Asia News Wrap: Large turnout for early voting in S. Korea, and more

Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

South Koreans turn out in record numbers for early presidential election voting

An all-time high of 19.58 percent of voters cast their ballots on Thursday, the first day of early voting for the upcoming presidential election to choose the successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted following his failed martial law bid. Early voting takes place over two days at 3,568 polling stations nationwide. The official election is scheduled for next Tuesday.

The June 3 election follows months of political turmoil and a power vacuum after Yoon's attempt to impose martial law failed. The liberal Democratic Party's candidate, Lee Jae-myung, who leads in opinion polls, cast his ballot in Seoul. "In order to overcome the current crisis ... and start again as a Korea of recovery and growth, please vote," Lee said after voting.

Early voting, introduced in 2014 to assist those unable to vote on election day, runs through May 29 and 30.

China launches Tianwen-2 mission to retrieve asteroid samples

China's Tianwen-2 mission was launched in the early hours of Thursday, aiming to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system. The mission has multiple goals over a decade-long expedition: collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 and exploring the main-belt comet 311P, which lies beyond Mars.

A Long March-3B carrier rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 1:31 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, the Tianwen-2 probe was sent into a transfer orbit towards asteroid 2016 HO3, according to the China National Space Administration.

Monsoon arrives in India a week early

Monsoon rains hit the coast of India's southernmost state of Kerala on Saturday, arriving earlier than the usual June 1. This marked the earliest arrival in 16 years, offering hope for a bumper harvest and relief from a gruelling heatwave. The monsoon, vital to the country's $4 trillion economy, provides nearly 70 percent of the rain India needs to water farms and replenish aquifers and reservoirs.

Almost half of India's farmland depends on the annual June-September rains to grow key crops. Summer rains typically begin in Kerala around June 1 before spreading nationwide by mid-July, allowing farmers to plant rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane.

The onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala on May 24 is the earliest since May 23, 2009, the India Meteorological Department said on Saturday.

Japanese prime minister's office to accept soil from Fukushima

The Japanese premier's office will symbolically accept soil from near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to show it is safe, officials said Tuesday, with reports saying it will be used in flower beds. Authorities have found few takers for any of the 14 million cubic meters of soil removed from the region after the 2011 disaster, despite assurances that radioactivity levels in most of it are not dangerous.

"The government will take the lead in setting an example, and we will do so at the prime minister's office," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a special meeting to discuss the issue. Officials said they hoped the gesture by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba would convince other locations that accepting quantities of the soil would not pose a risk to public health or the environment.

The government has suggested that the material, described as low risk, could be used to build roads and other infrastructure elsewhere in Japan. It would be used as foundation material, covered with topsoil thick enough to keep radiation at negligible levels.

Nepali climber scales Mt. Qomolangma for record 31st time

Nepali Sherpa guide Kami Rita scaled Mt. Qomolangma (known as Mt. Everest in the West) for the 31st time on Tuesday, breaking his own record set last year. The 55-year-old reached the 8,849-meter peak – the highest in the world – via the traditional southeast ridge route while guiding a 22-member team, officials said. Kami Rita Sherpa arrived at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday after the record-breaking climb. "He is a very passionate climber," said Pasang Phurba, director of Seven Summit Treks, the company Kami Rita works for. Kami Rita first climbed Everest in 1994 and has done so every year except for three years when authorities closed the mountain to climbers.

(Cover: South Korean Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, 2nd right, and young voters cast their early ballots for the June 3 presidential election at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, May 29, 2025. /CFP)