What can we expect from 2018?The ASEAN Post began the year with an in-depth review of what to expect from the region throughout 2018. The review covered aspects including capital markets, energy, environment, real estate, general elections and the Belt Road Initiative (BRI).Last year, ASEAN was touted to admit its 11th member – Timor-Leste but failed to do so. The topic of ascension to ASEAN is easy enough to understand.

North Korea accepted a proposal to hold talks with South Korea on January 9 aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the Winter Olympics next month.The agenda would include North Korea’s offer to send a delegation to the Games as well as overall inter-Korean relations, South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman, Baik Tae Hyun, told reporters Friday.

North Korean authoritarian leader, Kim Jong-Un, in a New Year address, warned that he had a “nuclear button” on his desk. In response, United States (US) President Donald Trump tweeted that he has his own nuclear button on his table that is “bigger and more powerful.”Does it really matter?Yes and no. Yes, it does matter that North Korea has nuclear weapons and if it will deploy those weapons against its enemies like the US or Japan.

South Korea Tuesday proposed high-level talks with Pyongyang on January 9, after the North's leader Kim Jong-Un called for better relations and said his country might attend the Winter Olympics in the South.Kim used his annual New Year address to warn he has a "nuclear button" on his table, but sweetened his remarks by expressing an interest in dialogue and taking part in the Pyeongchang Games next month.South Korea's unification minister Cho Myoung-Gyon told a press confe

US President Donald Trump – who has often hailed China's efforts to put pressure on North Korea – hit out at Beijing Thursday for failing to cut off Pyongyang's oil supply, saying such moves prevented a "friendly solution" of the crisis."Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea," Trump said on Twitter."There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!"Trump did

North Korea has slammed recent sanctions over its missile tests as an “act of war” on Sunday, its first response to the latest diplomatic move to punish Pyongyang's ever-accelerating weapons drive. "We fully reject the latest UN sanctions...

ASEAN GeopoliticsThis week, sanctions on North Korea were further tightened after Pyongyang’s refusal to halt their nuclear program – the latest being Thailand which has been called on by the United States to put more trade and diplomatic pressure on the hermit nation.The ASEAN Post also covered the prospect of achieving a “high quality” Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in pursuit of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).Outcome of RCEP negotiations so far.The question of U

Pyongyang’s recent flurry of missile tests have sent shockwaves throughout the world. The recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test is said to be able to reach the continental United States.The response of the international community has been a mix of shock and disdain towards the hermit kingdom.

A senior UN official returning from Pyongyang said Tuesday that North Korean officials had told him it was important to prevent war but offered no concrete proposal for talks."They agreed that it was important to prevent war," Jeffrey Feltman, the UN's political affairs chief, told reporters after briefing the Security Council on his trip.Feltman met with North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho and Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-Kuk during his visit to Pyongyang over th

Singapore’s 2018 ASEAN chairmanshipThis week, Singapore announced its priorities going into 2018 as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).