The news from Asia at year-end 2024 that dominated headlines here in the United States included the tragic crash landing of Jeju Air flight 2216 flying from Thailand. As hundreds of millions took to roads and to the air for the holidays, the news seemed especially close to home, even thousands of miles away.
The investigation continues into the causes of the horrific crash at Muan International Airport in southwest South Korea. Of the 181 passengers and crew on board the flight, 179 died -- two from Thailand and the rest from Korea.
Amid news of this tragedy, we offer up a last farewell to 2024, looking at both the best and the worst of the year that was in Asia and the Pacific.
Best Year: Moo Deng, Thailand's Viral Sensation
No surprise, perhaps, that Thailand's favourite hippopotamus topped our list. To say that the female baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng -- Thai for "bouncy pork" -- took the world and 2024 by storm would be an understatement.
Born in July at Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo, the "hyper-viral" baby pygmy has seen her memes, photos and videos go global.
Fan accounts on X, TikTok, and Facebook continue to proliferate. And even NBC's long-running US comedy show Saturday Night Live got in on the "Moo Deng mania". Asian-American star Bowen Yang impersonated the baby hippo on the show's "Weekend Update" segment, lamenting the hazards of instant fame. But Moo Deng isn't just another pretty face. She correctly predicted the winner of the 2024 US presidential race by selecting the fruit and vegetable plate bearing Donald Trump's name over that of one for rival Kamala Harris.
For bringing a bit of hope and joy to a region and world that could use a lot more reasons for good cheer, the designation of "Best Year in Asia" for 2024 goes to Moo Deng.
Good Year: The Korean Wave
When Fil-Am singer-songwriter Bruno Mars and New Zealand and Korean singer Rosé teamed up in 2024, their blockbuster song Apt. would dominate music charts, underscoring how much of the region and world continued to embrace "Hallyu", South Korea's wave of wildly popular cultural exports.
K is for Korean. Whether "K-pop" music, "K-dramas", "K-beauty" products, or Korean fried chicken and other "K-food", 2024 proved good for this expanding wave of business that has grown well beyond superstar musical groups BTS and Blackpink.
More than 300 Korean movies and series are now available for streaming on Netflix alone, including Squid Game Season 2, and contract marriage melodrama When the Phone Rings. The romantic drama Queen of Tears, starring Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, was a 2024 global sensation, clocking more than 690 million viewing hours on Netflix. And the world was dramatically introduced to K-literature, with Korean author Han Kang in 2024 becoming the first Korean and first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
This tsunami of soft diplomacy that has elevated South Korea's global presence is also big business. The global economic benefit to Korea of "Hallyu" is now projected to hit US$198 billion by 2030, according to a BusinessKorea report on a white paper released this July by TikTok and market research firm Kantar.
Mixed Year: Democracy & Incumbency in Asia
The countdown to the 2025 Philippines general election continues. But elections were already very much on the 2024 calendar across the region -- from India and Japan to Indonesia, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Taiwan. At year's end, however, it has proven a decidedly mixed year for not just incumbent politicians but for democracy itself.
The year began with longtime leader and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasani winning re-election overwhelmingly in an election boycotted by the opposition, only to resign and flee the country months later after weeks of student protests.
As a perhaps bewildered world looked on, the year ended with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declaring martial law eight months after his party lost big in general elections. The National Assembly would successfully move both to force the lifting of martial law and then to impeach him as well as his acting successor. The K-drama continues.
Yet, elections cemented a vibrant democracy in Taiwan, forced India's President Narendra Modi to govern with a coalition, surprised the Pakistan incumbent, and heralded in the peaceful transition of presidential power in Indonesia to retired Gen Prabowo Subianto. As Thailand's voters also know too well -- with Paetongtarn Shinawatra becoming the youngest prime minister of Thailand and the second woman to hold the position, following her aunt -- diverse, mixed democratic trajectories for a diversity of democracies in Asia characterised 2024.
Bad Year: East Asia's Babies
In marked contrast to the situation in relatively youthful and growing nations like India, Indonesia and the Philippines, aspiring grandparents in East Asia might well have a critical question. Where are all the babies? That might increasingly also prove to be a relevant question for Thailand.
"Don't ignore birth rate dip," warned a year-end Bangkok Post editorial. "Thailand is in the middle of a demographic crisis of unprecedented proportions: with its birth rate ranking among the lowest in the world, the kingdom is at risk of seeing an irreversible decline that will see its population shrink by 50% in just a few decades," said the editorial.
According to recent figures published by Chulalongkorn University's Sasin School of Management, Thailand -- where the national birth rate has declined by 81% over the past 74 years -- is third globally in terms of declining birth rates, behind South Korea and China.
In South Korea, China and Japan as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong, record-low fertility rates continued to prove a major concern in 2024. Fertility rates across East Asia and in Thailand remained well below that needed for a stable, if not growing, population. The long-term economic consequences could well be significant as nations contend with shrinking workforces and ageing populations.
Women are having very few to no children. Changing gender roles, long work hours, the high cost of housing, education, and childcare are all cited as some of the factors behind this East Asia demographic trend.
Worst Year: Asia's Climate Casualties
Twenty years ago, a devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on Dec 26, 2004, killed more than 200,000 in a single day, including thousands in Thailand. In contrast, 2024 was a year of mounting casualties from typhoons, floods, heat waves and droughts.
This included Super Typhoon Yagi. One of the strongest storms to hit Southeast Asia in years, Enteng left a path of death and devastation in November. From the Philippines through southern China and Vietnam and onto Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, the storm killed hundreds and devastated communities and livelihoods.
Floods from the yearly monsoon rains also left millions displaced and hundreds dead in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Nepal, making this year one of the deadliest in recent memory. There was record-breaking rainfall, drought and severe water shortages.
With extreme weather events seemingly more the norm and their victims too often increasingly unnoticed and forgotten, the region's climate casualties garner the dubious distinction of Worst Year in Asia.
We send condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the year that was. And here's to a more hopeful, prosperous and joy-filled 2025 and best wishes and safe travels for all our world in the year ahead.
Curtis S Chin, a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group. Jose B Collazo is an analyst focusing on the Indo-Pacific region. Follow them on X at @CurtisSChin and @JoseBCollazo.