at 18:30 (JST), January 06

Asian View

"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20230106183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : prime wages
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230105_30/

Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has asked business leaders to raise wages to strengthen the country's economy.

Kishida reiterated his call for pay hikes at a New Year's event held by three major business groups on Thursday.

The prime minister said the economy is at a fork in the road.

He said some experts warn that if wage increases are outpaced by inflation as seen in the United States and Europe, Japan will fall into stagflation, or rising prices combined with slowing of the economy.

He also said other experts predict that Japan could have a chance in several decades to change the entire character of its economy, cashing in on a rebound in demand following the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis.

Kishida said that what the two views have in common is the belief that the outlook for Japan's economy largely depends on outcomes of this year's wage negotiations.

He urged company executives to raise wages.

Kishida also vowed to promote work reform measures and expand programs to support them as part of efforts to reverse Japan's low birthrate.

He said the number of working women in Japan has increased, but that a childcare leave program must still be enhanced. He asked for cooperation by business leaders to this end.

Key words : china space station
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230105_21/

China's newly built space station is expected to start full operation this year.

The head of a Chinese state-owned company involved in the country's space development told a meeting on Tuesday that the station was completed last year.

Also revealed at the meeting was a goal of having China's manned space station project enter the application and development stages and to have the station start normal operations in 2023.

The station is a T-shaped structure about 30 meters long with a core module named Tianhe and two lab modules.

China plans to keep the station operating for over 10 years, and says various experiments will be conducted there involving researchers from 17 countries.

China is also sending probes to the moon and Mars in a bid to become a leading country in space development.

Meanwhile, the United States is heading the Artemis program, aimed at sending humans back to the moon.

The intensifying US-China rivalry is likely to extend into outer space.

Key words : south former foreign minister
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230106_02/

South Korea's intelligence agency says North Korea's former Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has been purged. But it stopped short of explaining why he had been purged, or whether he had been executed.

South Korean lawmakers made the disclosure following a debriefing by the National Intelligence Service during a closed-door parliamentary committee session on Thursday.

Ri was North Korea's chief negotiator at the six-party talks on the country's nuclear program.

He became foreign minister in 2016, and engaged in negotiations with then US President Donald Trump's administration over Pyongyang's nuclear development.

Ri has remained out of the public eye since it became known in 2020 that he had been replaced as foreign minister.

Key words : myanmar
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230105_35/

Myanmar's military rulers have marked the country's independence day by pardoning more than 7,000 prisoners. But ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is likely not among them.

Some inmates were released from a prison in Yangon on Wednesday. Others had their jail terms reduced. But sources close to Aung San Suu Kyi tell NHK they have not been informed whether she has been granted amnesty.

At a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the end of British rule, top military general Min Aung Hlaing criticized pro-democracy forces supporting Aung San Suu Kyi. He said the cult of personality has had a harmful impact on bringing the country together.

Aung San Suu Kyi was detained during the February 2021 coup. She has since been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison for incitement, corruption and other charges.

Last month, the UN Security Council called for her release in its first resolution on Myanmar since the coup.

Key words : cambodia japanese takata
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