for this, perhaps the greatest leonardo masterpiece in the collection of the louvre and no, it is not the mona lisa. it is the virgin of the rocks, 2 versions, multiple copies, and a drawing. was there another symbolic meaning to this beautiful data that perhaps we just don't understand today? search for answers starts with on d w. you're watching d. w news, asia coming up south korea's exhausted labor force pushed to the brink. the government is now announcing new labor laws, it claims will give workers a break, but will it really change things? and celebrating this weekend's lunar new year away from home, d, w, visit some hong kong exiles in taiwan. plus the malaysian female

fighter, who has vested men and women in the ring. her name is phoenix, and she is definitely rising. ah, i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. well, in south korea, people work a lot. that's pretty much an understatement. more than 18 percent of koreans work more than 50 hours a week and anecdotally the hour seemed to be much, much worse in an attempt to shake up the work life balance. the government is set to announce a labor reform bill next month, which it says will give workers more flexibility, though tired workers are not sure how much it might help. what's on the lunch menu for office workers in sol, typically 40 winks at an epic cafe,

where overworked office staff can have a rest. so she'll, as i look it up though, i usually take a nap during lunch time. i can't get enough sleep or as i need to take care of my work relationship and personal life is all. so i take this time to sleep. how may i get this? the 33 year old desk jockey come see a nearly every day to try to catch up on sleep. many of us do the same in a society where overtime is an epidemic. the government is introducing a new labor bill, which will allow workers to choose how much of a time work they can take on a weekly, monthly, or even a yearly basis. a departure from the 52 hour work week enacted in 2018. the government says that with more labor flexibility, workers will end up working less in the end. but it also means that people can work up to 69 hours in one week every month. toner and i have no choice but to quit my

job where i worked for more than 14 years because i have to take care of my son. and now i'm focusing on raising my child's. however, if the government continues its policy of increasing working hours in the future, i can't even dream of having a 2nd child at all. and that's the crux of it. long working hours mean falling birthrights, leading to aging population, which in turn means a shrinking workforce culture. i think it's very important to reform the system of long working hours to solve the low birth rate problem. working long hours gives unmarried people a very tiring life, which eventually leads them to avoiding marriage. county south korea's working age population peaked at 38000000 in 2019, and is set to drop by more than 9000000 by 2040 and joining us is joseph schilling, who teaches in the korean studies program at the university of central lancashire, welcome to the program so it seems as if

a lot of koreans feel quite ambivalent about this new labor plan. what's your take on it? yes, obviously this conservative government trying to expand working hours a 69 week, which is you know, a current over actual tendency about working hours. and if you could test, i think it would be a strong big rush from from the unions and from ordinary program. people the government though is saying it's actually going to give people flexibility that in the end, people might even work less so it doesn't sound like you think that's going to be

an issue. well, we all know that these so called flexibility is not for one. cause is a flexibility for employers. well, i think it is a flexibility in a market, but it turns out is late 90 ninety's. well, it's harmed, then a home to better than the forecasting fit. and i was in pain as well. right. so in south korea, there's the tension of keeping women in the workforce, which is key to growing the economy, but there's all week. so the need to encourage more couples to have more children, which is also key to growing the economy in the long term. how do you think this

potential labor reform would impact is demographic challenge that south korea has the refund of a level? no. or under dease conservative governments, obviously will affect for women's, everyday life. and on currency drill effect flaw. lation also. mm hm. but about the decrease in population assess for my population is not only because of the walking hours. it's a whole less say social assistant to raise children is south korea is programmatic. in fact, it's not favourable at all to raise a child in south korea. god is

a harsh yeah. company give us a social system education system or so. yeah. and social protection system as well. right. so any change to the labor law is just going to complicate this conversation that couples will have with each other young him he on thank you so much for joining us. hey, shay. this weekend marks the start of lunar new year in many parts of asia when families from near and far come together in celebration. so that's not the case for everyone. since the passage of hong kong, sweeping national security long 2020 a record number of political exiles have moved to taiwan. they do not feel safe returning home, so they're staying on the island and will mark the holiday in their new home as t w's chattering year in taipei reports. a festive atmosphere in the street of taipei. the luna new year is a time for homecoming and family reunions. but many hunkers cannot go back home.

missus toe. she would only give her a last name is preparing a tradition. milk gentleness, faster dish. it's going to be her 3rd luna. new year in taiwan. she's that she never used to be good at cooking, but missing le flavors of hong kong has changed that mrs. joe moved to tie one falling beijing's crackdown. ali hon. com per democracy movement. she has never been back. she roused a raster on now to support x out hung colors. so she is afraid of showing her face on screen aretha and why i wouldn't go back to hong kong if the theme one as why i just moved to taiwan. hong kong is now completely different from what it used to be in the one sample. yeah. shall. is only one of many people and i like who had to leave hong kong before the new year. she is having

a reunion dinner with allah exiles, one of her friends, oh i loses see each other. this nice. it reminds them of the roots. is a journalist. i reported on the per task in hong kong in 2019. she laid her flat to tie wife, where she had already spent time. as a student. she now sees the island is a 2nd home, but many others don't feel that way. bob will 1st moved hong kong people have chosen to live there one because of its immigration policy. they don't know when they will get a definitive answer on whether they can stay long term or not. some of the whole young with ha ha, people are and, and just catherine administrative limbo. 5 widely, taiwan, nascar lindsey's in principal that in welcomes hong kong. ers, some politicians are calling for a tightening of immigration rules. lisa, national security is at stake. so more and more hunkers have already given up on

taiwan and left for other countries. all i loses hunk on immigrants can help protect taiwan. she said, she's willing to prove her loyalty to our new home. she had china in vate, jo johnson hill if there's a war, or i hope that i so susan, i can do something for the one online who says, oh, has met up from my to stay before many other hunkers in taiwan. that is clearly a difficult decision. the year we'll wrap it gets on the way. i love stories about strong women for our last report this friday. here's a closer look at asian women in the world of wrestling, breaking barriers in this male dominated sport in malaysia. there's one hid job wearing fierce fighter. you wouldn't want to mess with in the ring. shining

bright in the man's world. meet no phoenix, diana, malicious. only full time. female wrestler. the he joke wearing 23 year old is breaking the moon in a muslim society. that can be conservative at times. usually in her dressing. sure is always the guys that mean event that issue because like, you know, that is a male dominant. this falls, following a teenage dream, phoenix started wrestling in 2015 in performance, art less as much better as sport since place compete in stage matches. hours of training lead up to each contest. organizes say women should be taken as seriously as their male counterparts. it's very difficult for them because i'm one director to this. i can be a number to the i guess see mess as i said, to fluff up

a pressing show by which thing? absolutely. as well as we can put on amazing measures fan. so hawking. it's diana sat, take her seriously, ready to take on opponents, who seemed twice her size to day she's up against was true. his staff deal under oh, a women rarely hair here with a few twists and turns the $155.00 centimeter tall phoenix. finally takes down the lender to grab the women's champion bout that matches like this remain a mish here. she still sees a lot of potential for growth in the industry. and i am really looking forward to a mall, goes to join us about willie them and i believed it out. got me. she'll pulling up,

we can have a woman as loom. it's um, as many as a neighboring country in japan, australia, and she's hopeful more women and girls were follow their passion, my car, no matter how big the gender barrier is. and that's it for friday. my name is melissa chan in berlin. thanks for watching and have a great weekend with nico, raring to read. if there is any erotic offence between them, you'd have to find it between the lines. he w literature,

100 german must reads. what are sports all about in winning fighter scoring? we say they're about never giving up the most exciting sport stories about people passion and their dr. sports life every weekend on d w ah, ah, the global elite pack up and go home as the world economic forum and today in davos, switzerland, we catch up on the highlights, weather correspondence, also on the show, better beef here, how grazing cows on pastures can make their meat,

more environmentally friendly. hey, this is dw business st. janelle de malott on welcome. it's the final day of the world economic forums. annual gathering in davos, switzerland, where the world's elite gather to try to discuss the world's thorn. yes. issues from the wash russian war and ukraine to the climate crisis. it's been a week of speeches, deal making and agenda, pushing amid wider criticism of the forums. exclusivity and excess at a time of economic hardships for many now our correspondent christy plaids and was there for all of it. and earlier i asked her what stood out to her the most from this week. but politicians speaking this week talked a lot about ukraine. we also heard from president's lensky himself, but the conversations here on the ground were quite different now. last novels took place in may just a few months after the war and ukraine broke out. and that was a major topic on last year's a judge.