Welcome back to NHK Newsline.
Here’s the latest we have for you at this hour.
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is in Seoul for a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The trip is a chance for the leaders to cement their two nations’ growing bond amid challenges in the region and beyond. Kishida is set to spend two days in the capital on top of the leaders summit. He’s also set to meet South Korean university students on Saturday for a chat about their countries’ bilateral partnership. This comes after Japan and South Korea resumed top-level shuttle diplomacy last year, and with next year marking the 60th anniversary of normalized ties. Before departing, Kishida told reporters his hopes for the visit.
Translator: I’d like to exchange candid views with President Yoon and confirm the direction of the future relationship between Japan and South Korea.
The leaders are expected to speak on a range of issues from economic and human exchanges to cooperation and safeguarding both countries’ national security. Earlier, I spoke with NHK World’s senior international correspondent Aoki Yoshiyuki.
Reporter: Now, here in Seoul we’re seeing plenty of security around the presidential office. We are a few hundred meters away, about as close as we can get. What’s interesting is, this is almost routine now. These leaders have met over ten times in the past two years. In fact, Yoon has met Kishida more than any other world leaders. That’s significant, Minori, considering how rocky things have been between Japan and South Korea in the past. Both Yoon and Kishida have been vocal about how friendly their talks have been, how committed they are to work together to continue improving their countries’ relationship, and tackle issues they both have a stake in like tensions with North Korea. Also of note, Kishida is set to be replaced as Liberal Democratic Party leader later this month, so this is probably his last chance to meet with Yoon as Japan’s Prime Minister.
Right. Well, how is that upcoming leadership change here in Japan affecting this summit?
Reporter: South Korea’s presidential office says Kishida wanted this visit to happen. Yoon told reporters last week he wants to affirm their countries will continue cooperating no matter who the next Japanese Prime Minister is, but some parties here have pushed back. A spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party questioned why the Japanese leader is bothering to come to Seoul with only a short time left in the job. This party also has a tense history towards Japan. It’s criticized Yoon’s efforts to deepen ties, and also it proposed a bill which would ban people from taking public office if they’d spoken positively about Japan’s colonial past on the peninsula. Then again, some media here criticized that move as trying to force South Koreans to hold a grudge against Japan. Right now, public opinion seems pretty positive. For instance, Japanese tourism officials say over 5 million South Koreans visited Japan in just the last seven months in what’s expected to be a record-high year. There’s some lingering things between the countries, but broadly speaking, Kishida is set to leave office with Japanese/South Korean relations relatively on a high note. We’ll see if this visit sets things up for his successor.
Tokyo has filed a complaint with Belarus after the country’s state-run television aired a program about a Japanese national detained for alleged espionage. The TV station on Thursday broadcast a 50-minute program titled "The Failure of the Samurai from Tokyo." Local news outlets say it’s the first suspected case of espionage involving a Japanese national. The program, as well as Japanese government sources, say the man is Nakanishi Masatoshi, who worked as a Japanese language teacher. The program says he’s being investigated on suspicion of gathering information on Belarusian military authorities for an intelligence agency. Television footage appears to show him taking photographs, and he says in Russian that he went near the border with Ukraine taking many photos of a railway and a bridge, but it’s uncertain whether he was able to speak freely and how truthful the program’s content is. Japan’s top government spokesperson was asked about the matter on Friday.
Translator: Ahead of the broadcast on Thursday, the Japanese embassy strongly urged the Belarusian foreign ministry to cancel the program, but it is extremely regrettable that it was still broadcast. The government lodged a protest with the foreign ministry immediately after it aired.
He says the government will continue to offer its maximum support.
German police have killed a teenager who opened fire near the Israeli consulate general in Munich. It happened on the anniversary of a deadly attack on Israelis in the city. Police had a shoot-out with the 18-year-old Austrian national. They say he may have planned a terror attack on the consulate. Local media report authorities have previously raided his home on suspicion he had been radicalized by Islamist propaganda. Thursday marked 52 years since Palestinian militants carried out a massacre during the Munich Summer Olympics, killing 11 Israelis attending the games. German authorities have been on high alert since three people were killed in stabbings in the city of Solingen last month. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility.
Pope Francis has met leaders of different religions in Indonesia. He highlighted the importance of advancing values shared by all religious traditions to realize peace. The meeting took place at Southeast Asia’s largest mosque in Jakarta. It brought together representatives of religions including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. The pontiff said in the face of wars and conflict, the values common to all religious traditions should be promoted. He said that’s the way to defeat violence and indifference and promote reconciliation and peace. A Muslim leader said that while there may be different beliefs, they have peace and humanity in common. He said the commonalities can unite the faithful. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, accounting for about 80% of the total. The country is the first leg of the Pope’s four-nation trip, which includes stops in Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.
Former Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjiro has announced he will run to become leader of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. The winner of the race is expected to become the country’s next Prime Minister.
Translator: I will run in the LDP’s presidential election. The only way for the LDP to truly change is not a leader who advocates reform, but a leader who can overwhelmingly accelerate reform. If I become Prime Minister and party president, I will explain the direction of reform to be realized within a year and structural reform with an eye on the mid to long-term. I would like to dissolve the lower house as soon as possible and seek a public mandate on the reform plans.
The 43-year-old first won a seat in the 2009 lower house race, succeeding his father, former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. He was only 28 at the time. Koizumi was chosen as Environment Minister in the Abe Shinzo cabinet in 2019, the third-youngest cabinet minister since the end of World War II. Former Cabinet Secretary Kato has announced his bid for the party’s presidency. This is the first time the 68-year-old politician is running for the position.
Translator: I have done a lot of work in the Abe administration, the Suga administration, and the Kishida administration. Based on these experiences, I think I was able to gain steady results on my work. There are many challenges now, such as how to improve the economy, wages, and income. I’d like to listen to the public and reflect their views to solve each and every issue.
In addition to Chief Cabinet Secretary, he served as Health Minister three times during which he played a central role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The election will decide the successor to Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, who announced last month he will not run. The campaign is set to begin on Thursday next week with the election on the 27th. The number of candidates is certain to exceed the previous high of five.
Meanwhile, campaigning for the presidency of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party begins this weekend. Izumi Kenta announced he plans to run for the party’s leadership.
Translator: People are very dissatisfied and angry about the LDP’s issue of slush funds. In this situation, the role of the Constitutional Democratic Party is quite significant. The slush fund issue is against the rules. It is a clear and large-scale violation of rules. We must send them off with yellow or red cards. We will aim for a change of government in the next general election, and I will take the lead.
The 50-year-old politician was Cabinet Office Parliamentary Vice Minister when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan was in power. He became the CDP president after the party lost in the 2021 lower house election. Izumi is the third person to officially announce their candidacy after the party’s former president Yukio and former Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko. The campaign period is set to begin on Saturday followed by the election on the 23rd.
And now it’s time to check world weather. Powerful Typhoon Yagi is battering southern China. Our meteorologist Yuumi Hirano has the details and the storm’s forecast.
The storm is well developed and moving across the Guangdong provinces. Parts of Hainan have already seen almost 100 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. However, up to 500 millimeters more is possible by Saturday afternoon. In addition, high storm surge of up to four meters could lead to severe flooding. The system is expected to approach northern Vietnam over the weekend. In the bigger picture across Asia, high pressure systems are driving extreme heat conditions from central China to the Korean Peninsula, so temperatures in Chongqing will be 38 and 31 in Seoul. People in Japan are also facing midsummerlike conditions. Tokyo will see a high of 35 and 36 in Nagoya, so please stay hydrated.
Speaking of hot weather, the temperature exceeded 33 degrees in Sarajevo, which is 10 degrees higher than the average. It has started causing some problems. We have a video. The summer heat has led to a long and severe drought in parts of the Balkans. Footage taken on Wednesday shows a major river in the city so dry that a cat could lie down in the riverbed. This comes after the streams that feed it have lost water. The Balkans have experienced repeated heat waves with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees. Another heat wave hit northern parts of the continent, so Berlin will see a high of 30 which is also over 10 degrees higher than the usual.
That’s all for me. Have a nice weekend.
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