Asia, Debt | featured news

Russia and North Korea have signed a deal to write off nearly all of the isolated Asian country's $11 billion Soviet-era debt.

At a time when much of the advanced world is unloading its debt, South Koreans are still borrowing at a feverish rate that economists say is unsustainable, and potentially dangerous.

Japan says it will forgive about 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of Myanmar's debt as a way to support the country's democratic and economic reforms.

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide today by leaping to his death from a hill behind his house, the South Korean government announced. Roh, 62, left a suicide family for his family. "I am in debt to too many people," the note reads.

Chen Fuchao, a man heavily in debt, had been contemplating suicide on a bridge in southern China for hours when a passer-by came up, shook his hand and pushed him off the ledge.