In September 2017, Pyongyang escalated tensions to a new level by firing two long-range missiles over Japan, conducting a hydrogen bomb test, and boasting about sinking the Japanese archipelago into the Pacific in a wave of nuclear attacks.

As tensions on the Korean Peninsula reached their peak in October, the stock market indices in Asia also climbed to record highs.

Technically, the market exhibits a remarkably strong positive momentum, which suggests that longer-term bull market phase has begun. Furthermore, Asia’s markets are not simply following the global economic upswing, but outperforming it.

… Mikio Kumada is Executive Director, Global Strategist at LGT Capital Partners in Hong Kong. Michael Raska is assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. This commentary first appeared in RSIS commentaries.