Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 17

SEOUL -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to jointly march at the opening ceremony of the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics and to cheer together for both athletes of the two Koreas during the Olympic period, Seoul's unification ministry said Wednesday.

The agreement was reached after a vice ministerial-level dialogue between the two Koreas which was held at Peace House, a building in the South Korean side of Panmunjom which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean border.(S.Korea-DPRK-Olympics)

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SINGAPORE -- Singapore, as this year's ASEAN chairman, will make efforts toward positioning ASEAN as a region of seamless economic activities, especially in the fields of innovation and digital economy, a senior Singaporean official said here Wednesday.

Koh Poh Koon, senior minister of state for the Ministry of Trade and Industry, made the remarks while addressing the ASEAN Outlook Conference, which was hosted by the Singapore Business Federation and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC).(Singapore-ASEAN)

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NAY PYI TAW -- China and Myanmar held a new round of diplomacy and defense consultations here on Wednesday, pledging to further promote bilateral ties, keep close communication on the situation in northern Myanmar and maintain peace and stability in the border areas between the two countries.

The talks were co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission Shao Yuanming from the Chinese side, and Minister of International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin and Commander-in-Chief of No.1 Bureau of Special Operations (Army) Tun Tun Naung from the Myanmar side.(Myanmar-China-Consultations)

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MANILA -- More than 34,000 people from a danger zone around Mayon volcano have been evacuated due to the threat of hazardous eruption, Philippine authorities said on Wednesday.

Romina Marasigan, the spokesperson from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said at a press briefing that the evacuation figure due to the eruption of Mayon volcano was brought to 34,003 on Wednesday.(Philippines-Volcano-Evacuation)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Giant pandas are known to have a low fertility rate, due to their indifference to sex, but a giant panda has given birth to a second cub since it was loaned from China to Malaysia in 2014, both via natural mating.

Wan Junaidi Bin Tuanku Jaafar, Malaysia's minister of natural resources and environment, said on Wednesday the baby panda was born on Jan. 14 at the national zoo with a weight of 150 grams, 89 days after its parents, Xing Xing and Liang Liang mated.(Malaysia-Panda baby)

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TOKYO -- Two opposition parties which had taken steps towards forging a parliamentary alliance saw a breakdown in negotiations Wednesday with both sides failing to overcome differences in policy and stances regarding security and constitutional amendment.

On Monday, Motohisa Furukawa, secretary general of the Party of Hope and Teruhiko Mashiko, who serves the same position in the Democratic Party, vowed to create an alliance that could challenge the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).(Japan-Opposition-Alliance) Enditem