A senior official of Japan's Finance Ministry says his predecessor may have known about altering of documents related to the controversial state land sale.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed that they will continue to exert the maximum pressure on North Korea .
The leaders of Britain, the United States, France, and Germany have jointly condemned the suspected poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter.
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Key words : senior official finance
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_24/
A senior official of Japan's Finance Ministry says his predecessor may have known about altering of documents related to the controversial sale of state-owned land to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen.
The ministry has admitted to altering the documents on the sale for millions of dollars below the land's market value. The altering included removing the name of the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Akie, who was set to become the school's honorary principal, and the fact that the price was negotiated in advance.
At a Lower House committee meeting on Friday, the ministry's Financial Bureau director-general Mitsuru Ota was asked whether his predecessor, Nobuhisa Sagawa, knew about the alterations.
Ota said Sagawa may have been involved to a large extent, because he was in charge of answering questions at the Diet when the matter became a focus of discussions last year. Sagawa repeatedly defended the sale during Diet deliberations by saying the documents had been discarded.
Ota also said the ministry reported the alterations to Finance Minister Taro Aso on March 11th, the day before the ministry admitted to the alterations at the Diet.
On March 5th, the land ministry discovered the alterations and reported them to the prime minister's office and the Finance Ministry.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Finance Minister Taro Aso said again that Sagawa's remarks were not made in line with the wishes of Abe or other politicians.
Asked why he could say this while an in-house investigation is still underway, Aso said the ministry had maintained that the sale was conducted in a legal and fair manner before a remark by Prime Minister Abe. In February last year, Abe told the Diet that he would step down as prime minister and as a Diet member if he and his wife were involved in the case in any way.
The opposition camp is increasingly critical over the issue. The head of the party Hope, Yuichiro Tamaki, said that what came to light suggests that the prime minister's office may be making all-out efforts to cover up the matter.
Constitutional Democratic Party secretary-general Tetsuro Fukuyama said the latest developments are revealing differences from what Abe and his office have maintained. He added that repeated lying naturally results in discrepancies.
Key words : Education minister entitled
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_25/
Education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says his ministry was legally entitled to inquire about a public school lecture by a former ministry official.
It came to light on Thursday that the ministry had demanded details of the talk that the former vice education minister, Kihei Maekawa, gave last month at a junior high school in Nagoya, central Japan. The request was made in an email to the city's board of education.
The news has sparked controversy as the central government is not allowed, in principle, to intervene in schools' educational programs.
Hayashi stressed to reporters on Friday that the inquiry was based on the law.
He said it would not be appropriate for the school to invite someone to give a lecture without sufficiently checking his or her background.
Hayashi added that, to prevent any misunderstanding, the request should not have been made by email.
He said he chided the person in charge, as ministry officials should always be careful not to give misleading messages to schools.
The official demanded to know the details of 15 points related to the invitation and the content of Maekawa's lecture, and asked the education board to submit an audio recording of the talk.
The email also noted that Maekawa resigned from the ministry last year for illegally helping retiring bureaucrats land private-sector posts and reports that he used to visit a singles bar.
Key words : Abe south maximum
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_38/
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have reaffirmed that they will continue to exert the maximum pressure on North Korea to persuade the country to give up its nuclear and missile programs.
The 2 leaders held phone talks on Friday.
Abe said he welcomes the change on the part of North Korea, which he said is showing signs toward denuclearization, but he added that a mere halting of nuclear and missile tests will not be enough.
Abe said the international community needs to pressure the North to take concrete actions toward giving up its nuclear and missile programs. He cited the need for Pyongyang to accept inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Moon said the cooperation among South Korea, Japan and the United States has brought about the proposed inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits. He added that he hopes to continue working with Japan and the US.
The 2 leaders agree to maintain the maximum pressure on Pyongyang until it takes steps for denuclearization in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
Abe said there has been no change in Japan's position of seeking to resolve the country's pending issues with the North before normalizing diplomatic relations, based on the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration. The declaration was signed between then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
The pending issues are North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, as well as the abductions of Japanese citizens, mostly in the 1970s.
Abe also asked Moon to take up the abduction issue in his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that is to take place in late April.
Abe and Moon agreed that they will work together to resolve the abduction issue. They also agreed to hold a 3-way summit with China soon and to resume mutual visits by the Japanese and South Korean leaders in what is known as "shuttle diplomacy."
Key words : a Japanese man
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_29/
A Japanese man who was abducted to North Korea but returned home decades later says he wants the Japanese government to make sure that the abduction issue remains firmly on the US president's mind.
Kaoru Hasuike made the comment in a lecture in Takasaki City, north of Tokyo, on Thursday. He referred to the first-ever US-North Korean summit that could be held by May.
Hasuike said he wants the Japanese government to make sure that the importance of the abduction issue is deeply etched in President Donald Trump's mind.
He said there should be no compromise over the issue, as the families of the missing abductees are growing old.
Hasuike and his wife, Yukiko, were abducted by North Korean agents in 1978.
The couple and 3 other abductees were repatriated in 2002 after a summit between the Japanese and North Korean leaders.
Hasuike said although he's truly glad he was able to return home, not a single abductee left behind in the North has been repatriated.
He said it's become even more important now for people to learn about the abductions because of the rapid changes in the situation involving North Korea.
The government recognizes that 17 Japanese citizens were abducted by the North in the 1970s and 80s.
12 remain unaccounted for.
Key words : France Germany
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_07/
The leaders of Britain, the United States, France, and Germany have jointly condemned the suspected poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter.
The criticism came on Thursday in a rare joint statement by British Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The March 4th attack in the southern British city of Salisbury left former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia unconscious.
May held Russia responsible for the attack, which she says involved a nerve agent developed by the Russian military.
The statement says the attack "constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War."
The statement says the use of the nerve agent "by a state party is a clear violation of the chemical weapons convention and a breach of international law." It adds the assault "threatens the security of us all."
The statement says the 4 leaders share the British view that it is "highly likely" Russia is responsible for the attack. It calls on Russia to "address all questions related to the attack."
May visited Salisbury for the first time after the assault on Thursday. She reiterated her denunciation of Russia for the attack.
Key words : Insight Russia election
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Key words : Tokyo ordered defendant
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_30/
A court in Tokyo has ordered the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, to compensate evacuees of the 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The Tokyo District Court ordered the defendants to pay more than 59 million yen, or about 556,000 dollars.
The suit was brought by more than 40 people who evacuated mainly to Tokyo after the accident at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
Friday's ruling was the 5th of its kind in lawsuits at district courts targeting both the government and TEPCO. The government has been found liable in four.
The main point of contention was whether both parties could have foreseen a massive tsunami, and were responsible for preventing damage.
Another issue was whether TEPCO had adequately compensated the evacuees. The utility has made payments in line with government guidelines.
The Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said the government failed to get the court's understanding of its position. It says it will consult with other government offices to decide how to respond.
TEPCO has offered fresh apologies to people in Fukushima Prefecture and across Japan.
It says it will study the ruling before deciding its next step.
Nuclear accident evacuees and residents of Fukushima Prefecture have filed at least 31 lawsuits nationwide to claim compensation. The number of plaintiffs exceeds 12,000.
Key words : Japanese government carry out accident
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_16/
The Japanese government has decided to ban companies from using foreign trainees to carry out decontamination work in areas affected by the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The decision comes after a Vietnamese man complained that he was asked to remove contaminated soil in Fukushima Prefecture. He told a news conference that he would never have come to Japan if he had known that he would be doing this kind of work. He also expressed concern about the possible impact on his health.
The man came to Japan under a government-backed technical internship program that allows foreigners to acquire skills and knowhow.
The ministries in charge of the program say that decontamination is not suitable work for interns.
They say they will make it mandatory for companies to submit a pledge that trainees will not be asked to do this kind of task.
A group that supports foreign interns says there have been similar cases.
The ministries will warn companies if other cases are discovered and may consider revoking their permission to hire foreign interns.
Key words : Narita won second
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180316_32/
Japanese snowboarder Gurimu Narita has won gold in men's banked slalom at the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics. His gold is Japan's second at the games.
Narita competed on Friday in a classification for athletes with leg impairments.
The 24-year-old ranks at the top of the world standings in the category and is making his Paralympic debut.
In the banked slalom event, each athlete performs 3 runs down a course marked with flags. The best time determines the winner. Against 20 competitors, Narita finished with the fastest time in all 3 runs.
Evan Strong of the United States finished second, and Matti Suur-Hamari of Finland came in third.
Narita also won bronze in snowboard cross on Monday.
His older brother and sister competed in snowboarding at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Narita aimed to compete in the 2014 Sochi Olympics as a freestyle skier, but his left leg was paralyzed from the knee down due to an injury he suffered while training on a trampoline.
He started taking part in para snowboarding events one and a half years ago. He finished third in the banked slalom world championships last year, to become the first Japanese athlete to stand on the podium.
Narita has won Para Snowboard World Cup events 6 times. He's also the world number one in snowboard cross.
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