Hello, a very warm welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.
South Korea's Constitutional Court justices have met to prepare for President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial. It comes after Yoon skipped a summons by prosecutors, looking into whether his declaration of martial law broke the law. Lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon on Saturday, suspending his presidential powers.
Constitutional justices have now scheduled a preparatory hearing for December 27. They will decide within 180 days whether Yoon's impeachment is appropriate. It follows his decision to deploy South Korean troops in response to so-called anti-state forces earlier this month.
Yoon is now being investigated on suspicion of internal insurrection and abuse of power. But a special prosecution team says Yoon did not comply when summoned for questioning on Sunday. It's reportedly called him in for a second time. Meanwhile, Yonhap News Agency reports a joint investigation team, including police, plans to call Yoon for questioning as early as Wednesday. It says if he snubs that meeting, he could be detained. The leader of Yoon's ruling party is stepping down.
He had sided with lawmakers calling for impeachment.
It is impossible for me to continue my normal duties as party leader anymore. I deeply apologize to all people who have suffered from the turmoil caused by the President's Martial Law Declaration.
And for more on this, I earlier spoke to NHK Rules Kondo Yukari in Seoul.
There were a lot of emotions in South Korea over the weekend. How are people feeling now?
Several people told me they're being very anxious ever since the president declared martial law. Now, many say they're relieved their imprisonment vote went through, but that doesn't mean they're backing down. Hundreds participated in a rally on Sunday, calling on the Constitutional Court to reach a quick decision. The sense I get is that people are unsatisfied with Yoon. just been suspended. They want him out of office. And quickly, until then, it looks like the protests will continue.
And the court met for the first time on Monday. What evidence or arguments are they going to consider?
The court's job is to decide whether the National Assembly's impeachment is valid.
That means they have to wait whether the Martial Law Declaration is self-merit.
The case will likely center and use key claims. The martial law was necessary to protect democracy. The court will hear from those involved, including some who say they were instructed by the president. The court needs at least six out of nine judges to uphold the impeachment. By now, there are actually only six judges on the bench. Unless more judges get confirmed, they'll need to anonymously agree to remove Yoon from power.
Now, Yoon said he would fight to the end. Where do you think that confidence comes from?
Yeah, before politics, President Yong was a prosecutor. But this is a man who knows the law, so his confidence is interesting. Last we heard, his illegal counsel still isn't ready. We will have to see what their arguments are. But again, as things are now, Yoon only needs to convince one out of six judges not to impeach to return to power.
And how long could all this take?
We don't actually know. The judges started discussing the schedule this morning. The Constitutional Court is reportedly making this case its top priority. But in the past, these impeachment proceedings took weeks.
It took three months for the court to reach a decision on the impeachment of Park Geun-hye in 2017. So ultimately, we will have to wait and see.
But remember that this is happening in parallel to separate a criminal investigation. As we said earlier, Yoon refused to answer when prosecutors summoned him for questioning Sunday. So regardless of what happened at the constitutional court, he could still face criminal charges. I'm sure many here will be watching to see what happens, both in and outside the court.
A visit by the widow of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump has garnered attention as world leaders seek a meeting with him. Trump's wife, Melania, wrote on social media on Sunday that the couple hosted Abe Akie at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She posted a photo of the three of them together and said... We fondly remembered her late husband, former Prime Minister Abe, and honored his remarkable legacy. U.S. media outlet CNN has reported that Trump and Akie have stayed in touch after her husband's assassination two years ago. The visit was reportedly arranged during one of their conversations, and not through diplomatic channels. Current Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has yet to meet with the President-elect in person.
Arrangements were being made for him to meet Trump in the U.S. last month, but the meeting did not take place. Other world leaders are also said to be keen to meet with Trump.
A 53-year-old man in Japan has pleaded not guilty of sexually abusing his daughter eight years ago when she was a teenager. The case has attracted a lot of attention after the woman made her accusations public.
Daimon Koji is a former company executive. He denied the charges in the first hearing at the Toyama District Court on Monday. Daimon admitted having sex with his daughter, but said she was not in a state of inability to resist.
Prosecutors told the court Daimon had inflicted violence against her, instilled fear, and that he had sex with her several times. They say she was unable to resist because the family depended on Daimon's income and that she was concerned about her younger sister's safety. The defense says Daimon should be criticized on moral and ethical grounds, but is innocent as he did not make her unable to resist by using violence. Fukuyama Riho spoke with reporters earlier this year after her father was arrested. She gave her real name and said the abuse started when she was in junior high school.
Fukuyama is now 24 years old. She said she decided to go public in part to inspire people who have been sexually abused at home to speak out and seek help.
Japan's defensechief has informed Okinawa's governor some U.S. Marines have started relocating from the southwestern prefecture to the U.S. territory of Guam.
Defense Minister Nakatani Gen. and Okinawa Governor Tamaki Denny met at the prefectural office on Sunday. Nakatani said around 100 members of the U.S.
Marine Corps involved in logistics support will be dispatched through next year. This is part of an agreement the Japanese and U.S. governments reached in 2006.
The Marines' relocation to Guam is a very important step. Japan will continue to work with the U.S. on the transfer.
We want the relocation plan to be presented clearly, and I'd like the transfer to be carried out as soon as possible.
Tamaki also mentioned the training exercises the Marines currently conduct in Okinawa. He asked the defense minister to urge the U.S. to transfer them all to Guam and elsewhere. The deal is aimed at reducing Okinawa's burden. The prefecture hosts about 70-percent of the U.S. military facilities in Japan. The plan is to relocate more than 4-thousand Marines and their families to Guam. The estimated cost will be about $8.6 billion. The Japanese government will pay nearly 1/3 of that amount. Altogether, the US plans to transfer about 9,000 Marine Corps members from Okinawa to Guam and to the US state of Hawaii.
A UN envoy has called for an end to Western sanctions against Syria. It comes as the country's new leaders are seeking a path forward after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Gayor Pedersen visited the capital Damascus on Sunday. He said he will urge the interim government to work on building a nation that includes ethnic minorities.
We need to get the political process underway, that is inclusive of bold Syrians. That process obviously is collected by the Syrians itself.
The rebel group HTS that toppled Assad has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others, but Pedersen has expressed the need to lift the economic sanctions quickly so that reconstruction can begin.
We will hopefully see a quick end to sanctions so that you can see really rallying around building up Syria yet.
Meanwhile, citizens are gradually returning to their daily lives. In the northern city of Aleppo, schools that had been closed reopened. A 15 year old girl spoiled of her hopes for the future.
My dream is to become a doctor and I want to study hard and do my best for the country. Students who returned to school for the first time in a while enjoyed reuniting with their friends.
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Let's check the world weather with our meteorologist Jonathan Oh. So, Jonathan, people in parts of California were surprised when a severe storm passed through their region. What happened?
Look at this video and you may be wondering why it's so significant. The reason is because San Francisco was under a tornado warning Saturday and this was the first time in its recorded history that this took place. You can see in this particular camera that captured a tornado that touched down near a mall in Central California that twister overturnedcars, downed trees and power poles and sent several people to the hospital with injuries. Officials estimated its peak winds were hitting up to 145 kilometers per hour, so it was definitely a storm that really made its impact known in the area.
Another low pressure system located off the Pacific Northwest continue to bring some of that tremendous amount of moisture. We're talking about heavy rainfall along the coastal areas, but then you go to the mountain, you get dumped with a bunch of snow and that's going to be the case as we go through Monday.
We have another low that's located right between the border of Minnesota into portions of Ontario with warm air surging in from the South. We're talking some heavier rainfall, possibly some even strong thunderstorms possible into the. Eastern portion of the United States from Ohio River Valley down to the Deep South. That's something we were looking out for as we go throughout Monday. So looking at the forecast here, Winnipeg, you fall down freezing for your high with some snow on Monday. Showers from Toronto to New York and DC as we go through Monday. Meanwhile, Northeast Asia, we're still talking about plenty of snow into the northern portions of Japan. We've got the northwesterly flow and that's going to be the case as we continue on into the day on Tuesday.
Tokyo looking at sunny skies with a high of 13 andHigher back toward the West as well.
It's hot down toward Australia. It's summer and we're seeing temperatures are really pushing up into the upper 30s and that's going to be the case though the eastern side of Australia looking at some heavier rain possibilities. Brisbane looking at some rain with a high of 28 for Tuesday.
Hope you have a good day wherever you are.
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And that's all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo. Thank you for staying with us.
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