South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he seeks to reset frayed ties with his country's biggest trading partner. Regional security and Beijing's unofficial ban on Korean pop culture are also on the agenda for Monday's meeting, which is their second summit since November, when Xi visited South Korea.

SEOUL/BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping rarely appears in selfies. But at South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's request, Xi gamely posed for one with Lee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing after a state banquet held in the latter's honour on Jan 5.

The projectiles, launched off the North Korean east coast, are believed to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

North Korea on Sunday launched what it claimed to be hypersonic missiles into the Sea of Japan in a firing drill. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who stated that nuclear deterrence is necessary due to the “recent geopolitical crisis and complicated international events,

The author, a frequent contributor to the Herald and a world traveler, recently went on a 24-day tour of Japan and South Korea.

China has banned exports of some rare earth elements and other items to Japan that could be used for military purposes, straining already tense relations between the two countries following the Japanese prime minister’s recent remarks on Taiwan.

Japanese lawmaker Seki Hei, who is being sanctioned by China, has arrived in Taiwan for defense cooperation talks. Seki says his arrival is proof that Taiwan is separate from China. He is known as a strong critic of the Chinese Communist Party.