Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends an upper house budget committee session at the parliament in Tokyo in February. Abe has expressed strong support for the death penalty and says the public backs him. (Toru Hanai/Reuters/File)
10:57 am ET -Two gangsters were hanged in Japan last week. More executions are likely under new Prime Minister Abe, who has expressed strong support for the death penalty – and says the public backs him.
Top Asia Pacific (View all)
- US considers end to tariffs in Myanmar: Too soon?
- Why China won't help the US on North Korea
- Is Japan's Shinzo Abe finally acting on his true nationalist colors?
- US military chief in Beijing warns of North Korea 'miscalculation'
- China harasses family of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo
- Nuclear North Korea entreats Mongolia for help in feeding its people
- North Korea: US military braces for heightened readiness
- Rhino head heist: Half a million euros' worth stolen from Irish museum
- No consulates yet, but China and Taiwan opt for the next best thing
- North Korea's Kim Jong-un celebrates missile-free holiday (+video)
More Asia Pacific
-
China cozies up to Iceland in race for Arctic resources
China has been paying a lot of attention to Iceland, a country with a population 1/5000th the size of its own, as an effort to stretch its influence into the Arctic Sea.
-
Why Indonesia's farmers have begun to guard their crops like gold
The price of staple crops has skyrocketed in Indonesia - shallots have gone from $1.20 a kilogram to as much as $7 - prompting farmers to take new measures to guard their fields against looters.
-
Kim Jong-un's goal? Status as the unequivocal god-king of the North.
Kim Jong-un is showing he is firmly in charge of North Korea, capable of challenging the mighty United States and a worthy successor to the Kim dynasty. That might be a good thing.
-
Friend or frenemy? For China, key issue is how US really views it
Both the US and China want to tamp down the North Korea crisis. But as Secretary of State John Kerry visits Beijing this weekend, an underlying issue is mutual suspicion over strategic aims in the Pacific.
-
Calm in Guam as islanders doubt North Korean missile aim
The US territory's crisis-ready inhabitants are trusting God, Uncle Sam, common sense, and poor aim to keep them safe from a ballistic assault by North Korea.
-
North Korea threat: How one island is taking Kim Jong-un more seriously
Island residents of Baengnyeong are at the center of the North-South conflict, and are taking North Korea's threats of a missile test seriously, but calmly.
-
North Korea threat: Is it cooling?
North Korea threat of missile launch continued to preoccupy the region today, which was the deadline North Korea gave for foreigners to leave South Korea to avoid conflict. But nothing happened.
-
Amid crisis, influential South Korean politician wants to deploy US nukes
A member of the South Korean National Assembly called for US tactical nuclear weapons on the peninsula. He also suggested that Seoul consider developing its own deterrent.
-
Why is North Korea's Kaesong industrial park closing?
The exceptional length of the shutdown so far could signal that inter-Korean relations have entered a new low.
-
China's Xi signals limited shift away from North Korea
Chinese President Xi Jinping took an unusually harsh tone this weekend on the North Korea crisis, saying that no country should be allowed to upset world peace.
-
Focus
Beijing is booming, but talent is leaving due to bad airThe horrifyingly bad air in Beijing is driving something of an expat exodus - as well as one by young Chinese executive types. The past three months have seen the worst air quality on record.
-
North Korea unexpectedly closes entry to key industrial park, upping tensions
The last time South Korean workers were denied entry to the jointly operated factories, a major source of income for North Korea, was in 2009, after North Korea’s second nuclear test.
-
Could China and Japan see a spring thaw in relations?
Diplomatic visits between Japan and China had been largely suspended since last September, when a territorial dispute brought the two Northeast Asian powers to the edge of a confrontation.
-
Why Caroline Kennedy is likely to get a warm welcome in Japan (+video)
The Kennedy name is well known in Japan. Ms. Kennedy would be the first female ambassador to the close US ally if her likely appointment is approved.
-
Briefing
North Korean war talk: hot air or serious threat?Pyongyang has cut the last military hotline to the South and says it's ready to target US bases in Hawaii, Guam, and South Korea. So why is there no sign the North is really girding for war?
-
Famous Taiwan news animator taken off market, away from China
A deal fell through this week to sell Taiwan's Next Media, known for spoofs on everyone from the British royals to Sarah Palin. Many Taiwanese worried that its sale could have given it a pro-China bias.
-
Briefing
Why is the US shifting its missile defense out of Europe?US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently announced plans to cancel a planned US missile defense network in Europe, and instead beef up its interceptors in the Pacific.
-
China takes aim at Apple. Why?
State media are charging that Apple treats customers poorly, among other things. Some speculate that the sustained vitriol could be in retaliation for US treatment of Chinese tech giants.
-
Where are all the shoppers? Curfew shows what base relocation could mean to Okinawa
The Futenma Marine base on Okinawa may finally be relocated to a less densely populated part of the island. But its removal could be a blow to the local economy.
-
North Korea targets Hawaii, Guam in latest threat (+video)
The secluded state has been ramping up its rhetoric in recent weeks in response to new UN sanctions and joint military drills by the US and South Korea.
Become part of the Monitor community