at 18:00 (JST), December 04 (Ai-CC by Clipchamp)

 

20241204180000_english_1.mp3

Hello, and thank you for joining us on this edition of NHK Newsline.

I'm Raja Pradhan with the news from Tokyo.

South Korea is still in a state of confusion after martial law was suddenly invoked and repealed overnight. Now, President Yoon Suk-yeol's political future is in doubt. Multiple opposition parties, including the main Democratic Party, are moving to impeach him. The crisis began when President Yun suddenly addressed the nation late Tuesday night, announcing martial law. The country's martial law headquarters responded by banning all political activities, including party activities and civil gatherings in the National Assembly. Chaos reigned as crowds gathered outside the parliament.Police officers surrounded the area and were trying to stop people from entering the building. Both the ruling and opposition parties criticized Yoon's decision. Early Wednesday, the National Assembly passed a resolution calling for martial law to be lifted. The speaker announced Yoon's declaration was therefore invalidated. Yoon then held a news conference and announced he would lift the decree at a cabinet meeting. But the abrupt declaration and withdrawal caused widespread confusion. Several high-ranking officials announced they're stepping down. The largest opposition, the Democratic Party, is calling for Yoon to do the same. It said it'll file insurrection charges against him. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, six opposition parties submitted a motion calling for Yoon's impeachment.

This person, Yoon Suk-yeol, has done something crazy that violates the Constitution. He's basically committed a coup. Impeachment is not a choice anymore. It's a must.

Voting will likely take place later this week after the motion is reported in a plenary session. It'll be adopted if two-thirds of lawmakers vote in favor. If approved, the president's duties will be temporarily suspended. South Korea's Constitutional Court will then decide within 180 days whether Yoon has to go. I earlier spoke with NHK World's Kim Chan-joo, who was at the National Assembly.

Protesters are still here. Some of them never left after last night.

In front of the parliament building, there are scores of people right now demanding Yoon's arrest and impeachment. Things quickly escalated after his shocking declaration last night. Police, helicopters and armored troops filled the streets. There were even military vehicles in the city. It's a sight we haven't seen here since the 1980s, when South Korea was still under military rule. Here in Seoul, people are still in shock and disbelief.

The president himself attacked the National Assembly. The president sent troops to attack the National Assembly, attack the people. And significantly undermine the constitutional order. So I am sure that he is not qualified to be our president.

I lean towards supporting the opposition party, but I can appreciate that the ruling party leader also tried to stop President Yoon's outrageous act.

Since he said he'd repeal the martial law, we haven't seen or heard from Yoon himself. He's postponed his schedule today. But it looks like the public outrage isn't dying down. There are mass protests scheduled across the country demanding he resign. For many South Koreans here, last night was a glimpse into a reality that only existed in history books.

And I also spoke with our senior international correspondent Aoki Yoshiyuki for his take on the situation. He's NHK's former Seoul bureau chief.

Yoshiki, I think many are still confused about why President Yoon Son Yuri evoked martial law in the first place. So what can you tell us?

Ohh In fact, he outlined some of his reasons in a news conference around midnight. He spoke about the potential impeachment of government officials. A vote in parliament that shut down next year's national budget, as well as the scandals involving both him and his wife. He claimed anti-state forces were behind it all. He even called the opposition parties monsters. So it seems like he was trying to stop the opposition using this measure. The move shocked many in South Korea, including some within the presidential office. Local media say most officials. didn't know about the order, and some reports suggest it was a very hasty decision made by a very small group.

Well, Yoshiki, it was lifted after just six hours. So why did the president change his mind?

He was forced to. The Constitution says the president has to lift martial law if the assembly votes to end it, which it did. But I wonder if seeing the the people rising up like they did last night might have played a role. The fact that even Yoon's own ruling party was against him likely didn't help.

What impact could this have on Seoul's relationships abroad?

I don't think it would have a huge effect now. Yoon's diplomatic strategy will likely stay the same, assuming he stays in power. But I imagine this may slow the government down. Tensions with North Korea led Yoon to focus on the trilateral partnership with Japan and the U.S. On top of this uncertainty in Seoul, Washington will also havenew leader next month. People around Donald Trump acknowledge the importance of the framework, but as we reported in the past, many are uncertain about his commitment. So I hope at least that Tokyo and Seoul will continue to work together on several fronts, regardless of this political confusion. I'm sure Seoul is also on high alert to make sure Pyongyang doesn't take advantage of the situation. 

So Yoshiki, where does South Korea go from here?

Of course, all eyes are on now the President Yoon. We still don't know if he will take the responsibility for this turmoil or he will acknowledge the recent calls for his impeachment. That will require a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. So the opposition parties would need some ruling party members to vote for it. Everyone is also waiting to see what the ruling party will do. And one more thing, the one local media outlet released an editorial which said the president has passed a point of no return. So with so much uncertainty, one thing that is clear is that Yun now is facing the worst crisis of his political career.

Next, Japan is pitching in to help Ukrainians with disabilities. It's provided the country with rehabilitation equipment and specially designed vehicles.

The items will be delivered to 11 facilities in the Kiev region through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. A handover ceremony was held Tuesday in the capital. The rehab equipment uses electrical stimulation to help patients recover muscle strength or alleviate pain. Patients will include those with impaired motor functions. More than 300,000 military personnel and citizens in Ukraine are estimated to have been disabled since Russia invaded the country. Worsening living conditions for those with disabilities have become a major challenge. as budget shortfalls have prevented the purchase of new medical equipment.

I'm grateful for the Japanese government, the people of Japan and JICA for such help. This will improve the expansion of our social infrastructure for people with disabilities.

I want them to rehabilitate as soon as possible so that they can return to society. We will think about what we can do and will continue to provide support.

In the Kyiv region, the number of people with disabilities has risen by 14,000 since the start of the invasion. They include evacuees from areas close to the front lines.

In other news, members of the United Nations Security Council are divided over the recent escalation of fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition forces. The conflict has escalated in Syria since last week, when anti-government forces took control of most of the major city of Aleppo in the country's north. Government troops are counter-attacking with massive airstrikes and other operations. Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said at an emergency council meeting Tuesday, the fight must continue against Security Council-listed terrorist groups. He indicated Russia will continue to back the Syrian government, including militarily. US Deputy Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood called for a halt to airstrikes, saying they've caused civilian casualties. He added the United States is concerned a US and UN designated terrorist organization is behind the rebel offensive. But he insisted such issues do not justify what he described as atrocities by the Assad regime and its Russian backers.

Wednesday marks five years since Japanese doctor and aid worker Nakamura Tetsu was gunned down in Afghanistan. He is revered there for leading a project to restore drought-stricken farmland. Water has started flowing through a newly built irrigation channel in the eastern province of Nangahar.

Staff from the Japanese non-governmental organization Peshawarukai were among those who attended a ceremony there on Tuesday. Nakamara was a representative of the NGO in the country. He spent over three decades in Afghanistan doing humanitarian work, along with providing medical care. Nakamara was gunned down in Nangahar. It's not known who killed him. The investigation into the case has been stalled since before the Taliban returned to power.

The irrigation system, along with a newly constructed reservoir, is expected to improve the lives of residents, farming an area of about 400 hectares.

Today we saw water flowing through there for the first time. I couldn't be happier. We are continuing with more projects like this to support farming.

We've trodden the path laid out by Dr. Nakamura until now. No matter what the political situation is, we need to continue water projects so that people can survive amid this drought.

Those who carried on Nagamara's work after his death started building the new canal in Nangahar in April. They're continuing with the construction of more irrigation facilities.

It's time now for a check on the weather with our meteorologist Jonathan. Oh, we're still seeing warmer than average temperatures in many parts across Japan.

So, Jonathan, how's Thursday looking?

Hello, we have been seeing at least slightly warmer temperatures for the past several days across the Pacific side of Japan. Up to the north we've been dealing with more of a snowier pattern as we have this low pressure system moving on through and bringing some really chilly air along with the moisture. And so we're talking about more snow into places like Hokkaido and portions of the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions as we go into Thursday. But the warm pattern at least for Tokyo at areas back to the West continue and so we're looking at highs again into the mid teens. Place like Tokyo with publicly skies 14 Osaka also into Fukuoka. Snow into Sapporo with a high of three and showers and Niigata with a high of 10. Now I want to show you some videos coming out of Wakayama Prefecture. This is a seasonal type of thing that takes place as a large open air bath available only in winter, open Sunday at a hot spring resort. And of course you're seeing the tourists coming. They're known as the Teninburo. It's created by damming a river using hot spring water that naturally rises from the riverbed. The 73 degree hot spring water is cooled by the river to about 40 degrees Celsius. That's a little bit more ideal for bathing and it will be open for free of charge until February of next year. So that's certainly an activity where you have the colder air in place and you can go into the warm water and get a little bit warmed up in the process.
Speaking of the cold air across the United States, especially the northeastern portions of the country we talked about. At the end of last week, some really big lake effect snow taking place. And guess what? That scenario is unfolding once again as a low that's coming out of Ontario's swing toward the east. And so the next couple of days we're talking about a real major dumping of snow across the Great Lakes extending into the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern portions of the United States. And so be prepared as you're going to get quite dumped on in the process here. Snow from Winnipeg into Chicago, Toronto for Wednesday, extending toward the east as we go into a Thursday, but down from the South is a much warmer.

highs up to 22 in Houston as we go through Wednesday.

Hope you have a good day wherever you are.

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That's all for now on this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Raja Pradhan in Tokyo, there's much more to come on NHK World Japan, so please, just stay with us.