Your Week in Asia

East Asia

Spotlight

News By Location

News

<html><body><div>Welcome to Your Week in Asia.On the first week of our renamed newsletter, Mike Pompeo will visit Japan amid uncertainty about President Donald Trump's health.China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are still on the National Day and mid-autumn festival break through Thursday, but trade data will come from Taipei on Wednesday. Australia's central bank will meet Tuesday, the same day that the federal government will submit its delayed budget.Keep up with our reporting by following us on our new Twitter feed, <a href="https://twitter.com/nikkeiasia">@NikkeiAsia</a>.MONDAYBig Hit hopes for dynamiteBig Hit Entertainment, the agency behind K-Pop phenomenon BTS, is closing in on an $820 million IPO, the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Media-Entertainment/Boy-band-BTS-music-label-prices-IPO-at-high-end">biggest in South Korea in three years</a>. Institutional and retail investors' share subscriptions are due Monday, and Big Hit is expected to list on the KOSPI on Oct. 15.Appetite for the offering is intense -- shares earmarked for institutional investors are more than 1,000 times oversubscribed, and gross retail bids are expected to hit as much as $85 million. BTS's recent debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- a first by a Korean group -- is only fueling excitement.Opinion: <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/BTS-is-peaking-but-South-Korea-still-playing-the-same-old-song">BTS is peaking, but South Korea still playing the same old song</a>TUESDAYQuad ministers meet in TokyoThe second meeting of the so-called Quad will take place in Tokyo, with the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. meeting in person. While in Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's first high-level diplomatic visitor.On the agenda: Maritime security in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the South China Sea, private sector-led infrastructure investment and the coronavirus.On the itinerary: Pompeo was supposed to start his five-day visit to East Asia in Mongolia, proceeding to the Quad meeting in Tokyo before making his final stop in South Korea. But Pompeo will now <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Pompeo-shortens-upcoming-Asia-trip-after-Trump-falls-ill-with-COVID-19" target="_blank" title="">only stop in Japan</a>, his trip clouded by President Donald Trump's positive diagnosis for the coronavirus and hospitalization last week.More: <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Suga-tells-Modi-he-wants-to-push-Quad-with-US-and-Australia">In their first phone call</a>, Suga told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he wants to push the Quad forward.Australia's delayed budgetTreasurer Josh Frydenburg will submit Australia's federal budget to parliament on Tuesday, after a five-month delay. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the delay in March as the government grappled with the coronavirus.Australia's COVID stimulus has grown to 259 billion Australian dollars ($185 billion), or 13.3% of GDP, contributing to the country's largest budget deficit since World War II, according to Frydenburg.Indonesia labor unions strikeIndonesian labor unions are planning a nationwide strike through Thursday to protest against the omnibus bill on job creation expected to be passed by parliament this week. The bill seeks to bypass revisions of dozens of laws to draw more foreign investment, but unions say it fails to protect labor rights. The unions have also threatened to hold rallies in Jakarta and other provinces on Thursday.WEDNESDAYResults from Japanese retailersJapanese retail group Aeon and convenience store operator FamilyMart will announce results for the first half of fiscal year 2020 on Wednesday. After both companies went through a hard March-May quarter, attention will be paid to how much they managed to recover from the pandemic through the June-August quarter.On Thursday, Muji operator Ryohin Keikaku, convenience store operators Seven and i Holdings and Lawson will announce quarterly financial results. With no clear end to the pandemic in sight, their results may be a barometer for how deeply Covid-19 has hit the retail sector in Japan.FRIDAYNobel Peace Prize announcementAs is customary on the Friday of the first week of October, the recipient of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced at 11 a.m. in Oslo, Norway.Who's on the list? The director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo publishes a shortlist each year. This year, Henrik Urdal has included Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Urdal's choices, however, may or may not actually be nominees.In an interview with Nikkei, Law called for <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Nathan-Law-calls-for-alliance-to-protect-democracies-from-China">an alliance to protect democracies</a> from China.What else? The prize for economics will be announced on the same day. Other prizes will be announced earlier in the week -- medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday.
</div>
</body></html>

Pompeo visits Japan, Indonesia labor strikes and BTS agency IPO

Read Next

BTS is peaking, but South Korea still playing the same old song

'Father of BTS' tests investor appetite for K-pop with IPO plan

Analysis: With eye on 'Quad,' China steps up Japan courtship

Nathan Law calls for alliance to protect democracies from China

This is the Asian Century: Seven reasons to be optimistic about it

Latest on Your Week in Asia

China military parade, Vietnam independence day, BOJ deputy's speech

Extra US tariff on India, SCO summit, Lee in Washington

US-South Korea drills, Lee visits Japan, Taiwan nuclear power vote

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.