Asia News Wrap: Landslide win for opposition in S. Korean polls, and more

South Korea's liberal opposition parties scored a landslide victory in a parliamentary election held on Wednesday. Opposition parties secured a total of 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. The result deals a blow to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his conservative party who will find it difficult to pass laws in a parliament dominated by the opposition. The Korean Herald reported that "The ruling bloc managed to defend the 100-seat threshold that could otherwise have deprived President Yoon Suk Yeol of his veto power, a vote count showed Thursday morning."

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force announced on Saturday in a post on X that it completed the first of a two-stage modification for its helicopter carrier JS Kaga to operate the American-made Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter aircraft. This would upgrade the helicopter carrier to an aircraft carrier, which the country did not possess so far, as Article 9 of Japan's constitution prohibits the country from having an active military. Over the past few years, Tokyo has tried to redefine that position by pushing heavy increases in military spending and easing its postwar ban on lethal weapons exports, underscoring a shift away from the country's self-defense-only principle.

Thailand's military tightened security on Wednesday along a western border town adjoining Myanmar, where clashes continue with the military. Myanmar's government has been battling rebels in frontier areas since last October. Several Thai army vehicles, patrolled the streets of Mae Sot, a border town in Thailand even as the sound of explosions and heavy fighting rang out from across the border in Myawaddy in Myanmar, according to residents. Border crossings in the area were open for civilians who were arriving in Thailand from Myanmar in large numbers, said the immigration superintendent in Tak, the province where Mae Sot is located.

Vietnam has ordered video streaming service Netflix to stop advertising and distributing its games in the country by April 25 as the U.S. streaming platform has not yet been granted a license for games services, its broadcasting authority said on Thursday.

"Vietnam demands Netflix comply with the Vietnamese regulations on game online services," the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information said on its website. Netflix began its push into gaming by launching Netflix games on mobile phones in November 2021.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday that Asia's growth this year is expected to be slightly stronger than previously forecast as healthy domestic demand in many economies offsets other negatives. The ADB pushed its 2024 growth forecast for Developing Asia to 4.9 percent from 4.8 percent projected in December. However, it warned of persistent challenges such as rising geopolitical tensions, including in the Middle East, that could disrupt supply chains and reignite inflation.

(Cover: Lee Jae-myung, leader of South Korea's largest opposition party and his wife Kim Hye-kyung, watch the live broadcast of the vote count in Incheon City, South Korea on April 11, 2024. /CFP)