at 18:00 (JST), November 25 (Ai-CC by Clipchamp)

 

20241125180000_english_1.mp3

Welcome back to NHK Newsline. Here's the latest we have for you at this hour.

South Korea held a ceremony to honor those who worked at Japan's Sado Island gold mines. This comes after it boycotted a similar event organized by the local government. The ceremony was held Monday in Sado City at a former lodging facility for Korean miners. The mines became a UNESCO World Heritage Site last July.
South Korea initially objected to that decision, saying Koreans were forced to work there during wartime.
About 30 people attended, including the miners' families and South Korea's ambassador to Japan, Park Cho-hye.
He said their tears and sacrifices are part of the mines' history and must never be forgotten. Participants observed a moment of silence and placed flowers at the site. South Korean representatives and relatives chose not to attend a similar event on Sunday. That memorial was organized by Sado City and local groups. South Korean media say Seoul canceled after learning Japan's parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Ikuina Akiko would attend.
South Korea's foreign ministry says Ikuina visited the Yasukuni Shrine after she was elected in 2022. The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including those convicted of war crimes after World War II. South Korean leaders have long criticized Japanese lawmakers for visiting the site.

We've been communicating with both Seoul and the local government. Japan is not in a position to explain why the South Korean side decided not to attend. But their absence is regrettable.

Hayashi said Ikuina has not visited Yasukuni Shrine since becoming an upper house lawmaker. He said Tokyo explained that to Seoul.

Fears are growing about an escalation of the war in Ukraine. In Washington, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisorSays the incoming administration will work to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine at an early date. Mike Waltz was speaking to Fox News on Sunday.

We need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace, and get ahead of this escalation ladder rather than responding to it.

Waltz suggested the new administration will study ways to find an early end to the conflict. The congressman said North Korea, sending troops to Russia, has raised concerns about an escalation of the war. He said ending the conflict will require discussions on who's at the negotiating table, how to get both sides to the table and the framework of a deal.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Security Agency has shown what they say is wreckage from a new intermediate range ballistic missile that Russia fired last week. The missile struck the eastern city of Dnipro. An expert with Ukraine's Security Service says this is the first time the remains of such a missile have been discovered on Ukrainian territory. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency says its analysis shows the missile was launched from southern Russia and flew for about 15 minutes before striking 900 kilometers away. The agency says the missile's peak speed was at least Mach 11 or about 13-thousand kilometers per hour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to forgive the debts of new army recruits in an apparent move to mobilize more troops. The law, signed on Saturday, forgives debts of up to about $96,000 for those who sign a contract for at least a year. The measure, which begins next month, also applies to their spouses. Moscow has been ramping up its efforts to recruit contract soldiers as its invasion of Ukraine drags on. It has also offered high pay for the soldiers, and pardons for convicted prisoners who enlist in the army. The move comes amid reports that Russia has sent hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries to the front lines. According to the Financial Times, the men were promised jobs and even Russian citizenship, but were then forcibly sent to fight. Mercenaries from India and Nepal are also reported to be among the foreigners hired by Russian forces.

A South Korean court has handed the country's main opposition party leader a major legal victory, finding Lee Jaemyung not guilty in a high profile trial. It was one of several cases on his plate. They include one that did not go in his favor and now threatens his future in politics. Our Kim Chanjoo is tracking the story from just outside the Seoul Central District Court. So Chanjoo, what can you tell us about Monday's hearing?

It attracted many of Lee's supporters and critics. They gathered outside the courtroom, with one side claiming he's innocent and the other demanding he face severe punishment. Lee entered the courthouse without responding to any questions from the many reporters waiting here. But he spoke publicly about an hour after the verdict came out. Here's part of what he had to say.

I am grateful to the court for restoring truth and justice. I call on the government and the ruling party to adopt politics that helps people prosper, rather than politics that crushes.

Prosecutors accused Lee of demanding false testimony from a witness in a 2019 trial. Lee was acquitted in that trial, thanks in part to that testimony. In October last year, prosecutors presented fresh evidence of telephone transcripts and indicted Lee on charges, including perjury and demanding false testimony.
Lee contends that he only asked for the truth to be told. and never requested perjury. But his time in courtrooms is not over yet. Earlier this month, the same court found Lee guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced Lee to a suspended prison term. If it stands, Lee will be stripped of his seat in parliament and also barred from running for public office for a period of time, including possibly during the 2027 presidential election.
Lee has appealed the sentence. There are other court cases ahead. In one, he's charged with corruption surrounding two development projects while he was a mayor. Another involves an allegation Lee pressured a local businessman to send illegal funds to North Korea.

Well This torrent of cases is capturing a lot of attention in South Korea. What has the reaction been like?

The public seems to have mixed feelings as well as a lot of frustration.

These kinds of problems have been happening non-stop since the presidential election. It would be good to put all this to rest.

This is a time when politicians should be cooperating to move the economy and policies forward, but they're so focused on other things that they're unable to do what they're supposed to do.

Lee's Democratic Party condemns the prosecution's indictments. It has taken a hard-line stance against the government and been pushing to oust President Yoon Suk-yeol. Yoon is facing a string of controversies, including allegations of influence peddling alongside his wife.
Lee achieved a landslide victory in the general election earlier this year and succeeded at being re-elected as party leader. His path to the presidency had appeared strong compared to other possible Democratic Party candidates.
But that's now likely to fluctuate significantly depending on how things pan out in the courts.

Thank you, Chan-joo. That was NHK World's Kim Chan-joo reporting from Seoul.

A special adviser for Japan's Prime Minister Shiba Shigeru says he met with officials close to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to request that multilateral collaboration efforts continue.
Nagashima Akisa handles national security issues within the Cabinet. The Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker spoke to NHK in Tokyo on Sunday after returning from a five-day trip to Washington. Nagashima said he met with Senator Bill Hagerty,who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan during the previous Trump administration. He said he asked how the transition of government is proceeding.

I've been working on deepening and strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance and strengthening coordination with like-minded partners for the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. I've requested the next U.S. administration continue these policies.

Nagashima said an in-person meeting between Ishiba and Trump is not on the cards yet because deliberations on the budget will begin early next year in the ordinary Diet session.

In South Korea, international negotiators are trying to draft the first-ever United Nations treaty aimed at reducing plastic pollution. A big focus of the talks is how far guidelines should go to control the amount being made around the world.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee is holding its final week-long round of discussions in Busan.

This is our moment to act with courage, determination, and optimism. Together, we can end plastic pollution and leave a legacy to hope for our planet and future generations.

The European Union and some African nations are calling for new rules limiting plastic production. But China, India, and petroleum-rich countries which benefit from plastic demand are against those measures. Japan has said each country needs to set goals and regulations depending on its circumstances and promote recycling and other efforts. Talks in Busan are also expected to touch on whether nations should be required to take steps to prevent plastic from entering the environment. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports from 2000 to 2019, global plastic waste more than doubled.
The organization points out only 9% of that waste was successfully recycled, while over 20% was mismanaged.

It's time now for us to check the world weather with our meteorologist Jonathan Oh. So, Jonathan, people in northern parts of Europe are getting a taste of winter. What's the latest for the area?

Hello, we're keeping an eye out on a storm named Bert that was moving across the northwestern portions of the continent and heading toward Scandinavia and bringing some windy weather, wet weather and snowy weather as well. Here's a look at the video coming out of the United Kingdom to give you an idea of what's been going on.
Storm Bert blanketed parts of England and Scotland with snow Saturday and disrupted travel, causing road closures, stranded vehicles and the use of snowplows to get that snow off the road. Passengers were also stranded at an airport in northeastern England as snow covered the runways, ended up delaying and canceling flights, weather officials issued amber warnings for heavy snow, which is the second highest level for alerts of this type.

So as I mentioned, the storm will be moving toward the east and heading toward the Scandinavian Peninsula and behind a big push of colder air and windy weather along this low pressure system. So we're going to be seeing a bit of a messy setup as we go into Monday and also into Tuesday as well.

Looking at the forecast, we are expecting again some of that rain and snowing mix to be up toward the north on Monday and looking at a bit of a hazier pattern into places like Vienna with a high of five.

Meanwhile, across North America,couple of areas where we're talking about some messy weather, one across the Great Lakes as a low pressure system is pushing toward the east. Back toward the West, a couple more low pressure areas are going to run in and bring in some winter storm type setup as well. It's been a very messy situation across places like Seattle and also into Oregon as well into Portland and it's going to be like that once again as we go through Monday with some wet weather. Put some snow into the mountains as we go through Monday. Snow also to Winnipeg with a high of five below freezing.

Looking at what's happening across East Asia, we do have this setup moving from China into the Korean Peninsula, so looking at some wet and even snowy weather possibilities as we go throughout the day on Tuesdays. So we're looking at some rain with a high of 10.

Hope you have a good day wherever you are.

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That brings us to the end of this edition of NHK Newsline.
We'll have more for you soon. Thanks for watching.