at 18:30 (JST), September 27

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/20230927183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : south dismissed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230927_06/

A court in South Korea has dismissed a request for an arrest warrant for the leader of the main opposition party, Lee Jae-myung. The country's prosecutors were seeking his arrest on breach of trust and other charges.

Lee, who heads the Democratic Party, is accused of corruption in connection with a land development project while he was a city mayor. He is also alleged to have been involved in a company's illegal cash remittances to North Korea.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported the court's rejection early Wednesday. The report quoted a judge as saying, "It is difficult to see the rationale and need for his arrest."

The decision came after a court hearing attended by Lee on Tuesday. Prior to that, the opposition-controlled National Assembly last week passed a motion to give consent to the arrest.

Lee has been strongly opposed to the policies of President Yoon Suk-yeol's administration. He called the investigation against him political oppression.

Lee's party is expected to step up its confrontational stance against the Yoon administration as the general election is scheduled for April of next year.

Key words : indonesia unveil
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230926_34/

Indonesia is set to unveil new rules designed to curb social media's expansion into its e-commerce market. The move is aimed at protecting local businesses. It is believed to be a response to TikTok. Southeast Asia's biggest economy wants the Chinese video-sharing app to be a social media platform only.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivered a video address on Monday. He suggested that offline markets need to be protected from the impact of e-commerce.

Current trade regulations do not specifically cover direct transactions on social media. TikTok's parent company says that each month the app is used by 125 million people in Indonesia and 325 million individuals across Southeast Asia.

The new regulation will ban the sale of imported goods, priced below 100 US dollars, through cross-border services on e-commerce platforms. The government has indicated that it will shut down social commerce companies that do not comply with the regulations. TikTok says it has asked the government to reconsider.

Key words : north denounced
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230927_08/

North Korea's UN ambassador has denounced the security cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea, calling it a military alliance resembling NATO.

Ambassador Kim Song addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

He said, "The formation of the tripartite military alliance among the US, Japan and the 'Republic of Korea' has put into practice its long-sought ambition for 'Asian version of NATO,' thus introducing a 'new cold war' structure to Northeast Asia."

Kim also hit back at earlier remarks made by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the General Assembly in which he condemned North Korea and Russia for pursuing military cooperation.

Kim said the development of equal and reciprocal relations between and among independent sovereign states is not an issue for the "Republic of Korea" to interfere in "as it is no more than a colony of the US."

Observers say Kim's usage of South Korea's official name could be interpreted as a sign that Pyongyang officially views it as a different country now.

The ambassador said, "the military security situation in and around the Korean Peninsula was driven closer to the brink of a nuclear war."

Kim added that his country must accelerate the buildup of its self-defense capabilities to impregnably defend itself.

Key words : student met nagasaki
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/radio/asianview/interviews/202309261847/

STUDENTS LEARN VALUABLE PEACE LESSONS IN NAGASAKI

As leaders in Moscow have been ramping up their nuclear rhetoric, students from Japan and the US recently met in Nagasaki - the second city in the world to be attacked by an atomic bomb. Tagashira Nazuna from Japan and Levi Cannon from the US spoke to us about what they learned during the Japan-America Student Conference.