Anthony Kuhn

The decision not to sell alcohol at Olympic venues was portrayed by organizers as an anti-coronavirus measure.

North Korea has revised its highest law of the land. Erasing, at least on paper, its goal of overthrowing South Korea's government by inciting revolution. Experts are debating what the changes mean.

Up to 10,000 domestic fans will be allowed at events, or 50% of the venue's capacity, whichever is less, Olympics organizers said Monday.

Olympic organizers on Monday decided to allow some spectators at events. The decision follows the first case of an Olympic athlete being denied entry to Japan, after testing positive for COVID-19.

Anger at the government's insistence on pushing ahead with the games remains intense, but Japan's ramped-up vaccination campaign may be helping to ease some safety fears.

With the Summer Olympics set to begin in just over six weeks, organizers say they have protective coronavirus measures in place. But many experts and Japanese citizens remain skeptical.

South Korea's population is shrinking and aging. Foreign workers help fill shortages on farms and in factories, but it's very hard for them to become citizens. Some say that will soon have to change.

The the first international athletes have arrived in Japan ahead of the Olympics that start on July 23. The country has also started vaccinating its own athletes.

South Korea faces a choice: allow immigration or suffer demographic decline. The country has many migrants toiling on its farms and fisheries, but it remains difficult for them to become citizens.

Even though polls show the great majority of Japanese want to cancel the Tokyo Summer Olympics because of the risk of COVID-19 infections, Japan's prime minister insists the games will go on.

The U.S. has issued a do-not-travel advisory to Japan due to concerns with the pandemic. The Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo in less than 60 days. U.S. athletes are expected to attend.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet with President Biden on Friday. He sees this year as representing "the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible."

On Friday, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and President Biden will meet to discuss their alliances, mutual interests and dealing with China and North Korea.

Tokyo-area hospitals "have their hands full," the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association says in an open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The group represents some 6,000 primary care doctors.

The Japanese government remains adamant that the games will proceed as planned, even as local governments and protesters express rising concern about hosting the event during the pandemic.

There is growing anger in Japan that the government is pressing ahead with this summer's Olympic games — as COVID-19 cases continue to rise there.

Combining elements of animism, ancestor worship and folk religion, shamanism remains popular on both sides of the border. But it's illegal in the North, and some who practice it have been executed.

As the world watches India battle a crushing COVID-19 surge, many countries fear they could be next. Most of the world is struggling to get even a small percentage of their population vaccinated.

Shamanism is a shared aspect of Korean culture which predates other imported faiths, and – improbably – still survives in the two starkly different Korean states, North and South.

President Joe Biden met with Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga yesterday to talk about security in East Asia.