at 18:30 (JST), August 30

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/20230830183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : expert talent agency step down
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230829_29/

A team of outside experts probing sexual abuse allegations at Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates has released a report urging the company's president to step down.

Several men who used to belong to the agency as boys have accused its founder and former president Johnny Kitagawa of sexual misconduct. Kitagawa died in 2019.

In May, the agency set up a team of outside experts on law, sexual abuse and mental health.

The team announced at a news conference on Tuesday that it submitted its report to the agency.

The team interviewed 23 victims, including former backup dancers known as Johnny's Juniors, who were mostly teenagers waiting to make their debuts.

It says it confirmed that Kitagawa began sexually abusing boys in the 1950s, and repeatedly assaulted a number of Johnny's Juniors from the early 1970s through the mid-2010s.

The team attributes the problem to Kitagawa's sexual deviance, his older sister's failure to take action despite knowing of his behavior toward boys, and her efforts to cover it up. She effectively took care of managing the agency.

The company's current president is her daughter, Julie K. Fujishima. The experts point out negative aspects of the family-run business, and suggest that she resign.

To prevent a recurrence, the team urges the agency to admit abuses by Kitagawa, apologize sincerely to the victims and quickly begin talks with them.

It also suggests the agency immediately set up a program to compensate the victims.

Key words : kim tactical
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230829_20/

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hinted that the country will strengthen its naval forces by deploying tactical nuclear weapons.

State-run Korean Central Television reported on Tuesday that Kim visited the navy command and delivered a speech on Sunday, ahead of Navy Day, which the country celebrated on Monday. Kim was reportedly accompanied by his daughter.

During his speech, Kim mentioned the trilateral summit that the leaders of Japan, the US and South Korea held in the United States earlier this month. The three leaders agreed to hold trilateral exercises regularly.

Kim said, "Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the US and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced into the world's biggest war hardware concentration spot, the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war."

He also said that the navy will become a component of North Korea's nuclear deterrence. Kim indicated that "units of different services would be equipped with new weaponry according to the policy of expanding the tactical nuclear weapons operation specified in the line of building the state nuclear force."

Details of the plan have yet to be unveiled. But Pyongyang has a program aimed at developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles, or SLBMs.

North Korea also announced on August 21 that it had conducted a naval strategic cruise missile drill. The missile is designed to carry a tactical nuclear warhead.

The announcement came as the US and South Korean militaries were taking part in their regular joint exercises. During drills, the troops simulated responses to emergencies on the Korean Peninsula. The exercises are scheduled to end on Thursday.

Kim's speech was apparently aimed at raising morale within the military and keeping security cooperation among the US, South Korea and Japan in check.

Key words : india launch study the sun
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230829_38/

Less than a week after successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon, India says it will soon launch its first satellite to study the sun.

The Indian Space Research Organisation says it will launch the Aditya-L1 from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on September 2.

After a four-month-long journey, the craft will be placed in a halo orbit about 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth. Its mission includes observation of the solar atmosphere, which is over a million degrees Celsius, and explosive events called "flares."

As for the moon, India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has been exploring the uncharted south pole. Scientists say the area may contain water in the form of ice.
India is the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, after the former Soviet Union, the United States and China.

Key words : lgbtq india
#N/Ahttps://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20230803181810451/

India's Supreme Court to rule on landmark same-sex marriage case

India's highest court will soon rule on whether to allow same-sex marriage. For LGBTQ couples, it would be a life-changing moment. But is India's government ready for change? NHK World's Fujie Risa has this story.