at 18:00 (JST), November 18 (Ai-CC by Clipchamp)

 

20241118180000_english_1.mp3

Hello, a very warm welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.

NHK has learned that the Japanese government is considering tougher sanctions on North Korea and Russia as the two countries deepen military ties in the fight against Ukraine.
Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Kiev on Saturday. They agreed that the participation of North Korean soldiers in Russia's combat operations is of grave concern. Tokyo says such cooperation violates international law and poses a serious threat to the peace and stability of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. Government officials are discussing specific measures, including expanding asset-freeze targets for North Korea and Russia. Japan aims to coordinate with the Group of Seven nations. Japan is also strengthening its own ties in the Pacific. It says it will exchange liaison officers with the Australian military. The news comes after Japanese Defense Minister Nakata Niigen met with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles Sunday. A Self-Defense Forces liaison officer will be dispatched to Australia's Headquarters Joint Operations Command. The SDF's own Joint Operations Command will also welcome an Australian officer. The two countries also hope to further collaborate on research and development.

Our defense authorities will continue to work closely together at all levels.
We will strengthen coordination between the Self-Defense Forces and the Australian military and make progress when it comes to defense cooperation.

Nakatani also met with his American counterpart, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. They agreed to step up cooperation when it comes to ventures in space. That includes information gathering via satellites and ways to counter hypersonic weapons. They also discussed the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps personnel from Okinawa to Guam. That transfer is set to begin by the end of the year.

President Joe Biden has reportedly authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Multiple American media cited unnamed U.S. officials Sunday. They claimed the permission was given for Kyiv to use Army tactical missile systems. They are reportedly capable of precision strikes.
The New York Times reports it was a response to Russia's surprise decision to bring North Korean troops into the fight.
Sources told the paper the weapons will likely be used to defend Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region. Kiev has been engaging in a cross-border incursion in that area. The Times called Biden's decision a major change in U.S. policy. It said his advisors were divided on the issue. The shift also comes two months before President-elect Donald J. Trump is set to take office. He's vowed to limit support for Ukraine. Ukraine has long asked for permission to strike inside Russia with the weapons, but Washington had refused to give the green light out of concern it would escalate tensions.

U.S. President-elect Trump has picked Brendan Carr to chair the Federal Communications Commission. He's been a vocal critic of U.S. big tech companies.
Trump made the announcement in a statement on Sunday, calling Carr a warrior for free speech. Carr was involved in Project 2025, a wishlist proposal launched by a conservative think tank. In a chapter focused on the FCC, Carr called for stricter regulations on tech giants like Meta and Google. He has also publicly agreed with Trump's plan to regulate TV networks for political bias.
After the nomination, Carr criticized tech giants on social media, claiming they engaged in unfair censorship.
Multiple U.S. media outlets say Carr is close to billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, raising concerns over potential conflicts.

The latest G20 summit kicks off in Brazil Monday. World leaders will be discussing global issues such as poverty and climate change. Japan's Prime Minister Ishibashigeru is in Rio de Janeiro for the event. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also attending. They are expected to discuss how to address hunger and poverty. They will also touch on sustainable development and measures to tackle climate change. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will preside over the summit.
The world will be told what the Amazon wants. He said rich countries need to help finance the protection of such spaces. But it's unclear if the G20 will manage to reach a consensus of such issues before the summit wraps up Tuesday. It's the last G20 meeting before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Trump in January. He is considered reluctant to tackle climate change and prefers one-on-one negotiations. Prime Minister Ishibha will likely stress Tokyo's commitment to tackling those issues alongside developing nations. He will also hold separate talks with the leaders of Mexico and Brazil in a bid to deepen ties with emerging economies.

Trump's impending impact on global free trade was top of mind at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru. Talks wrapped up over the weekend with a declaration stressing the need for cooperation and predictability.

The declaration, adopted at the 31st APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, reflects our vision to build a peaceful, a prosperous, resilient Asia Pacific  community empowering our people to receive the benefits of the global economy.

The APEC gathering in Lima brought together leaders from 21 countries and regions across the Pacific Rim to speak about investment and sustainable growth. But that's not all that was discussed. The trade meeting was also a chance for leaders to meet on the sidelines to affirm cooperation on other issues,They include a trilateral summit of Japan, the U.S. and South Korea. Those countries condemned North Korea and Russia. They say Pyongyang has deployed troops to help Moscow fight against Ukraine, violating UN resolutions. That summit was one of several big sideline meetings for Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba, making his debut on the world stage after recently taking office. He spoke one-on-one with U.S. and South Korean leaders, and he had a bilateral talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ishiba and Xi say they will work to build constructive and stable relations between Japan and China. And for a look at the big developments from APEC, I earlier spoke with our senior international correspondent, Aoki Yoshiyuki.

What's your view on this year's declaration?Is there any special meaning we can take from it?

I think all the wording around cooperation and stability is really written with what happens in January in mind. Organizations like APEC are meant to keep trade free and open, but that could get a lot whole a lot more difficult when Trump returns to office. He wants to levy tariffs of 10 to 20% on importing goods. even higher on Chinese imports. I think that's why President Xi highlighted the challenges of geopolitical rivalries and protectionism in his APEC address. It's also why he tried to be the star of this year's summit. Xi was the most active leader when it came to holding talks on the sidelines, hoping to strengthen China's relationships ahead of next year, the US included. When she met outgoing President Joe Biden, he chose his words very carefully. So take a listen.

China is ready to work with the new US administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China US relationship for the benefit of the people of both countries.

So he struck a similar tone in his meeting with Japan and South Korea, two important U.S. allies.

Speaking of which, what was your take on Ishiba's meeting with Xi?

I think it seems to go well. China is Japan's biggest trading partner, so there's a lot at stake. Ishiba says he and Xi had a very engaged exchange of opinions. One big issue Japan wants resolved is Chinese restrictions on Japanese seafood imports. Both countries reached an agreement in September, which the two leaders reaffirmed, though we're still waiting to learn when the ban will be lifted. Japan and China still have other lingering issues, but the overall message from this was let's be constructive. And we also saw lots of constructive talk between Ishiba and his American and South Korean counterparts. They want to build what they are calling a trilateral secretariat, basically permanent office of cooperation between the three countries. So this is significant, Miki, because it's meant to create a strong framework, a trilateral framework to last into a new US administration.

And we know South Korea is set to chair next year's APEC summit. How did President Yoon Sonyeol do this time?

He seemed to perform well. Yoon is in a similar situation as Ishiba, so balancing defense ties with U.S. and the economic ties with China. This was Yoon's first meeting with Xi in two years, and the two seemed open to more dialogue. They invited each other over to visit and they discussed more South Korean investment in China. And As for Japan, Yoon wants what he had with Ishiba's predecessor, clear efforts from both sides to improve relations, which had deteriorated before Yoon's time in office. We're seeing signs Ishiba and Yoon will stay the course. But what's interesting is when you tune into South Korean media, you see doubts that things will last. One outlet points to Yoon's low domestic approval ratings, suggesting it's unlikely Japan and South Korea will progress on lingering historical issues. So now, as I mentioned, Yoon will chair EPIC next year. He has to keep up friendly ties with Japan and manage relations with China and the and the new Trump administration, all while North Korea and Russia are growing closer. So just put simply, Yoon has a challenging year ahead of you. 

Yes, things could be certainly harder. Thank you very much, Yoshiyuki.

Thank you.

It's time now for a check on the world weather with our meteorologist Jonathan Oh. Jonathan, cold air is helping to bring a taste of winter a little early to northern parts of Japan. If you will, what's the latest?

Hello, we are still in the latter part of November, but we're seeing snow as a part of the story up toward Hokkaido and into Aomori Prefecture. Let's take a look at some video to give you an idea of the situation on the ground.
As after a warmer than usual weekend, a strong cold snap is bringing snowfall to northern and central Japan. Officials are urging people to install winter tires or chains as more snow and blizzard like conditions are expected through Tuesday.

Parts of Aomori Prefecture have already had more than 30 centimeters of snow in 12 hours. The weather has prompted the prefecture to begin winter road closures in the mountainous areas a week ahead of schedule. High pressure back toward the context of areas of Asia really bringing a northerly flow and so plenty of snow along the sea in Japan side of the country from Hokkaido all the way down into the Hokuriku region. And so we're talking about more snow and maybe again the blizzard like conditions are part of the concern as we go through the day on Tuesday. Once the high pushes farther toward the east, we're going to see less of that flow from the north and so we won't be talking nearly as much in terms of the snow. But for Tuesday we're talking about the winter weather from Sapporo into Niigata. Tokyo high of 13 which is a couple degrees lower for daytime highs compared to what we typically see for this time of year. So make sure that you bundle up because it's going to be chilly not only for the daytime but overnight lows sink into the single digits and so it's going to be quite frigid during the morning hours.

We broaden out the view down to the South money moves away from the Philippines impacting the southern areas of China as we go throughout the day on Tuesday. So showers into Hong Kong with high of 23 for Tuesday.

Quick note on North America low pressure system down to the southern plain. really developing itself. We may be talking about not only strong, but even severe thunderstorm possibilities into the southern plains as we go through the day on Monday. Looking at a high of 27 in Houston, that warm air really colliding with the cold air, bringing that stormy activity as we go through the day.

Hope you have a good day wherever you are.

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That is all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yamo Otamichi in Tokyo.
Thank you very much for joining us.