The potential deployment of a sophisticated U.S. air defense system in South Korea to counter the North's missile threat is proving a headache for Seoul as it tries to walk a fine line between its closest security ally Washington and its biggest trade partner China.
The U.N. human rights investigator for North Korea said on Monday he would probe allegations of an estimated 20,000 North Koreans working in slave-like conditions abroad, mainly in China, Russia and the Middle East.
Myanmar expressed "deep sorrow" on Monday for the deaths of five people across the border in China's Yunnan province that it has been blamed for, while Beijing said it was clear Myanmar's air force was responsible.
China's relations with Japan face a "test" this year linked to whether Japan can properly atone for its wartime past, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday.
