ASIA
THAILAND
Eugenie Budnik, Reporter
Politics: Tidal waves of fear are beginning to engulf Thai society as King Vajiralongkorn harshly enforces a law which prohibits criticism of the monarchy. Vajiralongkorn seems to be wielding the law in his favor by arresting activist Buddha Issar and detaining relatives of his former wife, Princess Srirasmi. As Thailand is to have an election sometime next year, it will be interesting to see whether or not this strict ruling will have a lasting effect.
Economics: Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha met with UK PM Theresa May at Downing Street on the 20th of June. Heavy discussion regarding the possibility of a stronger trade relationship between Thailand and the UK after Brexit ensued between the two Prime Ministers.
Culture: As World Cup fever engages fans all over the world, football playing Elephants have been used in Thailand to celebrate the World Cup and campaign against gambling. These elephants played a game of football against local students.
CHINA
Valerie Gregorio, Reporter
Politics: Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that since North Korean President Kim Jong Un
first visited China this year, relations and agreements were carried out between the two of them.
This resulted a new level of development in cooperation between Xi and Kim
Economics: China’s trade war with the United States has slow down its economy. The head of
Asia economics at research firm Oxford Economics, Louis Kuijis, predicted that China’s
economy will grow around 6.4% by the end of this year.
Culture: In the city of Yichang, China, it has an average of around 80 large-scale poetry activities
every year with over 100,000 of people participating.
SOUTH KOREA
Tyra Gravesande, Senior Reporter
Politics: For decades, North and South Korea has held disagreements which led to their division. Surprisingly however, North and South Korea hold a surprise meeting to discuss the U.S Summit.
Economics: It is with no surprise that South Korea is one of the major hubs of technology, business, and data science. Due to their technological growth, South Korea spotlights fourth in this Industrial Revolution due to the tech to spur growth.
Culture: Whether it is to cure their insecurities or to simply look like their favorite K-pop idol, South Korea is well-known for being the capital of plastic surgery. A doctor even generated approx. $30,000 worth of surgeries all together in this affluent country.