02/03/2026

MONDAY | MAR 2, 2026

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Vietnam AI law first in Southeast Asia

Seoul keen to resume talks with N. Korea SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called yesterday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbour. Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti Seoul approach during a party meeting last week. “As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule. “We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work”. Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots”. But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status. Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China. Last year, Trump said he was “100%” open to a meeting. TOKYO: Delegates from around 20 countries began holding three days of “informal” talks in Japan from yesterday aimed at salvaging efforts towards a landmark global treaty on plastic pollution. Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 towards an agreement failed, and a renewed effort in Geneva last August likewise collapsed in overtime. A Japanese Environment Ministry official said that the “informal” closed door meeting among “working-level officials” ending tomorrow was not expected to result in any official announcement. “Japan is in a position of pushing for progress on the issue, and so is hosting the meeting,” the official said without wishing to be named. She said “little progress” has been made since August, other than the election in early last month of Chile’s chief climate negotiator Julio Cordano as chairman. “Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every

entities operating in the country. Vietnam has set ambitious double-digit growth targets for the next five years, with expansion of the digital economy a key part of its development strategy. AI and the data economy are “pillars” of a “more sustainable and smarter new development” model, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was quoted as saying on Wednesday on the government’s website. Under the law, the government will establish a national AI computing centre, improved data resources and large language models in Vietnamese. So far only a handful of countries have implemented far-reaching regulatory frameworks on AI. The United States has opposed what Vice-President JD Vance called “excessive regulation”, warning it could stifle innovation in the key sector. In January, South Korea became the first country to have an AI law take full effect, while the European Union is gradually phasing in a set of rules that will become completely applicable next year. While Vietnam’s law is a regulatory milestone, analysts said its impact would depend on how the government enforces it and on what guidance it issues on implementation. The law is “not the final word” but rather a “decisive starting point”, Vietnam-based LNT & Partners law firm said in an analysis on its website. “It establishes responsibility, human control and risk management as the governing themes of AI regulation,” the firm said. However, it said, “the true impact will depend on implementing decrees, sectoral regulations and enforcement practice”. Patrick Keil, senior legal adviser at law firm DFDL, called the law “a significant statement of national ambition” but said businesses will continue to face some uncertainty about their obligations until the government issues further guidance. At an AI summit hosted by New Delhi last month, 91 countries and organisations called for “secure, trustworthy and robust” AI. But their declaration was criticised by AI safety campaigners for being too generic. – AFP

maintaining digital sovereignty”, the government said in a December report. It requires companies to clearly label AI-generated content such as deepfakes that cannot readily be differentiated from reality. It also requires them to disclose to customers when they are interacting with an artificial rather than human agent. The law applies to developers as well as providers and deployers of the technology, whether they are Vietnamese organisations or foreign

in December, the law focuses on the risks posed by generative AI, requiring human oversight and control along the lines of the European Union’s landmark AI Act. Many nations are moving to address the dangers of chatbots and image generators – from misinformation to online abuse and copyright violations – but few have enacted legislation. The legislation, which came into force yesterday, “paves the way for Vietnam to deeply integrate with international standards while

HANOI: A law regulating artificial intelligence went into effect in Vietnam yesterday, making it the first country in Southeast Asia with a comprehensive framework on the booming technology. Passed by the National Assembly o Act paves way for Hanoi to sync with global standards

Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over UN sanctions relief and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return. – AFP Plastic pollution talks begin

CULTURAL BREAK ... Dancers from a traditional Javanese performance arts group called the Jaranan Jagad Trenggono performa horse dance for the public gathered to watch the show at Bungkul Park as they wait for the breaking of fast during Ramadan in Surabaya. – AFPPIC

Cardinal found with phone during secret conclave VATICAN CITY: The secret conclave that elected Pope Leo head of the Catholic Church last May was interrupted when one of the 133 cardinals involved was found carrying a cellphone, a massive security breach, a book released yesterday revealed.

individual,” Cordano warned after being elected. “If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed,” he said. More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, with half for single-use items. A large bloc of states wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while a smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management. Countries expected to be present in Tokyo include big oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States as well as island states Antigua and Barbuda and Palau, plus China, India and the European Union. The UN’s environment chief said in October that a global treaty remains “totally doable”. “No-one has walked away and said, ‘this is just too hopeless, we’re giving up’,“ UN Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen said. – AFP

As the clerics were preparing to take their first vote inside the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, which was fitted with jamming equipment to prevent outside communications, security officials picked up the signal of an active mobile connection. The cardinals stared at each other incredulously, then one of the older clerics discovered he had a phone in his pocket and handed it over, according to The Election of Pope Leo XIV , a new book by two long-time Vatican correspondents. The cardinal is not named. The Vatican press office did not respond to a request for comment about the new book, which offers behind-the-scenes details of one of the world’s most secretive elections. – Reuters

The Election of Pope Leo XIV was released yesterday. – REUTERSPIC