There is a palpable sense of betrayal and anger at large in South Korea, writes Peter Langan, as the scandal over President Park Geun-hye’s seeming subjugation to Choi Soon-sil has played out. So far demonstrations have had a “carnival” atmosphere, but events in the coming days will decide whether that continues or the anger boils over into the sort of clashes Seoul has seen before involving bricks, blood and tear gas.
When viewed against a basket of currencies, the yuan is showing a reasonable level of strength and stability. That’s the view of Yi Gang, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, as expressed in an interview with the Xinhua news agency. He said using this broader context was more reflective than simply focusing on the yuan’s recent weakening against the US dollar.
India’s US$150 billion IT services sector has signalled that it intends to speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from American college campuses. Fearing a more restrictive US technology visa program under a Donald Trump administration, the industry anticipates sending fewer developers and engineers to the US and sees buying US companies as a counter to protectionist labor market moves.
Samsung is reported to be considering a split. Division into a holding vehicle and an operating company would allow the heirs of the founding Lee family to strengthen their grip on the smartphone part of the business – the South Korean conglomerate’s “crown jewel” segment.