at 18:00 (JST), February 26

 

20250226180000_english_1.mp3

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

The number of births in South Korea has gone up slightly for the first time in nearly a decade, but the country continues to grapple with the challenges of having the lowest fertility rate in the world. The government's latest figures show the number of newborns went up 3.6% last year, and the annual fertility rate is now at 0.75, up slightly from the previous year. That's the number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime. Officials say the rise is partly due to a rebound in the number of people tying the knot after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In our survey on marriage and childbirth last year, more people are deciding to have children when they get married.

South Korea has had the lowest fertility rate of all the OECD countries for more than a decade. Last year, the government rolled out measures to encourage people to have more kids. It came after now-impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol called it a national demographic crisis.
For more on this, earlier I spoke with NHK World's Kang Na-young in Seoul.
What can you tell us about what's driving the increase?

As we heard earlier, the country saw a boost in marriages that were delayed because of the pandemic. But in my reporting, I have learned that attitudes are changing.
One matchmaking agency in Seoul told us that they are seeing more desire to have a family. In South Korea, marriage is traditionally an important step before kids.

Some members want kids and are looking to marry someone with the same thinking. There are those who don't want kids, but I think parenthood is a major priority for our members.

The agency says membership has gone up by 20 percent every year since 2021. But as the CEO said, they are still working with couples who don't necessarily want children. So that attitude does still persist.

So what have people in Seoul told you about why they are choosing not to have children?

We spoke to many people in their 20s and 30s, and many of them told us the biggest challenge is their financial situations.
We visited a community in Busan where young people who want to start a business can get support from the local government. Here's what they said.

I think I need time to discover myself. If people ask me when I'm going to get married, I say now is not the right time.

When I make enough money from my current job, I can start thinking about marriage. But until then, it's not on my mind.

It's no use asking young people to try and tackle the birth rate issue. We have too many other problems to deal with.

So as you can see, this is the reality for many people across the country. They can't even afford to think about marriage or kids until they have some level of financial security. One expert I spoke to says employment is a major factor.

The biggest reason for the low birth rate is job instability. I think young people choose not to marry or have kids until they find stable work. The government should implement measures to improve employment.

Some companies are implementing incentives. For example, one major construction company offers 100 million won, or about $70,000, to employees with one or more children.
Since 2006, the government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to deal with the problem. Some of that includes childcare benefits and providing housing to new parents,But there is still a long way to go.

Shareholders of US tech giant Apple have rejected a proposal to scrap the company's diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Many American companies have been reviewing their DEI initiatives following criticism by President Donald Trump. 
A conservative think tank submitted a shareholder proposal to terminate the programs to an Apple online meeting on Tuesday. It said that DEI poses litigation, reputational and financial risks to companies. Apple's board issued a statement recommending shareholders reject the proposal as unnecessary because the company has a well-established compliance program.
It said the proposalin appropriately attempts to restrict Apple from managing its own operations and business strategies. The proposal was later voted down. US media quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook as saying, The company's strength lay in people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives coming together to innovate and create something magical.

Trump says wealthy foreign nationals will soon be able to buy permanent residency in the US. For five million dollars, they will be able to get what he calls a gold card.
They'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it's going to be extremely successful.
The term gold card references the famous US green card. Green card holders are legal permanent residents who have met certain conditions. Gold card holders would get the same rights and would also have a path to citizenship. However, applicants would still need to pass government vetting. When asked if a wealthy Russian oligarch would be eligible, Trump said they could be.
He said some of them are very nice people. The card is expected to go on sale in about two weeks. Trump said he expects to sell a million or more.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Son Yol has defended himself in his last hearing at the country's Constitutional Court. He argued that his imposition of martial law was legitimate.
The hearing on Tuesday was the last of a series of 11 on whether Yoon's impeachment is appropriate. Chon Chon Nae of the main opposition Democratic Party, the head of the National Assembly's impeachment panel, denounced the president.

Yoon Suk-yeol, standing in this impeachment trial, is the one who tried to erase the history of democracy. And violate the Constitution and the National Assembly, the heart of democracy.

In response, Yoon said he was simply exercising presidential authority.

I did not declare martial law to suppress the people with military power. It was an appeal to the people in the form of martial law.

The president also said that if reinstated, he would focus on foreign relations while shifting authority over domestic issues to the prime minister. He added that he would push for constitutional and political reforms.
South Korean media say the court is expected to hand down its ruling by mid-March.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has instructed military educators to train commanders for modern warfare by giving them real battlefield experience.
State-run Korean Central Television reported that Kim inspected a prestigious military academy that trains commanding officers on Tuesday. It quoted Kim as saying the current international situation in which war and bloodshed are common requires a country's armed forces to cope with war perfectly.
It also says Kim called for intensifying military practice centered education to ensure that all students learn about real modern warfare. He said this would give them the ability to command in battle.
Tuesday's visit was Kim's second to a military education institution in two days. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said Kim's remarks may emphasize the use of practical experience gained from dispatching North Korean troops to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Nation-building efforts are underway in Syria following the end of the decades-long rule by ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his father. The interim government has held a national dialogue conference on the country's future. The meeting was held on Tuesday, more than one month later than scheduled. About 500 people from various ethnic groups and religions across Syria reportedly participated. They came to discuss drafting a new constitution and reforming the judicial system. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharrah asked for unity, saying Syria has been returned to its people, and the country is calling on them to discuss its future. He also said Syria should reorganize its military and security forces.

The unity of arms and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury, but a duty and an obligation. Syria does not accept division. It is an integrated whole, and its strength lies in its unity.

He stressed his intention to disarm supporters of the former government as well as Kurdish forces, which continue fighting in northern Syria. Reuters News Agency says representatives of Kurdish forces did not receive invitations to the conference.

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Let's turn to our meteorologist Jonathan Oh for world weather. So Jonathan, it is still February, but it's suddenly warming up in some parts of Japan to feel more like not March, but even April. What's happening here?

Hello, after seeing the bitter cold that we've experienced over the past several days. We're seeing a big surge of southerly air coming in and that's helping to elevate those temperatures to feeling more like mid spring as opposed to what late winter. We are even seeing the big snowfall that's been taking place in the northern portions of Japan backing off might see a little bit for activity during the overnight period.
And then we go into Thursday and it's going to be dry up toward the north as well. We've been dealing with these low pressure systems developing up toward the north and east of the country.
That's going to slow down and back toward the West. High pressure is pushing in and again that's going to really push that warm air. We're talking about highs in the 20s in Tokyo coming up this weekend. That's how warm it's going to be getting. So I get the sunglasses, I guess at that point. Look at this Thursday 15 in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo getting a break from the snow high of 4 and even into Niigata at 10. Now I do want to point out because we're warming up so quickly, especially into the mountains, we could see some really quick snow melt that can lead to avalanches. So you want to take those precautions, maybe even listen to the experts in the area when it comes to trying to hit the slopes because of the possibility of those avalanches. And the snow melt could also lead to some concerns of localized flooding as well.
It's not just Japan getting the warm weather back toward the West. We have a couple areas of high pressure into China's on 19 in Chongqing, 14 in Beijing, Shanghai topping up at 15 for Thursday.

Warm weather is also part of the story over in North America, southern areas of the United States seeing temperatures really picking up. We got a little low that's just scooting by near the Ohio River Valley. So we're talking about some showers into Chicago as we go through the day on Wednesday. But I mean down toward the South temperatures are going to be into the 20s here from Atlanta into Houston and even to Los Angeles near 30 for the high as you go through day on Wednesday. Hope you have a good day.

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And that is all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yamoto Miki in Tokyo. Thank you for joining us on NHK World Japan.