Nearly 80 years ago, the Soviet Union helped create North Korea. Now North Korean soldiers are dying to defend Russia. It’s quite the reversal. For my latest piece for @NikkeiAsia, I look at how the war in Ukraine has transformed relations between Moscow and Pyongyang, and why the partnership could last long after the fighting stops. North Korea has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, along with vast quantities of ammunition and tens of thousands of workers. In return, Kim Jong Un is getting hard currency, military expertise, potentially dangerous technology and a powerful ally that has helped undermine international sanctions. There are good reasons to think this arrangement will endure. Russia’s chronic labor shortage will only get worse, while Moscow will need to replenish its depleted weapons stocks. North Korea, meanwhile, has found a lucrative customer for its weapons and manpower, and an alternative to its traditional dependence on China. There’s also something less tangible at play. As one person familiar with Moscow’s thinking told me, there is a Russian “debt of gratitude” toward North Koreans for “shedding their blood for Russia.” I spoke to a former North Korean diplomat, Russia experts, military officers and officials in Seoul and elsewhere about what comes next, including the implications for security in Europe and East Asia. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/po…

Japan desperately needs more nurses as its population ages, but it’s struggling to attract foreign talent. In my latest for @NikkeiAsia , the head of the Japanese Nursing Association warns that low pay and tough language requirements are putting off overseas recruits. Just 8.5% of foreign candidates passed the national nursing exam last year. “Filipino nurses can speak English, so as the yen has weakened, increasing numbers are choosing to go to Europe or the United States,” Tomoya Akiyama told us. Even Japanese nurses are looking abroad. “Some Japanese nurses now want to work as care workers in Sweden or elsewhere in Europe,” Akiyama said. asia.nikkei.com/business/hea…

I sat down last week with @NaokoScalise to discuss what’s behind Japan tightening the rules on immigration. Was a very interesting chat. youtu.be/WDyWzzFJe4s

Liz Truss was here apparently.

Taipei has long been a KMT stronghold. Now its mayor, Chiang Wan-an, is trailing the DPP’s Puma Shen by 17 points. @heguisen argues that Shen has turned the race around by focusing on everyday problems, from flooding to rubbish bins, rather than China. Horton has interviewed both men. Chiang cut short their meeting when asked about China and never rescheduled. Shen spent hours explaining Beijing’s disinformation tactics, even drawing diagrams to illustrate them. The stakes go well beyond Taipei. Chiang has cultivated ties with Chinese Communist Party officials, while Shen has spent years exposing Beijing’s influence operations. A Shen victory, Horton writes, would cost Beijing a “trusted friend,” hand Taipei to “one of its sharpest observers” and potentially derail Chiang’s presidential ambitions in 2028. Could Taipei elect its first DPP mayor in more than 30 years? asia.nikkei.com/opinion/coul…

Re-upping this following Yana’s resignation (other scandals emerged)

The first minister to resign over a scandal since Takaichi came to power just under a year ago. Yana was implicated in the LDP slush-fund scandal that engulfed PM Kishida's administration in 2023-24, and was only brought back into the cabinet a month ago. He was a member of the Abe faction that was at the centre of that scandal. asia.nikkei.com/politics/jap…

FCCJ statement on the detention of a Hokkaido Shimbun reporter in Russia.

Grassroots football in Tokyo.

My wife’s hometown of Nasu-Karasuyama (Tochigi prefecture) is at the heart of Japan’s latest political scandal. Agriculture Minister Kazuo Yana is under fire after admitting he contacted the transport ministry about road funding for two municipalities in his Tochigi constituency whose leaders backed his rival in February’s election. Asahi reports that road projects have now been halted because of funding shortfalls, including in Nasu-Karasuyama, where one project received just 51% of the requested government money. Local officials say they’ve never had to suspend work like this before. Yana has since denied engineering the cuts, but anger is growing. He skipped an Oct. 10 local LDP fundraising party, where speakers stopped short of naming him but reminded politicians that they are supposed to serve the people, not the other way around. This is a potentially damaging scandal for PM Sanae Takaichi, who has resisted calls to sack him. asahi.com/sp/articles/ASVB83…

The debate over whether Japan sets caps on foreign resident numbers will likely be the most lively discussion for gaijin on this platform over the next few months. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ja…

Taiwan’s democracy is probably the important in the world right now, especially with local elections looming and a presidential vote in January 2028. @NikkeiAsia ‘s @tchau01 spoke with a dozen KMT insiders, analysts and foreign officials, who describe a power struggle inside the Chinese Nationalist Party. KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun has Beijing’s ear, while presidential hopeful Lu Shiow-yen courts Washington. Lots of implications for the nation’s defense plans. asia.nikkei.com/politics/tai…

Cyberattacks on South Korean banks in recent days appear to have been carried out with the help of artificial intelligence services such as Anthropic's Claude Code and ARTEX, an open-source tool recently developed in China, according to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/cy…

Suzuki has launched Japan’s cheapest EV to defend its home turf from BYD. But there’s a catch. The new e-Sky kei car relies on a battery made by a BYD affiliate. asia.nikkei.com/business/aut…

In her policy speech opening Japan’s extraordinary Diet session, Takaichi tried to calm the bond market without abandoning her expansionary mix of heavy public investment, fiscal stimulus and pro-growth spending. She promised “flexible” fiscal policy, careful bond issuance and “orthodox” measures to win market confidence. But with JGB yields elevated, the yen weak and Washington pushing back on reflation, markets may want more than a change in tone. Before her speech, she again strongly protested the arrest of a U.S. Marine over the alleged robbery and murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa, calling the incident “extremely brutal and vicious” and demanded U.S. cooperation with the investigation. asia.nikkei.com/politics/jap…

The Aichi-Nagoya’s Asian Games have been plagued by mishaps such as an (inter-Korea) anthem mix-up, transport failures, accommodation complaints and weak ticket sales. One of the reasons is that organizers were caught out by 2,000 more participants than expected and the lack of a dedicated athletes’ village. But perhaps the biggest factor is that Dentsu, long the behind-the-scenes operator of Japan’s biggest sporting events, is absent after its Tokyo 2020 bid-rigging scandal. Decades of dependence on the advertising giant meant the sports bodies involved had relatively little major-event expertise. Asian Games in Japan limp to the finish line after logistical chaos asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/sp…