Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index edged up at the open on Monday as investors awaited US-Japan summit talks later in the day. The key Nikkei 225 index was up 0.03 percent, or 5.97 points, at 21,123.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.04 percent, or 0.66 points, at 1,540.55. After a fun-filled weekend of golf and sumo, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are set to hold formal talks Monday, with trade and tensions with North Korea topping the agenda. On Monday, Trump tweeted: "Great progress being made in our Trade Negotiations with Japan. "Agriculture and beef heavily in play. Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers!" Despite his tweet that tough negotiations can wait until after the election in Japan, "the stocks market may react negatively if he shows a harsh attitude towards the Japanese auto sector" at the summit talks with Abe, Hirokazu Kabeya, chief global strategist at Daiwa … [Read more...] about Tokyo’s Nikkei opens higher with eyes on Japan-US summit
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Japanese aluminum can maker expands in Vietnam
The Showa Aluminum Can Corporation (SAC), a consolidated subsidiary of Showa Denko (SDK), headquartered in Tokyo, will invest $68 million in building a new can manufacturing factory in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province. Showa Denko subsidiary to build $68mn can manufacturing factory in Vietnam's south. This third base in Vietnam is to expand its business in the country. SAC has also decided to expand the capacity of can end production lines at its existing factory in Vietnam’s north. The Hanacans JSC (Hanacans), an affiliate of SAC incorporated in Vietnam, has lines to produce can bodies and can ends at its factory in northern Bac Ninh province, and lines to produce can bodies at its factory in central Quang Nam province. The new factory will have capacity of 1.3 billion can bodies per year, and an additional line to produce 1.1 billion can ends per year will be installed in the Bac Ninh factory. As a result of these measures, Hanacans will have three factories covering … [Read more...] about Japanese aluminum can maker expands in Vietnam
Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2019 to open June 1st
The Danang International Fireworks Festival 2019 (DIFF 2019) will open on June 1st, involving eight firework teams from around the world, including Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Finland, Italy, England, China, and the host Vietnam. Italy is the defending champion of the Danang International Fireworks Festival. A press conference is held in Danang on May 24, 2019 to announce the Danang International Fireworks Festival 2019 (DIFF The festival is themed "Rivers tell stories" where each team will present a performance highlighting the history and culture of the rivers of each nation and the residents living along them. Duong The Bang, President of the Sun Group in the central region, the festival’s organizing board, said: “An artistic performance entitled ‘Sunlight dance’ on the largest-ever scale to date will be held during this year’s festival and will be a turning point for Danang’s tourism. A flashmob will be organized nationwide as part of … [Read more...] about Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2019 to open June 1st
Controversy over South Korean ban on corporal punishment at home
A law allowing South Korean parents to physically discipline their children is to be scrapped, authorities said, prompting controversy in a country where hierarchical family values still predominate. A recent government survey showed that 76.8 percent of adult South Koreans feel corporal punishment is necessary. (File/AFP) Reporting of child abuse -- including neglect and emotional abuse as well as physical or sexual assaults -- rose more than 10-fold between 2001 and 2017 to 22,386 cases, with 77 percent of the perpetrators known to be the victims' parents. "More in our society agree that child abuse is a serious social problem," Seoul's Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told reporters. "But many are still lenient about corporal punishment. The ministry is to change this perception." Parental rights to physically discipline their children will be removed from the country's civil code, he said, where they have been stated since 1960. Physical punishment was also allowed … [Read more...] about Controversy over South Korean ban on corporal punishment at home
Vietnamese designers accused of plagiarism
A Vietnamese designer has been accused of copying a design of famous Israeli fashion designer Lior Charch. Wedding dress designer Lior Charchy showed two photos of their model and Miss Vietnamese Universe 2017 H'Hen Nie with a question "Why copy?" On their recent Instagram post, the wedding dress designer showed two photos of their model and Miss Vietnamese Universe 2017 H'Hen Nie with a question "Why copy?" The designer tagged Miss Vietnam H'Hen Nie's Instagram. The two wear two white long dresses which look almost the same except for the tail. In the photo H'Hen Nie wears a white dress by designer Linh San at an event in 2018. Meanwhile the model wears a Lior Charch's design which belongs to their Spring-Summer Collection 2017. A communication representative of designer Linh San' told the Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper that the designer did not use social media and haven't heard about the accusation of Lior Charch. People said they look alike but they don't that … [Read more...] about Vietnamese designers accused of plagiarism