US lawmakers push green card bill for Hongkongers, but observers doubt success

South China Morning Post - Oct 9, 2026

Two US lawmakers are pushing for a bill that would allow Hongkongers in the country to apply for permanent residency, but authorities and observers have dismissed it as a political move unlikely to succeed. Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, and Representative James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, announced the Hong Konger Promise of Refuge Act, seeking to provide a pathway to green cards and ultimately citizenship for Hong Kong residents in the US currently protected under the...

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DFI Retail Group says it will continue to invest in Hong Kong supermarkets

DFI Retail Group says it will continue to invest in Hong Kong supermarkets

Hong Kong-headquartered DFI Retail Group, which owns and operates the city’s largest supermarket network, says it will continue to invest in new stores even though consumers remain cautious. Darren Chan, the group’s managing director for food in Hong Kong and Macau, said DFI – whose supermarket chains include Wellcome and Market Place in Hong Kong – was also “looking for opportunities to strengthen” its network where there was “clear customer demand and attractive long-term returns”. “We invest...

Russia lifts plague lab-related measures. Should China – and the world – be relieved?

Russia lifts plague lab-related measures. Should China – and the world – be relieved?

While Russian authorities have denied the death of a woman who worked in a laboratory at an anti-plague institute in Siberia was connected with the pathogen, the incident has sparked global concern – including in China – over a potential spread of the disease and a lack of transparency. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he planned to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after it emerged late last week that the 28-year-old female lab technician had been admitted to...

Teachers turn classrooms into social media stages, sometimes exposing students without consent

Teachers turn classrooms into social media stages, sometimes exposing students without consent

A Korean elementary school teacher known for dancing has amassed nearly 100,000 YouTube subscribers. An Instagram Reel showing the teacher dancing to a K-pop song with fellow teachers in a school hallway has drawn more than 9 million views. Social media is already awash with videos of skilled dancers, but the teacher has carved out a distinctive niche as a "teacher who dances in the classroom," gaining popularity comparable to that of some K-pop idols. So-called "Ssaemstagram" content — a Korean coinage combining "teacher" and "Instagram" — is expanding beyond school life to encompass nearly every aspect of teachers' daily routines. What began largely as a way to share teaching ideas has broadened to include school lunch menus and teachers' lounge chatter, as well as OOTD, or "outfit of the day," posts showcasing fashion and makeup and videos of after-work exercise routines. While such content can help teachers communicate with students, concerns are growing as posts increasingly focus on personal branding, including appearance and lifestyle, rather than professional expertise. Criti

Overnight Coupang outage causes widespread disruptions, sparks fresh hacking fears

Overnight Coupang outage causes widespread disruptions, sparks fresh hacking fears

Coupang and its affiliated services suffered widespread access disruptions early Friday, temporarily preventing users from shopping, ordering food or streaming videos and raising fresh cybersecurity concerns following the e-commerce giant's previous data breach. The disruptions reportedly began around 1 a.m., affecting Coupang's website and mobile app, food delivery platform Coupang Eats and streaming service Coupang Play. Access to the services appeared to have been restored roughly two hours later. Users attempting to access the services encountered error messages, including one reading, "The network connection is not working. Please check your connection and try again." Others reported being unable to log in, search for products or retrieve account information. Some Coupang Eats customers also complained that they could not track food orders already placed. The outage quickly prompted a wave of complaints across online communities, where users questioned whether the disruption could be linked to another cyberattack. "Has it been hacked again?" one user wrote on a Naver online community

S. Korea urges N. Korea to take 'responsible measures' over mine explosion incident at UN

S. Korea urges N. Korea to take 'responsible measures' over mine explosion incident at UN

South Korea urged North Korea to take "responsible measures" Thursday at the United Nations, accusing Pyongyang of violating the Armistice Agreement by deliberately planting a land mine that injured three South Korean soldiers near the inter-Korean border last month. During a committee meeting of the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Cha Ji-hoon said a joint investigation by the South Korean military and the United Nations Command (UNC) confirmed that a Sept. 21 explosion was caused by a land mine deliberately planted by North Korean forces south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas. "A joint on-site investigation by ROK military and the UNC supported by forensic analysis confirmed that the explosion was caused by a landmine deliberately planted by DPRK forces south of the military demarcation line," Cha said, referring to the two Koreas by their official names, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, respectively. Cha said the incident constituted a clear violation of the A

N. Korean leader's sister again pushes back against Seoul's medical aid offer

N. Korean leader's sister again pushes back against Seoul's medical aid offer

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Friday reiterated Pyongyang's rejection of South Korea's offer to provide humanitarian medical assistance, criticizing the gesture as a "farce." Kim's statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) came a day after she rejected Seoul's plan to send 1,431 medical items across 166 categories to a hospital in Pyongyang, as part of a humanitarian medical support program. She called the offer an "insult" and "political provocation." "The racket of 'mine explosion' and the farce of 'medical equipment support' orchestrated by the ROK are just the two sides of the same coin minted by its inveterate bad habit of escalating confrontation with our state." ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. Kim claimed that South Korea's medical aid proposal and its accusations against North Korea over a recent land mine explosion near the inter-Korean border were intended to damage Pyongyang's reputation and image. North Korea has denied responsibility for the Sept. 21 mine blast insi

No. of Chinese boats fishing illegally near NLL more than double despite crackdown

No. of Chinese boats fishing illegally near NLL more than double despite crackdown

The number of Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea has more than doubled since the government announced a sweeping crackdown in late August, the Korea Coast Guard said Friday. About 190 Chinese boats were operating near the de facto inter-Korean sea border early this month, up from about 80 in late August. The figure is 50 fewer than the 240 counted a year earlier, and the number of boats typically rises during the autumn fishing season. The Coast Guard and the ministries of foreign affairs, unification, national defense and oceans and fisheries announced joint measures Aug. 27. They included deploying more Coast Guard special operations personnel, forcibly removing illegal fishing gear, installing artificial structures to block illegal fishing and revising the law to penalize vessels that anchor for purposes unrelated to passage. The Coast Guard said at the time that its goal was to drive all Chinese fishing boats out of the area. Foreign vessels are banned from fishing in the waters, but Chinese boats exploit the division of the Ko

Korea honors Filipino worker killed in factory explosion

Korea honors Filipino worker killed in factory explosion

Korea has honored a Filipino worker killed in August in a factory explosion, marking the third case under its initiative to support bereaved migrant workers’ families here. The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (K-COMWEL), a government agency responsible for administering industrial accident insurance, said Friday that it had helped the family of the worker bring his remains back to the Philippines. The worker, identified by the agency as Jisrael, died Aug. 28 in an explosion and fire at a factory manufacturing paint ingredients in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. “He worked diligently for his family, even in unfamiliar surroundings, living a life marked by a deep sense of responsibility and devotion,” K-COMWEL President Park Seung-heup said in a letter presented at the memorial service held at Incheon International Airport on Thursday. “K-COMWEL and the Republic of Korea will never forget his dedicated efforts and the legacy he leaves behind. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.” Park then presented the bereaved family with a co

Indian man files petition to S. Korean rights watchdog for physical abuse during deportation

Indian man files petition to S. Korean rights watchdog for physical abuse during deportation

An Indian man has filed a petition to the South Korean human rights watchdog alleging physical abuse during his deportation, such as being duct taped in the mouth and choked by immigration authorities. The Indian national submitted the petition to the National Human Rights Commission last Friday over violations to his bodily freedom and human dignity during his deportation on Aug. 27. According to the petition, the man had been detained at an immigration holding center in Hwaseong, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, for about eight months before officials forcibly removed him from the site. Under immigration law, foreigners subject to deportation can stay at such facilities for up to nine months. The petition said the man was handcuffed with duct tape around his mouth, with the man saying he suffered physical abuse, such as being hit in the cheek and being choked after he arrived at the airport to be deported. Rep. Park Eun-jung of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party shared body cam footage submitted by the justice ministry on the deportation during a parliamentary audit of the ministry Thu

Lee hails Korean writing system as 'face' of country on 100th Hangeul Day

Lee hails Korean writing system as 'face' of country on 100th Hangeul Day

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday hailed the Korean writing system – Hangeul – as the "face" of the country as he marked the 100th anniversary of Hangeul Day. "Writing is the face of the country and language is its heart," Lee wrote on Facebook, using South Korea's official name. "The strength of our language and writing is the competitiveness of the Republic of Korea." Hangeul was invented by King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in 1443 and promulgated three years later to augment the existing writing system based on the Chinese script. Hangeul Day was established in 1926 by the Korean Language Society as Koreans sought to preserve their language and writing system under the brutal 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of Korea. "A century ago, our ancestors devoted all their efforts to preserve our language and writing system," Lee wrote. "It was a determination that even though they had lost their country, they could not lose our spirit and identity." Lee said the writing system is now learned by people across the world, noting that King Sejong Institute, which teaches Korean lan

Lee's approval rating remains at 37%: poll

Lee's approval rating remains at 37%: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating held steady at 37 percent this week, with disapproval falling to 51 percent, a poll showed Friday. Positive assessment of Lee's performance remained unchanged from the last poll conducted three weeks earlier, according to the Gallup Korea survey conducted from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,000 people aged 18 and older. Lee's disapproval rating fell 5 percentage points from 56 percent in the previous poll. Among those who positively assessed Lee's performance, 24 percent cited foreign affairs, followed by economic and livelihood issues at 14 percent. Among those who negatively assessed his performance, 18 percent cited his real estate policies, followed by defense, security and North Korea policy at 15 percent. Support for the ruling Democratic Party fell 5 percentage points from the previous survey to 35 percent, marking the lowest since the launch of Lee's administration in June last year. Support for the main opposition People Power Party fell 1 percentage point to 26 percent. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points

Industry ministry denies report of Lutnick's dissatisfaction with spy agency

Industry ministry denies report of Lutnick's dissatisfaction with spy agency

The industry ministry on Friday formally dismissed a local news report alleging U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had voiced dissatisfaction with South Korea's spy agency during bilateral negotiations on strategic investment projects. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources issued the denial in response to a local newspaper article claiming Lutnick had conveyed Washington's discontent with South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS). "We clearly state that the claim that Commerce Secretary Lutnick expressed distrust of the NIS to Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan during negotiations on strategic investment projects in the U.S. is not true," the ministry said. The ministry called on the newspaper to report accurately to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and confusion. The NIS issued a similar notice to the press, saying it had received no information regarding the alleged remark by Lutnick. Washington has partially restricted Seoul's access to intelligence on North Korea-related technology since April in protest against the unification minister's disclosure of information

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