Top Asian News 4:21 a.m. GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The jailed confidante of disgraced South Korean President Park Geun-hye begins a trial Monday that will explore a scandal that led to Park's impeachment after millions took to the streets in protest. The trial of Choi Soon-sil, Park's friend of 40 years, is the biggest since the 2014 trial of the crew of a ferry that sank and killed more than 300 people, mostly teenagers. Ten others swept up in the scandal also face trial. Speculation about Choi dominated local news every day for months, but she is still a mystery. She last appeared in public on Oct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday on Twitter the United States should let China keep the U.S. Navy's unmanned underwater glider that it seized in the South China Sea. "We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!" Trump tweeted a few hours after the U.S. military announced it had reached an understanding with China for the return of the underwater glider. According to the Pentagon, the drone was seized Thursday while collecting unclassified scientific data in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety. The U.S. demanded the drone back, calling it an "unlawful seizure" in international waters.

BEIJING (AP) — China says its military seized a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater glider in the South China Sea, but that it will give it back. President-elect Donald Trump, however, says the Chinese government should be told "we don't want the drone they stole back" and "let them keep it!" This comes after U.S. officials confirmed that they "secured an understanding" for the return of the device. Trump's tweet Saturday evening may extend one of the most serious incidents between the American and the Chinese militaries in years. The Chinese navy on Thursday seized the drone, which the Pentagon said was being operated by civilian contractors to conduct oceanic research.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States said Sunday that it would work with the Philippine president to address any concerns after he threatened to terminate a pact that allows U.S. troops to visit the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte was enraged after a U.S. government aid agency deferred a vote on a renewal of a major development assistance package for the Philippines over concerns about extrajudicial killings in Duterte's war on illegal drugs, which has left thousands dead. Although no decision on the aid package has been taken, Duterte on Saturday launched an expletives-laden tirade, telling the U.S. to "prepare to leave the Philippines, prepare for the eventual repeal or the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement." He was referring to a 1998 accord that governs American forces visiting the Philippines for joint combat exercises.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police have detained dozens of people ahead of a West Papua independence protest on Monday. At least 200 people were arrested in several cities in Papua and Java, said Veronica Koman, a lawyer for Papuan independence activist Filep Karma. Monday is the 55th anniversary of the official declaration of an Indonesian military campaign to take control of Papua from the Dutch. Koman said several people were arrested last week when they applied for demonstration permits. She said the headquarters of the pro-independence National Committee for West Papua in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, was vandalized during a police raid on Monday.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Nearly 600 people died in Indian police custody from 2009-2015, many after being tortured, a human rights group said Monday, urging India to implement a string of often-ignored regulations and prosecute officers involved in the mistreatment of prisoners. Human Rights Watch said in its report that police regularly disregard arrest procedures and torture suspects in custody to death. The police often blame such deaths on suicide or illness. While torture is illegal in India, and law enforcement agencies in many countries now say it does little to elicit accurate information, many Indian police are open about their use of the "third degree" — a term that can encompass anything from a couple slaps to a savage beating - to extract details or confessions.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Emperor canceled an annual year-end palace banquet on Monday because of a cold. The Imperial Household Agency said the decision was because Emperor Akihito had developed a fever last week and is still recovering. Akihito turns 83 years old on Friday. Plans for his birthday celebration have not been changed. Akihito had invited Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top officials for Monday's banquet. Akihito expressed an apparent wish to abdicate in a rare public address in August, citing concerns that his age and health conditions may start limiting his ability to fulfil official duties. A government-commissioned panel of experts is discussing a possibility of setting up a special law to accommodate his abdication, without touching more controversial issues, including a possibility of allowing a female emperor.

BANGKOK (AP) — A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves: ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region. ___ CHINA TESTS U.S. BY SNATCHING NAVY GLIDER OFF PHILIPPINES Just days after Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific forces, warned that the U.S. would not back down from challenging Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, a Chinese warship snatched an underwater Navy glider that was collecting scientific data about 50 nautical miles (93 kilometers) northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines.

BANGKOK (AP) — The actions of Myanmar's military may constitute crimes against humanity, human rights group Amnesty International has warned, based on accounts of violence against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority. Myanmar has come under heavy criticism for its army's forceful treatment of the Rohingya, and international human rights groups such as Amnesty have accused the military of mass murder, looting and rape. "The Myanmar military has targeted Rohingya civilians in a callous and systematic campaign of violence," said Rafendi Djamin, Southeast Asia director for Amnesty International. "The deplorable actions of the military could be part of a widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population and may amount to crimes against humanity." Amnesty released a report Monday outlining its accusations.

WAMENA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian military transport plane crashed in bad weather Sunday in the country's easternmost province of Papua, killing all 13 people on board, officials said. The Hercules C-130 plane was carrying 12 tons of food supplies and cement from Timika to Wamena, a distance of about 200 kilometers (125 miles), when it crashed just minutes before its scheduled landing, said air force chief of staff Agus Supriatna. Three pilots and 10 other personnel were aboard the plane. Bad weather and low clouds in Wamena, the capital of the mountainous district of Jayawijaya, were believed to be factors in the crash, deputy air force chief of staff Hadiyan Sumintaatmadja told a news conference.