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Good morning. We start today in South Korea where a convicted former minister vowing revenge against President Yoon Suk Yeol has helped deliver a resounding defeat to the conservative leader in parliamentary elections.
Former justice minister Cho Kuk, convicted on corruption charges after he was investigated by Yoon during his time as prosecutor-general, campaigned on an end to Yoon’s “prosecutorial dictatorship”.
Cho’s newly formed Rebuilding Korea Party is projected to win between 14 and 16 seats, as voters voiced their anger at the rising cost of living. Yesterday’s results help the country’s leftwing alliance across a 180-seat threshold that will allow it to fast-track legislation.
Cho received a two-year prison sentence last year, which he is yet to serve as he is appealing against the ruling. He was charged with corruption relating to the forging of documents in order to help his daughter gain a place at a top medical school. If a higher court confirms the conviction, he faces disqualification from the National Assembly.
Lee Sangsin, a research fellow and polling expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that Cho’s criticism of Yoon had struck a chord with voters unhappy with the president’s strongman governing style.
“[H]e is presenting himself as the country’s Luke Skywalker, with Yoon cast in the role of Darth Vader — it’s a narrative that many liberal Koreans find hard to resist.” FT Seoul correspondent Christian Davies reports on the election implications.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Economic data: China publishes March trade data, India releases monthly inflation data and Singapore reports its advance first-quarter GDP estimate.
Central banks: The Bank of Korea has its Monetary Policy Committee meeting and decision. Singapore also releases its monetary policy statement.
Results: BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, State Street and Wells Fargo report first-quarter earning.
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan has been sentenced to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City for embezzling more than $12bn in the country’s largest financial fraud. Lan was the most prominent businessperson to face graft allegations since the ruling Communist party launched a broader corruption crackdown that has raised questions over political stability in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
2. ByteDance has offered to buy shares held by employees outside the US for about $171 each, in a broad extension of a buyback programme it launched in the US in March, according to internal documents seen by the FT. TikTok’s Beijing-based parent is facing a backlash from US employees over millions of dollars in taxes owed on shares in the company that they were unable to sell.
US-China news: Western pharmaceutical companies are in talks with alternative suppliers in response to draft US legislation seeking to restrict an important Chinese drug developer and manufacturer over national security concerns.
3. China’s consumer prices edged higher in March against a year earlier, missing analysts’ forecasts and underlining the challenges for the world’s second-largest economy as it tries to boost domestic demand. The soft CPI number comes as China’s economy has shown mixed signs of recovery in the first quarter of the year.
4. The European Central Bank sent a strong signal that it would consider cutting interest rates at its next meeting in June after holding them at all-time highs yesterday. While the benchmark deposit rate will stay at 4 per cent, ECB president Christine Lagarde told reporters that a small minority of policymakers had argued for an immediate cut.
5. Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter was charged with bank fraud by the US Department of Justice, which accused him of wiring more than $16mn from the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star’s bank account to pay off gambling debts. Ippei Mizuhara allegedly impersonated Ohtani to fool bank employees into approving bank transfers to associates of the illegal gambling operations where he placed his bets.
News-in-depth
For all his dominance of Indian politics over the past decade, there is one part of India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far been unable to crack: the country’s prosperous south. The FT’s Benjamin Parkin and Jyotsna Singh report from the south-eastern city of Chennai, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party senses its best chance yet for a breakthrough in elections beginning next week.
We’re also reading . . .
Japan’s corporate art: Corporate Japan has an untold hoard of art. Shareholder pressure is building on companies to disclose the treasures they hold, writes Leo Lewis.
Aukus: The Australia-UK-US security pact is gaining momentum but there is still more work to be done, writes the FT editorial board.
TSMC’s $65bn US bet: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s decision to bring its latest technology to America still leaves Washington short of being able to completely produce the most complex chips in the US.
Chart of the day
The global coal fleet grew by 2 per cent last year, mainly driven by new capacity additions in China and a slow down of closures in the EU and the US. The recent surge in coal power development put China’s 2025 climate targets at risk, analysts said, despite the country’s rapid rollout of renewable energy.
Take a break from the news
Go behind the scenes with Wes Anderson, the American filmmaker behind Fantastic Mr Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Speaking from a secret set location for his newest production, Anderson tells HTSI’s Jackie Daly how he builds his iconic colour-saturated worlds.
Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Nora Redmond
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Source: Economy - ft.com
