Japanese government says that it hopes the US-North Korea summit will lead to solutions to issues relating to Pyongyang, such as the abduction of Japanese nationals, nuclear and missiles programs.
A spokesperson for Pakistan's military says its forces shot down two Indian fighter jets that crossed the de-facto border between the 2 countries' sides of the disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday morning.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190227200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : Trump and two-day summit no rush
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Key words : Suga says hopes
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_29/
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the government hopes the upcoming US-North Korea summit will lead to solutions to issues relating to Pyongyang, such as the abduction of Japanese nationals, nuclear and missiles programs.
Suga spoke to reporters on Wednesday ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which was set to start later in the day.
He said the previous summit held last June was significant in that the two leaders signed an agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Suga stressed that it is important to steadily follow the process to implement the agreement.
Suga said he expects the summit talks will pave the way to resolving issues such as North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals, nuclear and missile programs, and will lead to peace and stability in East Asia.
He also said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe specifically asked Trump to address the abduction issue in their recent talks over the phone.
Suga added that Japan's government is also making every effort on its own to tackle the abduction issue.
Key words : relatives kidnap
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Key words : spokesperson Pakistan detained
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_32/
A spokesperson for Pakistan's military says forces of the country shot down two Indian fighter jets that crossed the de-facto border between the 2 countries' sides of the disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday morning.
One of the jets reportedly crashed into the Pakistani side of the de-facto border, and the other into the Indian side.
The spokesperson said Pakistani forces detained a pilot who was on one of the jets.
Tension between the two countries has been escalating since a suicide bomb attack by a Pakistani Muslim extremist killed 40 Indian security personnel in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14.
This prompted India to carry out airstrikes on Pakistan on Tuesday.
Key words : Japanese delegate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_16/
A Japanese delegate at a UN Human Rights council meeting has spoken out against a South Korean delegate's remarks on those referred to as comfort women.
Kiyoto Tsuji, Japan's Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, spoke on Tuesday at the session. He rebutted a statement made by South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Monday.
Kang said her government acknowledges that previous efforts to resolve the comfort women issue were lacking in a victim-centered approach.
She said South Korea's government is now honoring those women by ensuring that their stories are not lost, and that current and future generations can learn from their experiences.
Tsuji said Japan and South Korea had reached a bilateral agreement on comfort women in 2015. Both countries decided that the issue was resolved "finally and irreversibly."
He added that the two countries also agreed to refrain from criticizing each other over the issue in the international community, including the United Nations.
Tsuji referred to Seoul's decision last year to dissolve a fund that supported the women and their families. Japan financed the project as specified in the 2015 agreement. Tsuji said the move is totally unacceptable to Japan.
He stressed the importance of implementing the 2015 agreement, and that it is "highly appreciated" by the international community.
Tsuji pointed out that inaccurate information has led to misunderstandings on the issue in the international community, including in the United Nations. He called on all countries to recognize that it is vital to understand the issue based on objective facts.
Key words : Japanese officials trade deal
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_28/
Japanese officials have amended their trade deal with countries in Southeast Asia. The revised agreement is expected to help businesses on both sides.
The Economic Partnership Agreement liberalizes services and investment between Japan and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Foreign Minister Taro Kono signed the revised deal on Wednesday.
Japan's Foreign Ministry says the new reciprocal protocol will further open the fields of finance, education and communications.
Markets that interest Japan include countries such as Myanmar -- which has strict controls on foreign capital. The country is sometimes referred to as the last frontier in Asia.
Japanese corporations expect the amended agreement to help them advance into Myanmar's construction and air transport markets.
The new EPA goes into effect across ASEAN after each country completes its domestic approval procedures.
Key words : May facing criticism
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_09/
British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing criticism after she mentioned for the first time the possibility of delaying the country's exit from the European Union.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, May reiterated her intention of holding a vote on the withdrawal deal by March 12.
She said if the deal is voted down, lawmakers will be asked on the following day to vote on leaving the bloc without an agreement.
May said that if they reject a no-deal Brexit, she will ask them to vote on March 14 whether they agree to a short delay in the departure.
She ruled out Britain's participation in the European Parliament election in May, and said a short extension, not beyond the end of June, would almost certainly have to be a one-off.
She said "an extension cannot take no-deal off the table" and asked lawmakers to support her deal.
Parliamentarians who want to avoid a no-deal Brexit have welcomed May's offer. But those who want to keep to the deadline say they won't support her unless contentious issues are addressed.
Observers say May's offer has made a no-deal Brexit a little less likely for now, but a delay would deepen the divide and confusion within the ruling Conservative Party.
Key words : special investigative health and scandal
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_27/
A special investigative panel of Japan's health and labor ministry says there was no systematic cover-up in the ministry's flawed statistics scandal.
The ministry set up the panel of outside experts in January to probe illegalities linked to its monthly survey on wages and working hours.
The panel concluded the ministry had no intention to cover up the flaws. But it was forced to reexamine the matter after its work was criticized as too hasty.
The panel compiled a report on Wednesday saying all former heads of the ministry's statistics division since 2004, when the flaws began, denied knowing the data were skewed.
As for their subordinate section chiefs, the panel learned that an individual who assumed the post in 2013 was the first to notice the flaws. But the person did not make corrections, and deleted references to the flaws from a statistics survey manual.
The head of the office in charge of the survey learned of the flaws from a predecessor, and began correcting the data last year. But the person neither publicized the correction procedure nor reported it to his superiors.
The panel report clears both the section chief and the office head by pointing out it cannot acknowledge that an intentional cover-up took place.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers are demanding to know whether the prime minister's office played a role in the change of the survey method.
The panel report denies that the method change was aimed at making it seem that wages had gone up. It says the move was aimed at making the data more understandable for users, and describes it as statistically rational.
Health and labor minister Takumi Nemoto said he will read the report thoroughly, and vowed to spearhead efforts to establish governance in his ministry to correct administration of statistics from the root. He said he takes the harsh criticism seriously.
Seiji Osaka of the Constitutional Democratic Party is the top opposition director of the Lower House Budget Committee. He said the report's conclusion that no cover-up took place when in fact one did makes the report meaningless. He dismissed what he described as the ministry's interpretation of facts for its own convenience.
Key words : Japan antitrust squeezing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190227_13/
Japan's antitrust watchdog will begin probing major online retailers for allegedly squeezing vendors through loyalty-reward programs.
The investigation will come just as the Japanese unit of Amazon is planning to launch a new program in late May.
Amazon Japan plans to give shoppers refunds in the form of points. The catch for the suppliers is that they are the ones who must pay the costs. The Fair Trade Commission suspects the system could overburden the vendors.
Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko said if the online retailers abuse their dominant position, it could hurt their suppliers financially.
Seko said, "Small and medium-sized firms are especially dependent on the online shopping sites. I firmly expect the Fair Trade Commission to probe the matter quickly and take necessary action."
The commission is also planning to look into Japanese IT firms including Rakuten and Yahoo Japan.
Key words : government panel measure minimize
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