Park Geun-hye Sworn in as South Korea President

Ms Park, 61, is the first woman to lead South Korea

 Park Geun-hye promised a tough stance on national security and an era of economic revival as she was sworn in as South Korea's president.

Ms Park, who defeated liberal rival Moon Jae-in in December's general election, took the oath of office in front of tens of thousands of people.

North Korea's recent nuclear test posed a "challenge to the survival" of the Korean people, she said.

Trust-building was needed to tackle the "extremely serious" security situation.

Myanmar holds peace talks with ethnic groups

Government officials meet minority rebel groups in Thailand to try to resolve issues including the Kachin conflict.

Myanmar's government has held peace talks with a federation of ethnic groups to try to resolve issues including the conflict in the northern state of Kachin. The United Nationalities Federal Council, which was formed by about a dozen ethnic minority groups including the Kachin, met government officials in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Wednesday.

Sultan loyalists keep up Borneo standoff

Armed men backing Filipino sultan who claims part of Malaysian island occupy village in Sabah.

A standoff between the Malaysian army and a Filipino armed group that claims a part of Malaysia is moving into its second week. The group of 100 armed men refuses to move from a village in Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah that they have occupied, despite pleas from both the Malaysian and Philippine governments to return to the Sulu archipelago on the Philippine side of the sea border. On Wednesday, Jamalul Kiram III, a former sultan of Sulu and brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities regard as sultan, rejected a historic peace deal between the Philippines and Muslim rebels and said he would not ask his men to pull out from Sabah. Security analysts had warned that the peace deal signed by the Philippine government and Muslim rebels last October to end 40 years of conflict in the Philippine south risked stirring instability by alienating powerful clan leaders.

US and Japan leaders affirm security alliance

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (left of Obama) said the two leaders have agreed to deal 'resolutely' with North Korea [AFP] US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have affirmed their alliance and pledged to take a hard line with North Korea. Abe also addressed China-Japan tensions and boosting the Japanese economy. "We just cannot tolerate the actions of North Korea, such as launching missiles and conducting nuclear tests," - Shinzo Abe, Japanese prime minister Obama promised to work closely with Abe, who came to Washington in hopes of sending a strong signal of unity two months after his conservative Liberal Democratic Party swept back to power. "You can rest assured that you will have a strong partner in the US throughout your tenure," Obama told Abe in the Oval Office, calling the alliance with Japan "the central foundation" for US policy on Asia.

Head of Indonesia's ruling party steps down

Urbaningrum says he only stepped down as a part of the Democratic Party's 'integrity pact' [Reuters] A day after the Indonesia's anti-corruption commission named him as a suspect in a case, the head of the country's ruling party has resigned. Anas Urbaningrum, who was elected in 2010 as general chairman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, announced his resignation on Saturday in a news conference at the party's headquarters. The Corruption Eradication Commission declared Urbaningrum, 43, on Friday a suspect, accusing him of receiving payments in connection with the construction of a sports complex in West Java province. The commission did not specify what kind of payments were allegedly received by Urbaningrum.

North Korea releases another propaganda video, this one with Obama in flames

Just when you thought North Korean propaganda videos could get no crazier, the country’s official news agency Uriminzokkiri has posted a video that reaches new heights of absurdity and bombast. This latest production, flagged by the invaluable NK News, champions the recent nuclear test and repeats the prior video’s obsessive focus on the United States.
The video is simple: text, berating the United States and bragging about North Korea’s latest nuclear test, appears over CGI-flame-covered video clips of American troops and of President Obama. It ends with a CGI simulation of the nuclear test, which NK News thinks might actually be stolen from a foreign news organization (if you look closely, you can see blurred out squares in the upper corners, possibly covering the network logos).
Also like the previous North Korean propaganda video, this borrows from a popular American video game. The last video used music video from the game Modern Warfare 3. This one, Web commenters point out, borrows the theme song from Elder Scrolls 4, a 2006 fantasy role-playing game. Maybe it’s a coincidence that this new North Korean propaganda tactic developed right around the time when Kim Jong Eun took over the country, or maybe the young dictator is a gamer?
Here’s the text from the video, translated into English by NKNews. It trumpets the North Korean nuclear program and repeats long-standing accusations that the U.S. troop presence in South Korea is an imperialist invasion.

China condemns US 'hacking hullabaloo'

The Chinese army's 'Unit 61398', headquartered in a building outside Shanghai, is accused of the hacks [Reuters]

Chinese state media have criticised allegations of sophisticated cyberattacks against US firms, calling them a "commercial stunt" and accusing Washington of ulterior motives. American internet security firm Mandiant earlier this week said that a Chinese military cyberspy unit was targeting US and other foreign firms and organisations with hacking attacks. An editorial in the state-run China Daily on Thursday said, "one cannot help but ask the real purpose of such a hullabaloo."

Flights cancelled as Beijing is blighted by smog yet again

Thick smog that blanketed Beijing and surrounding regions for a record 21 days last month returned yesterday, causing travel chaos as many businesses reopened and people returned after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Highways were forced to temporarily close and airline traffic was disrupted as visibility near Beijing International Airport fell, delaying some early morning flights, Xinhua reported.
At 7.45am, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau issued a "yellow" fog alert, indicating that visibility in eastern and southern parts of the city would be less than 500 metres in the next three hours, and authorities urged residents to take necessary precautions. The yellow warning was lifted at 11am, and the smog levels had fallen sharply by last night.
Since Saturday evening, moderate to severe air pollution was reported in much of the city, accompanied by high levels of health-threatening PM2.5 pollutants.

World powers condemn North Korea nuclear test

North Korea's third nuclear test has been condemned by several countries and organisations, with the US calling it a threat to regional security and Pyongyang's ally China calling for calm.
State media said the country had successfully carried out the underground nuclear test, involving a new "miniaturised", device on Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was "deplorable" that North Korea had defied international appeals to refrain from such provocative acts.
"The secretary-general condemns the underground nuclear weapon test conducted by [North Korea] today," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

"It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions."
The Korean Central News Agency said the test was conducted in a safe manner and was aimed at coping with "outrageous" US hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites.
"The high-level nuclear test, unlike in the past, had more explosive power and involved a miniaturised and lighter atomic bomb and was staged safely and perfectly."

Pinij aids Thai bird's nest exports

• Published: 21 Feb 2013 at 22.12
• Online news: Local News

Pinij Jarusombat, a key advocate of Thai-Chinese economic and social relations, has pledged to get the lucrative edible bird's nests exports to China back on track after the 14-billion baht industry was hit by Beijing’s tougher regulations on imports.

The chairman of the Thai-Chinese Cultural and Economic Association (TCCEA), said the two nations had a long, close and brother-like relationship and the problem relating to the country’s bird’s nest exports should not be viewed as too big to handle.

He said he was confident that the issue was negotiable and Bangkok and Beijing could find a mutually-agreed solution to the matter. However, he admitted the process could take some time.

Thai exporters are required to have a Veterinary Health Certificate issued by the Department of Livestock Development and documents to certify the source of the nests and to prove their products have been collected from registered bird’s nest caves before the delicacy is allowed to enter the republic.

(the story continues below)

Photo by Amnart Thongdee

The crackdown came after China’s product safety watchdog detected harmful substances including nitrite and heavy metals in bird's nest products imported from Malaysia and Hong Kong in late 2011.

Mr Pinij met with concerned authorities, Chinese investors and representatives from companies that hold concessions to collect birds' nests in Chumphon province on Wednesday to find a solution to the problem.

The concession holders were from nine provinces including Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Phatthalung, Krabi, Trang, Phangnga, Satun and Trat.

To produce an ad hoc solution to the problem, Chinese investors were invited to the meeting to directly buy bird’s nest products from local producers, Mr Pinij said.

The Livestock Development Department has so far registered 91 caves which have rich, quality bird’s nest yields in nine provinces and three bird’s nest depository and trade centres, said Kitikorn Janepaiboon, director of the 8th Region Livestock Development Office’s quality control of livestock products.

The department would soon deploy veterinarians to the centres to carry out inspections on all edible bird's nests before issuing the Veterinary Health Certificate, he said.

Thailand produces 18 tonnes of bird’s nests every year worth more than 14 billion baht in trade value. Most of the products were previously exported to China. The exporters are struggling to release their stocks. They also complained the price had fallen from 23,000 baht per kilo to 15,000 baht.

Japan’s trade deficit widens to a record in Jan

Japan’s trade deficit widened to a record in January as energy imports jumped, highlighting a risk of trying to revive the country’s export engine through policies that could weaken the currency without also pursuing broader economic reforms.

A central bank board member said the yen’s fall was helping exports — they posted their first annual rise in January in eight months — and said the Bank of Japan would push on with its policy, but analysts expect trade deficits to persist for some time yet.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has staked his political career on lifting Japan out decades of malaise through aggressive fiscal and monetary policy, but the data indicated a rise in exports on its own was not enough to turn things around.
“Trade deficits could continue for much of this year, if not into next year,” said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities Research & Consulting.
“This shows that on a net basis money is leaving the country. We need to turn this around by increasing our earnings power from exports. A weak yen will help, but it won’t solve all our problems.”
Since November the yen has tumbled 16% versus the dollar to its lowest in nearly three years as expectations have grown about Abe’s promises of radical policy to spark an economy that has contracted for three successive quarters.  
Economists polled by Reuters have raised their economic growth forecast for the 2013/14 fiscal year to 2.1%, expecting the economy to benefit as exports recover due to the weaker yen and improving global demand. The trade deficit reached a record 1.6 trillion yen ($17.1 billion) in January, larger than a median forecast for a 1.38 trillion yen deficit, finance ministry data showed.
Imports jumped 7.3% in January from a year earlier, well above the median estimate for a 1.6% annual increase and the biggest rise since May last year.

Chinese hackers first exposed in 2011

The Chinese military hacking group outed Monday for hacking into 141 companies in 20 industries since 2006 has been in the international headlines before.
In August 2011 at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas to be precise.
That's when Dmitri Alperovitch, then a research vice president at McAfee went public with details of the machinations of a hacking group then referred to as Shady RAT, a reference to "remote access tool," a technique the gang used to pilfer data from 70 organizations globally, including the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee.
Alperovitch is now co-founder and chief technology officer at CrowdStrike, a security start-up that's about to unveil its new "active defense" systems, designed to make it much more expensive for intruders to access corporate networks, in conjunction with the big RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco next week.
"It's exactly the same group," Alperovitch tells USA TODAY. "The group is still active. They did not shut down after our report, and I don't think they'll shut down after this report either."
The disclosure Monday from forensics firm Mandiant dubbed the group APT1, a reference to "advanced persistent threats," a set of tactics data thieves and cyberspies use to penetrate deep into corporate networks and stay hidden as long as possible.
Mandiant's report provides intricate details of daily activities of the ring, and ties its key operatives to China's People's Liberation Army. The disclosure includes a video of the criminals at work; Mandiant officials say they are bracing for reprisals from China.
"The connection to the PLA was new," says Alperovitch. "They did a good job of identifying that."

European Union sanctions North Korea

The European Union imposed trade and economic sanctions on North Korea while condemning “in the strongest terms” the nation’s latest nuclear test.

The 27 EU finance ministers also demanded North Korea abstain from further tests and urged it to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty without delay. The statement came as the ministers met Monday in Brussels.

Their action brings the number of North Koreans subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze to 26, and the number of sanctioned companies to 33. The ministers also banned the export of components for ballistic missiles, such as certain types of aluminum, and prohibited trade in new public bonds from North Korea.

The United States is negotiating in the Security Council for stronger U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang after the council quickly condemned the Feb. 12 atomic blast, the third conducted by the North since 2006.

North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to what it called a U.S. threat and has warned of further, unspecified measures of “greater intensity” if Washington remains hostile, possibly signaling it would conduct further tests if sanctions are tightened further.

North Korea threatens South with "final destruction"

As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South Korea's erratic behavior would only herald its final destruction," North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the meeting.
Jon's comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including South Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne Adamson said such language was "completely inappropriate" and the discussion with North Korea was heading in the wrong direction.
"It cannot be allowed that we have expressions which refer to the possible destruction of U.N. member states," she said.
Spanish Ambassador Javier Gil Catalina said the comment left him stupefied and appeared to be a breach of international law.
"In the 30 years of my career I've never heard anything like it and it seems to me that we are not speaking about something that is even admissible, we are speaking about a threat of the use of force that is prohibited by Article 2.4 of the United Nations charter," Catalina said.
Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of U.N. resolutions, its southern neighbor has warned it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent.
Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defenses given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on North Korea.
"Our current nuclear test is the primary countermeasure taken by the DPRK in which it exercised its maximum self-restraint," said the North Korean diplomat Jon.
"If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the last, rendering the situation complicated, it (North Korea) will be left with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in succession," he said, without indicating what that might entail.
North Korea has already told key ally China that it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the message told Reuters last week.

Philippine armed groups in deadly clash

At least 21 rebels have been killed following fierce fighting between two rival groups in the southern Philippine island of Sulu, according to the police and military.
A Philippine police spokesman said on Monday that 13 members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were killed,  while eight fighters were confirmed dead from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Antonio Freyra, Sulu provincial police chief, told the local media that the ASG had beheaded four of the MNLF rebels in the town of Patikul.
Freyra was also quoted as saying that the fighting was still going, forcing hundreds of civilians to flee in the predominantly Muslim province.
Roughly 200 ASG members and between 700 to 1,000 MNLF fighters were involved in the clashes.

China hints at ‘heavy price’ for North Korea nuclear test

China should exact a “heavy price” from North Korea if an imminent nuclear test goes ahead, state-run media said on Wednesday in their strongest call yet, but analysts say Beijing appears unable to restrain its wayward ally.
The state-run Global Times raised the prospect that the relationship founded on the battlefields of the 1950-53 Korean war, and which Pyongyang has relied on ever since, “might break down” over the issue.
That would “be of no benefit to Pyongyang”, it said. “North Korea would face an even worse situation, but China could find some ways to compensate for geopolitical losses.”
The article appeared in both the English- and Chinese-language editions of the paper.
But analysts and diplomats said that despite its discontent Beijing was unwilling to carry out meaningful action, leaving the media as its only theatre to display its frustrations.

Peace Talks Start Between Myanmar and Rebels

BANGKOK — China hosted peace talks between the Myanmar government and ethnic Kachin rebels on Monday, as outside pressure grew on both sides to end the intense fighting of recent weeks.

The one-day meeting ended without a firm commitment to stop the clashes, which have left at least several hundred soldiers dead and displaced tens of thousands of civilians in the northernmost reaches of Myanmar, near the Chinese border. But the talks were notable for China’s prominent role in getting both sides to the negotiating table.

“The Chinese asked us to come to the meeting,” said Awng Jet, a member of the Kachin delegation. “They told us that U Aung Min would be there and said we should be there, too.” Mr. Aung Min was the head of the Myanmar government’s delegation.

China pledges to narrow income gap

The widening wealth gap has resulted in growing calls for government action [EPA]

The Chinese government has issued a pledge to narrow the widening income gap between rich and poor, which includes raising its minimum wage and requiring state companies to turn over more profits to pay for social programmes.
The pledge on Tuesday promised more spending on health, education and job training but gave few details and no sign of how Beijing will enforce changes that might hurt state industry and other politically influential factions.
China Daily newspaper reported that the government is looking to lower the minimum wage of 40 percent of the current wage of $730 a month.
Communist leaders had been rumoured to be working on a plan but have faced resistance by state companies and their allies in the ruling Communist Party.
"We need to continue to deepen the reform of income distribution to protect social fairness, justice, harmony and stability," said a cabinet statement.
Beijing reported in January that a widely used measure of income distribution known as the Gini coefficient was at 0.474 for China.
That would make China among the most unequal societies.

Japan Airlines Says 787 Grounding Will Cost It $7.5 Million

TOKYO — Japan Airlines said on Monday that the grounding of its dreamliner fleet would cost it 700 million yen, or $7.5 million, in earnings through March and that it would seek compensation from boeing.In making the announcement, Japan Airlines joined other Dreamliner operators, like All Nippon Airways and United Airlines, in raising the possibility of demanding compensation. That adds to Boeing’s woes as it struggles to determine why a battery aboard a parked 787 burst into flames and another emitted smoke while a plane was in the air last month.

After those incidents, regulators around the world grounded all 50 Dreamliners in service. United States and Japanese officials investigating the two cases have not determined what caused the lithium-ion batteries, made by GS Yuasa of Japan, to overheat.

North Korea’s Latest Video Destroys New York City, Angers ‘Call of Duty’ Makers

North Korea vowed last month to carry out its third nuclear test but has said nothing about timing. As a result, the building suspense in Seoul has prompted many to look at the dates Pyongyang has chosen for past atomic tests, as well as rocket and missile launches.

Dates and numbers have great symbolic importance to North Korea's government. So Pyongyang often schedules what Washington calls "provocative acts" around U.S. holidays and important South Korean political events, an effort to send none-too-subtle messages to its main enemies – Washington and Seoul. Pyongyang also uses the tests to give a nationalistic boost to its citizens, often favoring significant milestones of the state, party and ruling Kim family.

Here's a look at the "meaningful dates" North Korea has selected for past tests and launches, as well as future key dates on which Pyongyang might choose to stage its third nuclear test:

China says extremely concerned after latest North Korea threats

China expressed serious concern on Wednesday after North Korea stepped up its bellicose rhetoric and threatened to go beyond a third nuclear test in response to what it sees as "hostile" sanctions imposed after a December rocket launch.

"China is extremely concerned by the way things are going. We oppose any behavior which may exacerbate the situation and any acts which are not beneficial towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"We call on all the relevant sides to remain calm and exercise restraint and earnestly work hard to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," she told a daily news briefing.

Japanese prime minister accuses Chinese navy ship of "dangerous" act

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday described as "dangerous" and "regrettable" the actions of a Chinese navy ship that Tokyo says put a radar-lock on a Japanese vessel last week.

His comments come amid severely strained relations between the two Asian powers over a set of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

The tensions over the islands -- which Japan currently administers but both countries claim sovereignty over -- have resulted in maritime standoffs and the scrambling of Japanese fighter jets in recent months.