while Cobra Gold is about the optics of an alliance, the drills with Beijing are about the mechanics of intimacy. Falcon Strike, the air force drills that initiated in 2015, allowed Thai pilots to train alongside Chinese fighter jets, providing the Royal Thai Air Force with a rare glimpse into the combat doctrine of a rising superpower. More significant, however, is the Assault series. Started in 2005 as a modest special forces exchange, it has metamorphosed into a sophisticated laboratory for modern warfare. Assault 2026, running from mid-May through the end of the month, represents a critical iteration of this partnership. It has moved far beyond the infantry-focused mobility drills of the past. Today, the focus is on non-kinetic effects—electronic warfare, the deployment of unmanned systems in dense jungle environments, and coordinated counter-terrorism operations that mirror Beijing’s own domestic security priorities. The pivot toward Chinese equipment, including the acquisition of S26T Yuan-class submarines and VT-4 main battle tanks, was a predictable reaction to Washington’s habit of using arms sales as a moral lever. When the U.S. froze assistance following the 2014 coup and later blocked the sale of F-35 fighter jets, Bangkok did not suddenly become pro-China. It simply became practical. In a neighborhood where the neighbors are permanent and the distant protector is temperamental, Thailand chose to diversify its insurance policy. The kingdom realized that the American security umbrella is often held by a hand that trembles with every election cycle, while the Chinese presence is as constant as the Mekong River. This dual-track diplomacy is often dismissed as a lack of conviction, yet the socialist ring argument provides the necessary context that Western analysts often miss. Thailand’s borders are a tapestry of one-party regimes and authoritarian strongmen. China is the primary architect of the infrastructure that now defines the Indochinese Peninsula. From the high-speed rail lines snaking through Laos to the deep-water ports in Cambodia, the regional economy is increasingly synchronized with Beijing’s rhythm. For Bangkok to ignore Chinese military overtures would be to invite isolation within its own backyard. The kingdom is not drifting toward China out of ideological affinity; it is doing so because the alternative is a lonely existence on a very crowded peninsula. There is, of course, a significant risk to this strategy. In an era where military technology is increasingly defined by data links and integrated battle networks, it is becoming nearly impossible to be a dual-use ally. The Pentagon is understandably wary of sharing sensitive electronic intelligence with a military that hosts Chinese electronic warfare units just months later. There is a growing fear in Washington that Thailand is becoming a potential security leak—a Major Non-NATO Ally that may accidentally share the keys to the kingdom with its neighbors. The United States is beginning to treat its oldest Asian ally as a potential security leak, a fear that only accelerates Bangkok’s pivot toward Chinese hardware that does not come with lectures on democratic backsliding. The kingdom is effectively attempting to defy the laws of geopolitical gravity. By embedding itself within the security apparatus of both superpowers, it hopes to become too integrated to be abandoned by either. But as the technological divide between the East and West becomes an unbridgeable chasm, the middle ground is disappearing. Thailand may soon find that the bamboo which bends too far in both directions eventually loses its ability to stand at all. As the Assault 2026 drills conclude this May, the world will likely see more images of Thai and Chinese soldiers sharing rations and tactical data. These images will cause a predictable stir in the halls of Congress, where analysts will fret over the loss of a traditional ally. But to see this as a loss is to misunderstand the nature of Thai sovereignty. The kingdom is not drifting; it is balancing. It is maintaining a close friendship with the iconic capitalist power across the Pacific while building a necessary partnership with the socialist giant next door. In a world of friend-shoring and integrated battle networks, you cannot easily plug a Chinese data link into an American command structure. Thailand’s attempt to remain everyone’s partner may eventually leave it as the ally that no one fully trusts—a lonely position for a nation that has spent centuries avoiding exactly that. The true measure of Thailand’s success will not be found in which drill is larger, but in which side trusts them less. For a nation surrounded by the ghosts of socialist revolutions and the pressures of modern empire, being slightly untrusted by everyone is often the only way to ensure they are beholden to no one. The jungle does not care about the free world or socialist fraternity—it only cares about what survives the rainy season. 2026-05-13 11:04:26

Defense minister seeks US support for Korea's nuclear-powered submarine plan SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back has asked senior U.S. Navy and congressional officials to support South Korea’s push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. Ahn, who is visiting the U.S. for the first time since taking office, met with Hung Cao, acting secretary of the U.S. Navy, in Washington on Tuesday morning to discuss key alliance issues, according to the ministry. During the meeting, Ahn stressed that South Korea is an ideal partner for shipbuilding cooperation with the U.S., citing its advanced shipbuilding capabilities and the enactment of a special law providing a legal basis for investment in the U.S. He also said South Korea’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines would contribute to shared security interests between Seoul and Washington and mark an important milestone in upgrading the bilateral alliance. Ahn asked for active support from the U.S. Navy Department, the ministry said. The two sides agreed to continue close cooperation, the ministry said. The leaders of South Korea and the U.S. agreed in a joint fact sheet last year to cooperate on South Korea’s construction of nuclear-powered submarines as part of Seoul’s broader $350 billion investment package for the U.S., but follow-up negotiations have made little progress. Ahn also met with key U.S. lawmakers on Monday and Tuesday to discuss alliance issues, including the transfer of wartime operational control, or OPCON, from Washington to Seoul. They included Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, ranking member Jack Reed and Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower. Ahn thanked Congress for its longstanding support for the alliance and asked for bipartisan cooperation to help develop the alliance in a future-oriented and mutually beneficial way. Ahn also visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday and the Korean War Veterans Memorial on Tuesday to lay wreaths. 2026-05-13 10:50:55

KOSPI briefly sinks to 7,400 level amid AI dividend shock and Samsung labor unrest SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - South Korean shares extended losses for a second straight session Wednesday as fears of a monthlong strike at Samsung Electronics rattled investor sentiment after marathon government-mediated labor talks collapsed overnight. As of 10:20 a.m., the benchmark KOSPI was down 0.4 percent at 7,613.11 after briefly falling as low as 7,402. The junior KOSDAQ slipped 0.9 percent to 1,169.16. The decline followed an exceptionally volatile session Tuesday, when the KOSPI briefly surged to 7,999.67 before reversing sharply to close more than 5 percent lower after remarks by presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom on a possible national “AI dividend” unsettled investors in South Korea’s semiconductor-heavy market. Kim suggested that part of the massive tax revenues and profits generated from the AI boom should be redistributed more broadly to the public. The sharp swings underscored how heavily South Korea’s equity rally has become concentrated in a handful of AI-linked semiconductor stocks. As investor funds increasingly pile into a small group of beneficiaries, market volatility in Seoul has outpaced that of U.S. equities. While the U.S. VIX index — often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge — has remained in the low 20s near historical norms, Korea’s VKOSPI has surged above 70, its highest level since market turmoil triggered by the U.S.-Iran conflict. Aggressive momentum trading and growing fear-of-missing-out buying have further amplified volatility in Seoul. According to corporate tracker CEO Score, the combined market capitalization of companies listed on the KOSPI, KOSDAQ and KONEX exchanges has surged 172.9 percent since President Lee Jae Myung took office 11 months ago, climbing from 2,597 trillion won ($1.9 trillion) in June 2025 to 7,088 trillion won as of Monday. Much of the gain has been driven by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which together accounted for more than 56 percent of the total increase in market value. The two chipmakers now represent roughly 42.4 percent of South Korea’s total stock market capitalization, highlighting the market’s growing dependence on AI-related semiconductor demand. That concentration intensified Wednesday’s selloff. Samsung Electronics fell 5.02 percent to 265,000 won in morning trading, while SK hynix slipped 1.63 percent to 1,805,000 won. The South Korean government and Samsung Electronics management simultaneously ratcheted up pressure on the labor union ahead of next week’s planned monthlong strike after negotiations over a profit-linked bonus system broke down early Wednesday. “A strike must never happen under any circumstances,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol wrote on X on Wednesday, pledging to continue mediation efforts to keep negotiations alive. Samsung Electronics, which had largely remained restrained in public comments over union activity, issued its strongest statement yet expressing “deep regret” over the union’s decision to declare negotiations deadlocked after a 17-hour mediation session at the National Labor Relations Commission in Sejong ended around 3 a.m. Among other major stocks, Hyundai Motor rose 2.32 percent to 661,000 won, while Hyundai Mobis jumped 5.66 percent to 579,000 won. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 1.70 percent to 719,000 won. Battery shares also weakened. LG Energy Solution fell 0.79 percent to 439,500 won, while Samsung SDI dropped 2.38 percent to 614,000 won. Defense and industrial shares traded mixed, with Hanwha Aerospace edging down 0.47 percent to 1,278,000 won and Doosan Enerbility sliding 3.42 percent to 121,300 won. Financial stocks were mostly lower, with Samsung Life Insurance falling 1.0 percent to 296,500 won and KB Financial Group slipping 0.13 percent to 153,400 won. The Korean won weakened slightly to 1,493.80 per dollar from the previous session’s close of 1,489.90 won. Overnight on Wall Street, major U.S. indexes closed mixed as stronger-than-expected inflation data pushed Treasury yields higher and triggered profit-taking in technology shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.71 percent and the S&P 500 slipped 0.16 percent. U.S. consumer prices in April came in slightly above expectations, with headline inflation at 3.8 percent and core inflation at 2.8 percent. The data pushed the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield above 4.46 percent, increasing pressure on richly valued AI and semiconductor stocks. Oil prices also climbed after hopes for a breakthrough in U.S.-Iran negotiations weakened, with U.S. crude futures settling above $102 a barrel and adding to broader inflation concerns. Elsewhere in Asia, major stock markets traded lower as investors turned cautious ahead of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping set to open in Beijing on Thursday, while also monitoring geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading at 62,600.17, down 0.23 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.48 percent to 4,194.29. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was also trading lower at 26,322.38, down 0.097 percent. 2026-05-13 10:45:17

KAIST researchers develop AI framework for climate crisis prediction SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed an artificial intelligence framework designed to analyze the integrated impacts of climate change on global economies and energy systems, KAIST said Wednesday. The international research team, led by Professor Jeon Hae-won and Professor Oh Hye-yeon, introduced a foundation model that processes earth observation data, economic scenarios, and policy indicators within a shared virtual space. This system allows for the simultaneous analysis of physical climate phenomena and their resulting socio-economic effects. Existing climate research often separates physical weather predictions from economic impact assessments, which leads to delays in policy decision-making due to fragmented data systems. The new AI framework utilizes a mixture of experts structure, where specialized AI modules collaborate to improve the accuracy and reliability of long-term forecasts. The team also released a prototype tool called the Machine Learning-Integrated Assessment Model (ML-IAM) v1.0. This high-speed emulator can process thousands of different policy scenarios within minutes, whereas traditional integrated assessment models often require several hours to analyze a single scenario. Testing showed that the AI emulator achieved 97 percent accuracy when compared to 15 different international integrated assessment models. The researchers stated that the tool can simulate the immediate effects of policy changes, such as increasing carbon taxes or expanding renewable energy infrastructure. "The climate-AI model is expected to bridge the gap between climate scientists and policymakers," Professor Jeon Hae-won said Wednesday. "The high-speed AI emulator will become a core technology for providing practical climate solutions by enabling near real-time policy analysis." The research was conducted in collaboration with institutions including Peking University, Imperial College London, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. The findings were published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 28, 2026, while the technical details of the emulator were presented as a preprint in Geoscientific Model Development on January 9, 2026. "AI technology must contribute to solving the climate crisis that threatens human survival beyond being a mere commercial tool," Professor Oh Hye-yeon said Wednesday. "This international joint research demonstrates that AI can serve as a global public good to address social challenges." (Reference Information) Journal/Source: Nature Climate Change Title: Artificial Intelligence to Support Cross-Disciplinary Climate Change Research Link/DOI: https://bit.ly/4fi4MpR Journal/Source: Geoscientific Model Development Title: ML-IAM v1.0: Emulating Integrated Assessment Models With Machine Learning Link/DOI: https://bit.ly/4u8Yc9W 2026-05-13 10:33:39

US treasury secretary arrives in Seoul SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for talks with a Chinese official, just a day ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bessent is set to meet with South Korean President Lee Jae Muing at Cheong Wa Dae in the morning before holding talks with visiting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng later in the day. He is also expected to meet with South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and other senior financial officials to discuss a broad range of topics including tariffs, trade policy, and broader economic cooperation. Before his arrival in Seoul, Bessent met with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and Japanese Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki in Tokyo the previous day as part of his three-nation trip. Bessent will later head to Beijing, where he will join Trump, who is scheduled to land there later in the day for talks with Xi on Thursday and Friday. Trump's trip will mark the first visit by a U.S. president to China in nearly a decade, with the last such visit taking place during his first term in 2017. Just ahead of his departure to Beijing, Trump told reporters that he is going to be talking "a lot of different things" with Xi, adding "I would say more than anything else will be trade." Key topics for talks between the leaders of the world's two largest economies are expected to include efforts to stabilize energy supplies and reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, as well as trade and tariff-related issues after the two countries clashed last year over steep tariffs. 2026-05-13 10:27:40

Gov't, Samsung management jointly pressure union after wage talks collapse SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - The South Korean government and Samsung Electronics management ratcheted up pressure on the labor union ahead of a planned monthlong strike next week after marathon government-mediated talks over a profit-linked bonus system collapsed early Wednesday. “A strike must never happen under any circumstances,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol wrote on X on Wednesday, pledging to continue mediation to keep the dialogue momentum alive. Samsung Electronics, which so far has stayed muted over the union activities issued a strongest-yet statement expressing “deep regret” over the union’s decision to declare negotiations deadlocked after a 17-hour mediation session at the National Labor Relations Commission in Sejong ended around 3 a.m. “It is deeply regrettable that the government’s post-mediation efforts were nullified by the union’s declaration of a breakdown,” the company said. “The union’s decision is causing significant concern and anxiety not only for the company but also for employees awaiting a settlement, as well as shareholders and the public.” The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) announced the talks had “finally broken down,” rejecting the latest mediation proposal as a step backward from previous discussions. According to Samsung, the government attempted to facilitate compromise by presenting multiple proposals based on the positions of both labor and management, but the union ultimately walked away from the negotiations. Samsung also accused the union of insisting on a rigid institutionalization of the bonus system while rejecting management’s proposal for a more flexible compensation structure tied to business performance. The core dispute centers on the union’s demand to formalize a compensation scheme allocating 15 percent of operating profit to employee bonuses and abolish the existing bonus ceiling. Management wants to maintain the current Excess Profit Incentive (OPI) framework, which caps bonuses at 50 percent of monthly salary. “The company will continue efforts to prevent the worst-case scenario through sincere dialogue until the end,” Samsung said, while thanking government officials and mediators involved in the process. The government has also intensified calls for compromise amid concerns over the broader economic fallout of a strike at the country’s largest corporation. Koo said earlier this week that Samsung’s record earnings were tied not only to corporate efforts but also to public infrastructure investment and the support of hundreds of subcontractors across the semiconductor supply chain. The union has warned it could launch a full-scale strike as early as May 21 if negotiations remain stalled. While the government has legal authority to invoke emergency arbitration that could suspend industrial action for up to 30 days, officials at the labor commission said the measure is not currently under active review. Samsung Electronics shares that been rallying around historic highs fell 2.4 percent upon the breakdown news Wednesday. 2026-05-13 10:26:30

ASIA INSIGHT: The Middle East must now move toward a 'Noah Accord' Saudi Arabia’s First Direct Strike on Iranian Soil — The Middle East Must Now Move Toward a “Noah Accord” A new desert wind is sweeping across the Middle East. Reports that Saudi Arabia has directly struck targets inside Iranian territory are not merely another military headline. They represent a historic signal that the regional order has entered a new and more dangerous phase. For decades, Saudi Arabia and Iran confronted one another while carefully avoiding a direct crossing of certain invisible lines. Their rivalry unfolded through proxy wars, intelligence operations, oil politics and sectarian conflict. Yet the landscape is now changing. The retaliatory strikes reportedly carried out by the United Arab Emirates, the alleged infiltration attempt by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards into Kuwait, and the widening activity of pro-Iranian militias stretching from Iraq to Syria all suggest that the Middle East is becoming a single interconnected theatre of instability. What makes this moment especially significant is the gradual erosion of the old American-centered security architecture in the region. Saudi Arabia is no longer merely an oil kingdom sheltered under the American umbrella. It is transforming itself into a strategic state built simultaneously around artificial intelligence, advanced industry, NEOM, logistics, tourism and global finance. From Riyadh’s perspective, the threat posed by drones and missiles linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is no longer simply a military concern. It is a direct challenge to the kingdom’s economic future and national survival. And yet perhaps the most important detail is this: after the strikes, Saudi Arabia reportedly reopened diplomatic channels and sought de-escalation. That reveals a deeper truth. Both sides understand that if this conflict spirals beyond control, everyone loses. Iran controls one of the world’s most critical strategic chokepoints — the Strait of Hormuz — while also possessing a broad asymmetric network of drones, missiles and proxy forces extending through Hezbollah, the Houthis and other regional actors. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, meanwhile, command immense financial power tied to global energy markets, LNG infrastructure, maritime trade and increasingly the future of AI investment. If this confrontation expands into full-scale regional war, the consequences will not stop at the sands of the Gulf. The shockwaves would reach semiconductor factories in South Korea, precision manufacturers in Japan, industrial corridors in India and chemical industries across Europe. Oil prices would surge. LNG markets would convulse. Shipping insurance costs would soar. Supply chains would fracture. Data centers powering the AI revolution could face severe energy instability. Financial markets across the world would tremble. It is precisely at this point that a larger question emerges. The Middle East no longer needs merely another cease-fire agreement or temporary diplomatic arrangement. It needs a deeper civilizational framework for coexistence. That is why I have long argued for what I call a “Noah Accord.” Why Noah? According to the Book of Genesis, humanity spread again after the Great Flood through the descendants of Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. In the traditional understanding of Abrahamic civilization, the peoples of the Middle East — including Jews and Arabs — are linked through the lineage of Shem. The very word “Semitic” originates from his name. The Jewish people trace their spiritual and historical roots through this lineage. So do the Arab peoples. Abraham himself stands within that same broad ancestral tradition. In other words, beneath centuries of war and division, Israelis and Arabs ultimately emerge from intertwined civilizational roots. And here lies the crucial point regarding Iran. Iran is often viewed simply as Persia — a distinct and separate civilization standing outside the Arab world. Historically, Persia indeed developed its own imperial identity shaped by Central Asia, ancient Iranian traditions and deep philosophical currents of its own. Yet modern Iran is also profoundly connected to the same Abrahamic civilizational sphere. Islam itself stands within the broader monotheistic tradition that reveres Abraham and Noah. The Quran honors Noah as one of the great prophets. The spiritual memory shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam is therefore not divided by absolute walls, but connected through overlapping narratives of origin and survival. In that sense, Iran is not an alien civilization standing outside the region’s deeper historical structure. It remains part of the same vast Middle Eastern civilizational family — though separated by history, empire, sect and politics. This matters enormously. Today’s Middle East appears trapped inside overlapping conflicts: Shia versus Sunni, Arab versus Persian, Jew versus Muslim, America versus Iran. But when one travels deeper into history, beyond modern geopolitics and ideological slogans, another reality emerges. These societies are not strangers born of separate worlds. They are civilizations that diverged from shared memories, shared prophets and intertwined human origins. That is why the story of Noah matters. Not because of bloodlines alone, but because Noah represents survival through coexistence. The Ark was not built for one tribe alone. It symbolized the minimum structure necessary for life to continue amid catastrophe. And humanity today faces another kind of flood. Artificial intelligence, nuclear tension, collapsing supply chains, energy warfare, demographic decline, climate disruption and civilizational anxiety are arriving all at once. The Middle East sits at the center of many of these converging pressures. What the region now requires is not merely military victory, but a new architecture of coexistence. The essence of a Noah Accord would therefore rest on several principles. First, the collective protection of strategic waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Second, a mutual prohibition against attacks on civilian infrastructure and energy facilities. Third, the establishment of long-term channels for dialogue across sectarian and civilizational lines — between Sunni and Shia, Arab and Persian, Jew and Muslim. Fourth, a shared commitment that advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, should serve human survival and prosperity rather than endless war. And fifth, a recognition that Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the broader Middle East must ultimately see one another not as civilizations destined for annihilation, but as peoples bound to coexist. The Abraham Accords already opened one path toward reconciliation between Israel and several Sunni Arab states. The process remains incomplete and fragile, but it nevertheless established a critical principle: that coexistence is possible. The next challenge is Iran. As the leading power of the Shia world, Iran too may eventually need to recognize that it is not a civilization fated to stand permanently outside the regional order, but part of the same deeper historical and spiritual continuum. Likewise, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states must eventually understand that Iran cannot forever be treated solely as an enemy to be contained or destroyed. Because in the current structure, no one can truly achieve total victory. America may possess overwhelming military superiority, yet it cannot fully stabilize Hormuz through force alone. Iran may mobilize proxies and asymmetric warfare, yet it cannot indefinitely sustain confrontation against the wider international system. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies may command immense wealth, but their futures remain vulnerable if energy routes collapse into permanent instability. In the end, the future of the Middle East will depend not on absolute triumph, but on managed coexistence. And perhaps this is where Asia itself carries an important lesson. For centuries, the West has often spoken in the language of power, finance, military dominance and efficiency. Asia, by contrast, has accumulated long civilizational traditions centered on balance, coexistence, continuity and social harmony. Confucian moderation, Buddhist interdependence and Islamic communal ethics all contain elements of this broader search for sustainable human order. What the world seeks now is not simply more breaking news. It seeks an answer to a deeper question: How shall humanity continue to live together in the age that is coming? The flames spreading across the Middle East are not merely regional fires. They are warnings about the direction of civilization itself in the age of artificial intelligence. That is why the region must ultimately move beyond temporary truces and toward a larger moral imagination. Toward a Noah Accord. An accord in which Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Sunni Arab world, together with Iran and the Shia sphere, recognize that beneath their divisions they remain descendants of the same human story. And perhaps, in the age now unfolding before us, that recognition may become the first plank of a new Ark for humanity itself. 2026-05-13 10:23:12

North Korean leader inspects munitions factories, calls for stronger artillery forces SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected munitions factories and called for strengthening "mortar and howitzer forces," state media reported on Wednesday. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim, accompanied by senior military officials and other key aides, "gave field guidance at several munitions industrial enterprises" earlier this week to "learn about the implementation of munitions production assignments for the first half" of this year. Kim "repeatedly stressed the need to strengthen mortar and howitzer forces," while outlining key tasks such as "setting up a specialized artillery production complex and a small-arms production factory" to meet the future needs of North Korea's military, KCNA said. He emphasized the need to "further modernize" production systems and improve manufacturing processes "in a more scientific way." Kim was also quoted as saying that North Korean munitions industry workers would "make strenuous efforts" to strengthen the country's defense capabilities. 2026-05-13 10:02:09

S. Korea extradites mastermind who targeted BTS' Jungkook in $25.4 mln fraud SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - South Korean authorities on Wednesday repatriated a 40-year-old Chinese national accused of leading a sophisticated hacking ring that attempted to steal 8.4 billion won from BTS star Jeon Jung-kook. The suspect, identified only as A, was escorted from Bangkok to Incheon International Airport following a coordinated effort between the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency. The extradition marks a major development in an investigation into a syndicate that allegedly siphoned 38 billion won ($25.4 million) from 16 high-profile victims. The group specialized in hunting for wealthy individuals who were physically unable to check their financial alerts, such as celebrities serving in the military or individuals in correctional facilities. The 28-year-old BTS member became a primary target while he was away for his mandatory military service. The hackers allegedly used his stolen personal data to open fraudulent phone accounts, which they used to bypass security and attempt to seize his shares in HYBE, the agency behind BTS. A massive loss was only avoided because his management agency spotted the unauthorized activity in time. Once the agency realized someone was trying to move the 8.4 billion won in stocks, they worked with financial institutions to freeze the transactions immediately. Other victims included corporate chairmen and legal professionals who lost significant amounts of cash and cryptocurrency. Investigators said the gang started with a list of 258 potential targets before narrowing it down to a final list based on who had the most assets and the least ability to fight back quickly. South Korean officials spent months working with Thai prosecutors and Interpol to secure the suspect's return. This follows the earlier extradition of a 36-year-old accomplice in August, as part of a wider crackdown on transnational cybercrime. The Ministry of Justice said it intends to pursue international fraud rings until all members are brought to justice. The accomplice is currently standing trial in South Korea after being indicted in September following his initial extradition. 2026-05-13 09:23:49