ASIA INSIGHT: President Trump lands at Beijing Capital Airport for U.S.-China Summit The illusion and reality of great-power diplomacy seen through China’s rally and Taiwan’s live-fire drills on May 13 SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - On the night of May 13, Donald Trump stepped off Air Force One onto the tarmac of Beijing Capital International Airport. American and Chinese flags stood side by side in the reception hall, but beneath the choreography of state ceremony lingered the unmistakable tension of a relationship that has become the central geopolitical f May 13, 2026

Seoul mulls US-led Hormuz mission amid questions over Namu findings  SEOUL, May 13 (AJP) - South Korea is facing growing questions over its investigation into the recent attack on an HMM vessel Namu, as the case becomes increasingly intertwined with Washington’s call for Seoul to play a larger role in securing the Strait of Hormuz. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Wednesday said that Seoul is reviewing participation in the U.S.-led maritime security initiative aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. “T May 13, 2026

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 conf May 13, 2026

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 Reag May 13, 2026

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 carefu May 13, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Kazakhstan's grand strategy for AI age and reinvention of Eurasia Across the immense steppe of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is attempting something far larger than economic reform. It is attempting a civilizational repositioning. For decades, Kazakhstan was known primarily as a resource giant — a country blessed with vast reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium and rare minerals. It remains the wealthiest of the five Central Asian “Stan” nations and, in many respects, the geopolitical anchor of the region stretching from Uzbekistan May 12, 2026

Iran's Hormuz submarines trace lineage to class linked to sinking of ROKS Cheonan SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) — Iran’s reported deployment of additional Ghadir-class midget submarines in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with the United States intensify is reviving painful memories in South Korea of the country’s deadliest postwar naval disaster. The 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, was attributed by a multinational investigation to a North Korean Yono-class midget submarine May 12, 2026

India enters austerity drive as oil, gold imports strain forex reserves SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) — India’s 1.5 billion people are being asked to travel less, farm more efficiently and, most notably, cut back on gold purchases, underscoring the severity of the blow the three-month-long Middle East energy shock is dealing to Asia’s fastest-growing major economy. In a national address on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to avoid buying gold for the next year, reduce unnecessary overseas travel and curb energy consumption as May 12, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Iran war story by Seeker of Truth -- Truth, Justice and Freedom Sinokor Chairman Tae-soon Jung’s Breakthrough in the Strait of Hormuz: The Diverging Fate of Korean Shipping, from the Basra Energy to HMM’s Namwoo The waters of the Middle East are burning again. Yet this fire is not confined to a military clash among Iran, the United States and Israel. It is a blaze threatening the arteries of the global economy and shaking the very heart of industrial civilization. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world&r May 12, 2026

ASIA INSIGHT: Soprano and model to anchor fragile US-China Summit SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - In November 2017, inside the amber-hued silence of the Forbidden City, Donald Trump handed a tablet computer to Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan. On the screen, a small, blonde girl sang a folk song and recited ancient poetry in Mandarin. The girl was Arabella Kushner, the American president’s granddaughter. As she watched the video, Peng—a woman whose own soprano voice once stirred the nationalist fervor of a billion people—beamed with the practiced May 12, 2026