Top Asian News 3:49 a.m. GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A 6,800-ton South Korean ferry emerged from the water on Thursday, nearly three years after it capsized and sank into violent seas off the country's southwestern coast, an emotional moment for the country that continues to search for closure to one of its deadliest disasters ever. More than 300 people — most of whom were students on a high school trip — died when the Sewol sank on April 16, 2014, touching off an outpouring of national grief and soul searching about long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. The public outrage over what was seen as a botched rescue job by the government contributed to the recent ouster of Park Geun-hye as president.

A South Korean group representing the families of ferry disaster victims has issued a statement thanking salvaging crews for lifting the 6,800-ton Sewol from the waters, nearly three years after it sank off the country's southwestern coast in an accident that killed 304 passengers. The group called for the government to come up with more detailed plans to reduce damage to the wreckage during the salvage operation to preserve the remains of the missing passengers that might be inside. The group demanded that it be part of a committee that will further investigate the cause of the sinking, which was blamed on overloaded cargo, improper storage and other negligence.

TOKYO (AP) — North Korea has a criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump he probably wasn't expecting: He's too much like Barack Obama. North Korea's state media, which regularly vilified Obama in the strongest terms, had been slow to do the same with the Trump administration, possibly so that officials in Pyongyang could figure out what direction Trump will likely take and what new policies he may pursue. But his top diplomat's recent trip to Asia, which featured some pretty tough talk, appears to have loosened their lips. In North Korea's first official comments since new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's swing through the region, a Foreign Ministry spokesman seized on the former oil executive's blunt assessment that Obama's strategy needs to be replaced and U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Salvage workers are slowly pulling the huge, corroded South Korean ferry above the sea surface Thursday, about three years after it sank on a routine voyage to a resort island, killing more than 300 people, mostly high school students. The sinking, the country's deadliest maritime disaster in decades, caused an outpouring of national grief and a rare bout of soul-searching on long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. A look at developments in the April 2014 ferry disaster and its aftermath: __ April 16, 2014: The Sewol carrying 476 people, mostly students from a single high school on a field trip to a southern resort island, begins sinking off South Korea's southwestern coast.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea's latest missile launch ended in failure on Wednesday as the United States sent a supersonic bomber streaking over ally South Korea in a show of force against the North, officials said. The reported launch failure comes as the North angrily reacts to ongoing annual U.S.-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. Earlier this month, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles that landed in waters off Japan, triggering strong protests from Seoul and Tokyo. The American military detected what it assessed as a failed North Korean missile launch on Wednesday morning, the U.S.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China's premier has warned against protectionism, saying his country planned to close its $50 billion a year deficit with Australia by expanding the trading the relationship rather than retreating from it. Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech in Australia's Parliament House on Thursday that globalization created "some problems," but that free trade is not to blame. He says China "cannot close our doors" to solve its trade imbalance with Australia, which last year left the Chinese with a $50 billion deficit largely through industrial demand for iron ore and coal. Li and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will on Friday detail an expansion of their two-year-old bilateral free trade pact in the areas of investment and services.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nearly a third of all children in war-torn Afghanistan are unable to attend school, leaving them at increased risk of child labor, recruitment by armed groups, early marriage and other forms of exploitation, an aid group said Thursday. Save the Children said more than 400,000 Afghan children are expected to drop out of school this year due to growing instability and the forcible return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, adding to the 3.7 million already out of school. More than 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan in 2016 and around one million more are expected in 2017 after the tightening of regulations by authorities there.

TOKYO (AP) — Fewer Japanese are taking their own lives, a positive sign in a country with one of the world's highest suicide rates. The Health Ministry said Thursday that 21,897 people committed suicide in 2016, down from more than 30,000 in 2011 and the lowest number since 1994. Of those, 15,121 were male and 6,776 were female. It was the seventh straight year that the number of suicides had declined. Experts say it's difficult to pinpoint a reason for the decline, attributing it to a combination of factors. The government has made a determined effort to tackle the issue, starting with national legislation in 2006.

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police have made an arrest in the mysterious disappearance of a toddler from a beach nearly 50 years ago, charging a man with the 3-year-old girl's slaying in a case that has baffled officials for decades. A 63-year-old man who was once considered a person of interest in the 1970 disappearance of Cheryl Grimmer was arrested on Wednesday, New South Wales police Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth told reporters. "I'm not going to get into the specifics of the actual detail of the offenses, but I can say that they're quite horrific and they'll be unfolding in court," Ainsworth said.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — About 50 farmers and activists opposed to a cement factory in Indonesia's Central Java province have encased their feet in concrete during a dayslong protest in Jakarta, the capital. Farmers in the village of Kendeng have battled against plans for the factory for years, saying it could taint their water. The factory is now more or less complete and the owner, state-owned Cement Indonesia, has said it will create jobs and boost the local economy. The ongoing protest was overshadowed this week by the death of one of the women involved. A legal aid foundation supporting the protesters said Patmi, 48, died of a heart attack early Tuesday.