korea. edited to use issue for three years, involved in the negotiation committee in every day really close to and i didn't have a desire to write then. but five years later and given the situation in north korea was then, it seemed like a good opportunity to read a little bit about my experiences there, a bit about the history of and about the u.s. policy even in a more general audience because they take this as a sort of issue where the educated reader doesn't know a lot about north korea, is history. you see headlines about missile tests, rational leaders in all these sorts of things. and i just thought it would be good to read about the people people look the sort of a comprehensive assessment of the history, the family commit economic, the politics, the human rights situation of the nuclear problem. the thick of the through every time they had a question about what was going on with north korea. i wouldn't call it a scholarly book, though it does have footnotes. it is really written to

foreign exchange agreements with south korea. at a news conference on friday, he officially announced he would postpone his planned visit to south korea later this month. he was to hold talks with his south korean counterpart. >> translator: the south korean president's recent moves are very disrespectful, and the japanese people are deeply offended. >> azumi then said he has to take all matters into consideration whether discussing an expansion of a foreign exchange arrangement. a currency agreement was set up between the japanese and south korean governments back in 2005. the most recent arrangements were expanded last year to prevent a fall in the south korean currency. it was made between the leaders of the two countries. azumi's comment indicates that the expanded portion of the foreign currency swap could end before it expires at the end of october. a professor that's an expert on korean affairs at the university of tokyo spoke with sherri ann. >> japan has not appealed to the international court of justice since a treaty t

japan against south korea. >>> up next we talk live in our studio with freestyle wrestling jordan as the games of the xxx olympiad move on. we're more curious than ever. we create music to express ourselves, and when the world relates you know, that's a beautiful thing. that's it. that's what it's all about. we are finally living out our creed. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ new pencils, new books... new backpack...looks good. just trying to look our best. gonna take more than looks. from what i hear, ms. haskins is a toughy. oh we had a good breakfast, so we're ready. gonna be another great year, huh guys?! you bet your 8 layers! yeah! long distance high 5. whoa! oh, careful. hey, watch it. [ female announcer ] packed with fiber and nearly a day's worth of whole grains, kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal helps keep your kids full and focused all morning long. wait up! [ female announcer ] kellogg's. from great starts come great things. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into

anna jung, nhk world, south korea. >>> nhk world's kengo komomoto is also covering south korea's upcoming election. he spoke earlier with shery ahn. >> what more can you tell us about park geun-hye. >> park is popular in south korea, much more popular than any rivals within the party. this result was expected. she has achieved much more politically than any other candidate. park is a daughter of south korea's late president. he led the country's economic boom in the 1960s and '70s. he was assassinated in 1979. his daughter is 60. she husbaused her theme to beco full term member of parliament. an opinion poll before the party's vote suggested that she would be the favorite in the presidential race if she ran. >> now that park is in the race, do we know who she will be running against? >> the opposition parties have not selected their nominees yet. members of the main opposition democratic united party picked five finalists in july. they will choose their presidential nominee at a convention in september. >> so, kengo, which party do you think has a better chance of winning the election? >>

so a group is heading to north korea to find out where they're buried. the group lived on the korean peninsula during the war. japanese officials don't usually allow citizens to travel to north korea because of sanctions. they gave this group permission on humanitarian grounds. the japanese will visit chongjin in the northeast and cemeteries near pyongyang. about 35,000 japanese died in what's now north korea around the end of the war. the remains of more than 20,000 are still there. japanese and north korean officials will discuss what to do about the remains later this week. they'll hold the first intergovernmental talks in four years. >>> thousands of children were in the area at the time of the nuclear disaster at fukushima daiichi. the japanese government wants to find out how they were affected. it will conduct thyroid tests on children outside the prefecture. it will compare the results to tests already under way in fukushima. health care professionals discovered lumps in the thyroid glands of 1 in 3 children in the prefecture. radioactive ioh, di

foreign exchange agreements with south korea. at a news conference on friday he announced he would postpone his planned visit to south korea later this month. he was to hold talks with his south korean counterpart. >> translator: south korean president bak's recent moving are very disrespectful. the japanese people are deeply offended. >> azumi said he has to take all matters into consideration when discussing an expansion of a foreign exchange arrangement. a currency arrangement was set up back in 2005. the most recent arrangements were expanded last year to prevent a fall in the south korean currency. the agreement was made between the leaders of the two countries. azumi's comment indicates that the expanded portion of the foreign currency swap could end before it expires at the end of october. a south korean foreign ministry spokesperson has dismissed the proposal to send it to the international court of justice. >> translator: the islands are unekwifl cali our territory. there is no territorial dispute. the proposal is obviou

south korea has controlled the island since 1954, despite japan's protests. the japanese government strongly denounced lee's visit. it reiterated that the islands are japanese territory. several days later, lee stated that if japan's emperor akihito was to ever visit south korea, he would first have to apologize for the koreans who died fighting for independence from japan. the tit-for-tat dispute worsened in the days that followed. japan's government announced it wanted to bring the case to the international court of justice. but south korea rejected the move saying that no territorial dispute exists. then last friday, japan's prime minister yoshihiko noda sent a letter addressed to the south korean president calling for a peaceful settlement of the dispute. the south korean government refused to accept the letter. on thursday this week, a south korean diplomat in tokyo tried to hand back the letter to japan's foreign ministry, but he was not allowed to enter the premises. on friday, japan's finance minister june azumi said japan will consider postponing pla

south korea has controlled the island since 1954, despite japan's protests. the japanese government strongly denounced lee's visit. it reiterated that the islands are japanese territory. several days later, lee stated that if japan's emperor akihito was to ever visit south korea, he would first have to apologize for the koreans who died fighting for independence from japan. the tit-for-tat dispute worsened in the days that followed. japan's government announced it wanted to bring the case to the international court of justice. but south korea rejected the move saying that no territorial dispute exists. then last friday, japan's prime minister yoshihiko noda sent a letter addressed to the south korean president calling for a peaceful settlement of the dispute. the south korean government refused to accept the letter. on thursday this week, a south korean diplomat in tokyo tried to hand back the letter to japan's foreign ministry but he was not allowed to enter the premises. on friday, japan's finance minister june azumi said japan will consider postponing plan

the rest comes from south korea and taiwan. so there is little demand for panels made in germany. >> reporter: it's not clear whether the feed in tariff system will survive in germany. the government, industries and consumers need to join hands and address the challenges they face. reporting for nhk world, berlin. >> japan introduced a system similar to germany's in july. experts warn it could face similar problems unless it tailors the rules the match the nation's needs. >>> they project the the possibility of a mega earthquake and tsunami along the pacific coast. more than 320,000 people could be killeden such a disaster. they say preparations could significantly reduce impact. the experts around the scenario under which a 9 class earthquake, strikes in central and western japan. the government panel says tsunami topping 30 meters could hit parts of the pacific coast. in worst scenario, 323,000 people could die. the panel projects a tsunami, up to 34 meters could hit the city in western japan. tourists flock to the cape. but

south korea is prospering. pastor cho says he knows one reason why. >> jesus christ. that is the only answer we can give. you come and try to study the reason of prosperity. you can't find out any reason because we don't have a good politician so far. we don't have great business people. >> and if christianity is a faor in the prosperity of south korea, yoido is a significant contributor. 60 years ago there were about 50,000 christians in south korea. today it's more than 10 million, and almost one in ten were baptized in the yoido full gospel church. for religious and ethics weekly, i'm lucky severson in seoul, south korea. >>> finally, on our calendar this week, muslims celebrate laylat al qadr, or the night of power, when it is believed the first verses of the koran were revealed to the prophet muhammad. on this one day, it is said that prayers hold more power than a thousand months' worth. >>> on august 15th, roman catholics celebrate the feast of the assumption, marking the day they believe mary the mother of jesus was assumed into heaven with her body and soul u

in north korea. if you remember typhoon that hit two days ago. any additional rain is not good news. so further flooding and landslides are highly likely at least for the next couple of days. as for japan, looking try but underneath tembin we may see pop-up thundershowers. across the west, looking dry across much of china. but inland areas will see heavy thundershowers from today we're anticipating as much as 200 millimeters or more with locally 280 millimeters from today into the weekend across inland area in eastern sichuan area. remaining over 30 degrees over the past 21 days. it's going to be another hot day for us. cooling down to 36 degrees in seoul. and 32 degrees in bangkok. moving into the americas. of course the main story is going to be isaac. isaac has been downgraded into a tropical storm, but still bringing stormy conditions across the gulf coast and extensive flooding along the coast. it's moving at a snail pace about nine kilometers per hour. so that means dangerous sea conditions and

about 40 people set out on monday morning from south korea's eastern coast. rock star kym jang-hoo is taking part, along with students from the korea national sport university. they'll take turns swimming legs of the 220 kilometer trip. they'll aim to arrive wednesday on the 67th anniversary of korea's liberation from japan's colonial rule. the swimmers will stream video of their attempt on the internet. >>> an nhk monthly poll suggests a big majority of japanese worry about lee's unprecedented visit to the islets. the respondents said it could negatively affect, japan's south korea relations. nhk surveyed 1,639 people aged 20 or over from friday to sunday. 3/4 said they're worried about the visit's impact. about 1/5 stead they're unconcerned. on a different question about the diet's recent enactment of the bills to raise the consumption tax and reform social security, 48 perz of the respondents said they approved. the same proportion expressed disapproval. the support rate for prime minister yoshihiko noda and his cabinet stood at 28%, up 1 point from last m

widespread flooding has affected both north korea and south korea and you can see right now we have a front just stalled out across south korea, it's being enhanced by a new tropical depression, which has formed in the yellow sea, and that front is going to be heading up towards the north anyway so more heavy rain to be coming, talking about 200 miters or so in the last 24 hours and if the storm, typhoon bolaven heads up to the yellow sea that could spell disaster. as it is before we get to that st we're looking at a very serious situation with these two typhoons in the western pacific. we have another tropical storm to talk about, let's go to the eastern caribbean sea and talk about tropical storm isaac, which is now just up towards the south of puerto rico. it looks like it's going to head toward hispaniola making

it could negatively affect japan/south korea relations. nhk surveyed 1,639 people aged 20 or over from friday to sunday. three-fourths said they're worried about the visit's impact. about one-fifth said they are unconcerned. on a different question about the diet's recent enactment of bills to raise the consumption tax and reform social security, 48% of the respondents said they approve. the same proportion expressed disapproval. the support rate for prime minister yoshihiko noda and his cabinet stood at 28%, up 1 point from last month. the disapproval rate stayed at 56%. >>> u.s. internet giant google is cutting 4,000 jobs at his recently acquired subsidiary motorola mobility. that's 20% of all staff at the telecom's equipmentmaker. google officials made the announcement on monday in a document submitted to the u.s. securities and exchange commission. google will also restructure one-third of motorola locations worldwide by closing or merging around 30 facilities. google says the payroll cut is aimed at refocussing the company on more pro

it has been raining in south korea over the past 24 hours. the rainfall total could reach 400 millimeters as we head into tomorrow. northern japan is expecting to see an additional 100 millimeters or more than 100 millimeters over the next 24 hours. flooding and landslides are highly likely across these regions, and tomorrow, as i said, things will turn a ltle bit drier, but ample moisture will continue to flow in so unstable weather will continue into tomorrow. down towards the south yesterday the tropical storm made landfall in luzon and produced drenching rain and gusty wind. it's upgratded into a severe tropical storm and located over the south china sea. it looks like it will head grudon province. once it makes landfall it will quicy weaken and headed for northern vietnam. in terms of rainfall, about 200 to 250 millimeters is likely to hit the province from tomorrow. so very heavy rain is in the cars here, and winds could exceed 90 kilometers per hour. very stormy conditions are in the forecast from tomorrow. we'll keep you posted on thi

south korea refused proposals to take the dispute to court. in 1954 and 1962. >>> british government officials say they will never allow safe passage to a man who is of interest to a number of countries. julian assange is trying to avoid extradition to sweden. the founder of wic -- wikileaks has been holed up in the ecuador embassy in london. he faces arrest if he leaves embassy grounds. people around the world clicked on wikileaks after the site released thousands of secret u.s. documents. authorities in sweden want to question assange over accusations of sexual assault. police in britain arrested him two years ago. the british court ruled he should be extradited to sweden. assange took refuge in ecuador's embassy in june and applied for asylum. >> translator: our country has decided to grant asylum to julian assange. >> foreign minister said ecuadorian leaders believe assange's fears of political persecution are legitimate and his human rights might be violated. his supporters gathered in front of the embassy. they cheered when they heard th

they have urged the government to make a break through in the upcoming talks with north korea. in a lecture in tokyo her parents expressed their hope. >> translator: i want japan to keep insisting that north korea respond to the cases of japanese abductees, otherwise, diplomatic normalization can never be realized. if the government can't make a break through by continuing to insist on a resolution, it will be impossible to solve the issue. >> japanese government officials say north koreans kidnapped 17 in all.

icj judges will not accept a trial unless south korea also agrees. but japanese leaders hope to win international support by showing that south korea's claims are groundless. >>> chinese premier and german chance lower merkel met in beijing to discuss the future economic relationship between china and europe pt premier we n and chancellor merkel spoke about buying european bonds so long as it can eval yit risks. wen said economic powers like germany and france must react to solve the debt crisis. there's a strong political will in her region to make the euro a stable kufrncy again. ceos of major german companies joined merkel in beijing, they reportedly signed business deals worth $6 billion. in teheran, countries not allied to any major global power block are meeting at the summit of the nonaliant movement. >> the meeting held every three years is being attended this time by the leaders of more than 100 states around the world. most of them developing nations. the opening address was made by iran's supreme leader ayatollah. he said he t was time for

what's prompted this plan to resume direct talks between japan and north korea? >> it seems north korean authorities were the ones who proposed the idea. the north raised the issue last april when a group of japanese lawmakers visited the nation. it came up again in june. north korean officials invited members of the japanese media to visit the graves of japanese citizens and the idea of holding bilateral talks. the government says more than 34,000 japanese residents died from hunger and cold during the evacuation of the korean peninsula at the end of the world war ii. remains only 20,000 have been repatriated so far. >> what do north koreans gain or stand to gain by being pro active on this specific issue? >> probably being motivated by economic factors, a program to exhume remains on such a large scale would involve hiring a lot of manpower and would provide north korea with a important source of income. you could compare it to the special industrial development zone. where south korean companies hired north korean workers. the country's new leader, kim jong-un

south korea calls the islets dokdo and claims them. and on a different question, when they were asked about the diet's recent enactment of bills to raise the consumption tax and reform social security, 48% of respondents said they approve. the same proportion expressed disapproval. the support rate for prime minister yoshihiko noda and his cabinet stood at 28%, up one point from last month. the disapproval rate stayed at 56%. >>> people in japan are holding on to their money. consumer spending has almost stalled. the latest gdp figures show growth in the world's third largest economy, but the pace has slowed to a crawl. the cabinet office says april through june quarter growth reached 0.3% or 1.4% in annualized terms. demand was down from the previous quarter. public investment rose by 1.7% helped by reconstruction in areas hit last year by tsunami. government subsidies spurred demand for eco-friendly vehicles. still, personal consumption only edged up 0.1%. corporate capital investment increased by 1.5%, and housing investment was up

south korea controls the islets claimed by japan. they're called takeshima in japan and dokdo in south korea. in the letter noda says japan proposes the two countries resolve the matter peacefully according to international law. he urged south korea to act cautiously with the broad view of bilateral relations. a south korean government official told nhk that the letter has got the facts wrong. south korean media reported that the government is not happy with japan calling the territory by its japanese name. asked about south korea's decision to return his letter, noda said he learned about it in the news and didn't have further knowledge of the matter. >>> a controversial u.s. military transport aircraft could arrive in okinawa soon. the top commander of the u.s. marine corps in japan has indicated that the osprey could be sent to okinawa by the middle of next month. the aircrafts are currently at iwakuni base in yamaguchi prefecture, western japan. >> it all depends on when we get the approval of the japanese government. so i would

north korea's envoy has arrived for the talks in beijing. he refused to comment on the kidnapping of japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s by north korean agents. >> translator: if we anticipate the results before the talks begin, the speculation could trigger misunderstanding. i think it would be impolite. >> the meeting will be the first under leader kim jong-un. his diplomats say the abduction issue is done. >>> japan's for minister disagrees that it is resolved. >> translator: there are various matters pending. i believe the abduction issue is a top priority. i'll proceed to discussions with north korea. >>> a 13-year-old japanese girl was abducted by north korean agents in 1977. the parents of the girl have not heard from her since. they have urged the government to make a break through in the upcoming talks with north korea. in a lecture in tokyo her parents expressed their hope. >> translator: i want japan to keep insisting that north korea respond to the cases of japanese abductees, otherwise, diplomatic normalization can never be

south korea controls the islets which are claimed by japan. they're called takeshima in japan and dokdkdo inouth korea. in the letter noda says japan proposes that the two countries resolve the matter peacefully according to international law. he urged south korea to act cautiously with a broad view of bilateral relations. a south korean government official told nhk that the letter has got the facts wrong. south korean media have reported that the government is not happy with japan calling the territory by its japanese name. asked about south korea's decision to return his letter, noda only said he learned about it in the news and didn't have further knowledge of the matter. japanese foreign minister koichiro gemba called lee myung-bak's recent visit to the islets an illegal landing. >> translator: the visit was extremely regrettable. i would say it was an illegal landing. >> gemba also used the word "illegal" to describe south korea's occupation of the islets. the reference is the strongest expression ever used by the democrat-led government.

people in south korea have kept up their fight. a court ruled last august the government's failure to negotiate compensation with japan violated the constitution and basic human rights. and in december, protesters erected a bronze statue in front of the japanese embassy in seoul, the figure of a girl symbolized comfort women. that same month, the president met noda and urged him to do something about the issue. he says so far he has not see any effort by the noda administration to resolve the dispute. so the president says japan's reluctance to address the comfort women issue prompted him to seek disputed islets in the sea of japan. he made the unprecedented trip accompanied by his culture and environment ministers. the panese government urged him not to go. south korea controls the islets. the japanese say the territory belongs to them. they've launched an official protest. president lee did not mention his visit when he made his speech wednesday in seoul. our reporter asked an expert on japan/korea relations what's behind preside

but the other place that is getting heavy rainfall is north korea. you will remember that north korea has been hit by heavy rainfall, episodes of heavy rainfall for the last three weeks leading to deadly flooding. as you can see the pink popping up toward the northwest of the country. that will be unwelcome rainfall and we'll keep you updated with the ogress. i need to tell you we have tropical depression that formed just east of the islands. that is the same place that damrey started out. it could follow the same path. we'll keep an eye on it for signs of intensification. and much of japan is under a summer high pressure system. some temperatures in the upper 30s. 37 in some places today. let's look at europe. i think youill want to focus on this big system over the atlanta that looks ready to move in across the british isles. the rest of the continent is looking dry and settled. but showers in much of the british isles. the heaviest of the rain falling toward the north. in terms of your olympic weather, nothing too extreme in the next three days, 2

but the other place that is getting heavy rainfall is north korea. you will remember that north korea has been hit by heavy rainfall, episodes of heavy rainfall for the last three weeks leading to deadly flooding. as you can see the pink popping up toward the northwest of the country. that will be unwelcome rainfall and we'll keep you updated with the progress. i need to tell you we have a tropical depression that formed just east of the islands.

lg household and health care and korea reinsurance company as two other picks to play south korea. >> that's right. lg household, basically this is not really a cheap stock. it's trading at around 25, 26 times earnings. but the growth rates are also in the low 20% range and difficult to find a company in the global environment that we're in with consistent earnings and foothold in the cosmetic market in south korea. they just moved in to the japanese market. top line growth in close to 20%. i think probably good 20% upside in lg here. korea reinsurance is different. much more of a value play. they got exposed to the thailand floods from 2011 and took a big bite out of their equity. the stock is overdone to the downside here and value play and reinsurance processing cycle picking up coming in to this year, i think you have a good shot there. >> got it. paul, thank you very much. >> thank you, mandy. >>> lots more great stories of areas of different countries on the website. right now live, europe's fastest-growing economy an how to make money there. that's all investingin.cnbc.com. >>

they recalled the japanese ambassador to south korea in response to his visit. the ministers are expected to it review economic cooperation with seoul, and they may consider setting up a government office to deal with the issue. >>> the japanese government is expected to give a group of people permission to do something they haven't been allowed to do for years, visit north korea. the people want to inspect what they believe are the remains of their relatives. the group is made up of family members of japanese who died on the korean peninsula before and during world war ii. they've been asking the government for permission to visit north korea to inspect the remains. government officials imposed sanctions against the north in 2006 for its nuclear program and missile tests. they asked the public to refrain from visiting the country. officials from both countries have agreed to hold their first talks in four years and expected to neat in beijing later this month. they will discuss what to do with the remains and other issues. if the government gives the go-ahead m

over the east china sea, likely to hit near the border of north korea or south korea by this afternoon or this evening local time and head towards the noorj east. so very strong winds and high waves up to 12 meeters is likely mainly along the west coast of the korean peninsula. in terms of precipitation, some places may be seeing as much as 250 millimeters or more, so that's quite a lot for this region. so flooding and landslides are highly likely here. and down toward the south, we can see a streak of heavy rain extending all the way up towards the north. this is typhoon expected to move over the east coast of taiwan over the next several hours. and then affecting eastern china. althrow, the worst part of the storm will remain over the waters, but additional 100 millimeters of rain is likely across the eastern portions of taiwan. not only taiwan but also affecting china and fill feens by the western monsoonal flow so you will see intensifying showers throughout the day. as for temperatures, up to 29 degrees in taipei and 28 degrees in seoul, coming in at 34 degrees in tokyo, another s

it's based on a scenario involving an attack on south korea by the north. >> north korea's state run tv made the announcement issued by its country's military but it did not clarify what use of force and physical counteraction exactly means. last friday north korean leader kim jong un visited a military unit that shelled the south korean island of yong pong in 2010. the north is apparently trying to raise troops' morale while keeping pressure on the united states and south korea. u.s. officials have launched a project in vietnam to clean up lingering deposits of agent orange. u.s. forces sprayed the toxic chemical during the war there to clear forests thatrovided cor f nth vietnamese fighters. 37 years after hostilities ended, many civilians still suffer from severe health problems. >> reporter: a ceremony was held earlier this month in central vietnam to mark the start of the cleanup operations. >> this morning we celebrate a milestone in our bilateral relationship. the u.s. and vietnam are moving earth right here and taking the first steps to bury theegacies of our past. >> reporte

anticipating as much as 250 millimeters of rain for south korea. 300 millimeters for north korea. more than 150 millimeters for northeastern china. so very heavy rain is on the course. waves could reach 9 meters along the wet coast of the korean peninsula. down toward the south. you can see a streak of heavy rain extended all the way up toward the north. this is typhoon tembin. packing wind of 125 kilometers an hour. hovering by taiwan over the past several weeks. and it is moving. situates east of taiwan. lots of heavy rain. and anticipating additional 100 millimeters of rain. the ground is saturated. and it could raise potential for flooding as well as landslides. it looks like tembin will move to the coastline of taiwan over the next several hours. get close to the island within the next 12 hours. 250 millimeters or more is likely across this region. an then heads towards eastern china as well as the korean peninsula. so, taiwan, eastern china, korean peninsula, southern japan will deal with heavy rain and i. a tropical low pressure and -- and enhancing the monsoonal flow over

south korea claims the island, as we have been reporting. on a different question, when they were asked about the recent enactment of bills to raise the consumption tax and reform social security, 48% of respondent said they approve. the same proportion expressed disapproval. the support for prime minister noda and his cabinet stood at 28%, up one point from last month. the disapproval rate stayed at 56%. >>> the world's youngest nation, south sue dan, celebrated last month the first anniversary of its independent. one year on, the country remains in a fragile situation. a report on how it affects the lives of the country's youngest generation. >> reporter: on july 9, 2011, south sudan achieved independence after more than two decades of civil war. the capital was soon a buzz with nation building projects. but the long drawn conflict completely disrupted essential services in infrastructure. the representative of unicef explains the impact on children. >> south sudan has had very, very little development, investment over the past decades, so

>> they're blaming the government for escalating tensions in territorial disputes with south korea and china. they say noda's weakness allowed the south korean president to visit takeshima, the islands controlled by south korea and claimed by japan. and opposition members say that the same weakness allowed hong kong activists to land on one of the senkaku islands which are controlled by japan. opposition politicians say noda should have used diplomacy to prevent the landings. >> so how has the noda administration reacted? >> well, members of noda's own democratic party say that the motion will weaken the leadership of this country and send the wrong message diplomatically. they also say that there are a lot of domestic issues to solve and opposition parties should be helping. >> how do you think this will affect the japanese people? >> well, opposition parties are refusing to join deliberations in the diet, and they control the upper house. so that effectively shuts down the workings of parliament. ministers want to introduce measures to help lower income earners cope with the consumpt

they also sampled korea's traditional culture. >> translator: if we promote korea's favorable image to young people, they will stay interested in the country and come back some day. that is why we focus on tourism campaigns in cooperation with k-pop stars. >> reporter: and the beat goes on. k-pop promoters won't rest until they make k-pop a global sensation. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. >>> japanese astronauts is preparing for a zero gravity repair job. he and a u.s. astronaut will go on a 6 1/2 space walk at the end of the month. they will be doing work on the international space station. the third japanese ever to walk in space. he began his mission to the iss last month. he returns to earth in november. using a robotic arm to install new equipment on the japanese experimental module. this is the second space mission. he will follow in the footsteps of his japanese predecessors. o on august 30th. american and russian astronauts do the majority of space walks. now if you have been watching the summer games in london, you have seen plenty of stunning performances. team usa's michael ph

. >>> the iaea is calling for continued monitoring of the nuclear program in north korea. it says it is concerned about construction facilities at the nuclear program in north korea. the iaea says a satellite image shows a dome has been built over one of the buildings in the complex. this indicates a reactor in the building. once the reactor goes online, it could be used to extract plutonium. from spent nuclear fuel. iaea officials were allowed to examine the facility in 2007. they were ordered to leave the country in 2009. >>> police in beijing have spent the week taking calls and making inquiries about the diplomatic incident. a man ripped the flag off the hood. police say they identified all the suspects. the chinese foreign officials notified staff of the embassy. embassy officials were told that police have not arrested anyone yet. the officials informed the contacts at the ministry that they want to keep in close contact. the embassy staff says they are waiting to hear development in the investigation. on monday, two vehicles followed the car carrying ambassador uich

the art is dispersed from south korea throughout. russia and the rest of. fails to attend the festival in his native village because of the marriage of his sister's son a wedding is a major event and. there's no way to miss it. that is how you should walk that you should find a rope with your feet there is no reason you should be looking at your feet. you must look straight ahead. don't come on the first one i'm scared you shouldn't be scared look ahead and stand up go to keep your head up and your back straight. ok ok it's enough enough for the first time next. after the troops victory many now feel the urge to learn tightrope walking despite the summer holidays the school yard is crowded children try out they're skilled at walking along a cable be in a hurry. don't be in a hurry look ahead you shouldn't know you shouldn't be running well usually a training starts from the age of eight a smaller child doesn't have the proper sense of balance well done walking along the road for the first time is the first victory in the south of dagestan. has made up his m

north korea's envoy has arrived for the talks in beijing. he refused to comment on the kidnapping of japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s by north korean agents. >> reporter: if we anticipate the talks before they begin, the speculation could trigger misunderstanding. i think it would be impolite. >> the meeting will be the first under leader kim jong-un. his diplomats claim the abduction issue is resolved. japan's foreign minister disagrees. >> translator: there are various matters pending. i believe the abduction issue is a top priority. i'll proceed to discussions with north korea. >> a committee of the south korean national assembly has adopted a resolution on japan in a climate of diplomatic tension. members are demanding an apology and compensation for korean women forced to work in military brothels during world war ii. they want japan to admit responsibility for so-called comfort women. south korean lawmakers described what they endured as a crime against human values. members urged south korean officials to discuss the matter wi

south kree aa cla-- korea claim the islets. he urged south korea to act cautiously. the south korean government official told nhk that the letter has got the facts wrong. asked about south korea's decision to return the letter noda only said he learned about it in the news. >>> the plane belonging to the top u.s. military officer has been damaged in an attack in afghanistan. our reporter is in bangkok with the details. a daring attack on the largest u.s. air base in afghanistan shows just how delicate the security situation there remains. during the raid late monday night, shrapnel hit the plane used by the chairman of the joint chiefs, general martin dempsey. the general wasn't on board at the time. the taliban has claimed responsibility, but the united states denies the strike was specifically targeting the plane. >> last night two rounds hit bagram air fields. actually they caused damage to a helicopter and c-17 transport airplane of general dempsey. he was already in his room by that time, so he was not affected at all. >> reporter: bagram air base is located nor

south korea is expecting more than 200 millimeters of rain over the next 24 hours. thunderstorms and gusty winds are also expected here. the system will move towards the east and affect northern japan. we're expecting about 100 millimeters of rain into tomorrow morning. to the south of front ample moisture coming in, so western japan will continue to see unstable weather in a short time heavy showers throughout the day. to flooding and landslides are going to be a concern even more as we head into tomorrow. the temperatures are looking like this. 31 degrees in tokyo and cooling down to 25 in seoul with heavy rain. all right. heading into the americas, widespread thundershowers are affecting the areas from eastern canada down through the southern plains. severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes are possible in some locations. the system will slowly make it's way towards the east coast. up towards the north, strong thunderstorms and heavy rain in western canada will move towards the upper midwestern states and central canada over the next 24

it could make landfall in korea or thursday friday morning local time. so flooding and landslide will remain high, a beg conceig conc. waves could reach 8 meet ears long the coast of south korea on your thursday. out toward the west. staying dry across eastern china. you will notice heavy rain will found the eastern region tomorrow. up to 250 millimeters is likely. as for japan. looking dry across the eastern half of the country. stay really wet across the western portions country. tembin is bringing ample moisture from the south. here's the extended forecast. ♪ ♪ >>> finally, our top story for this hour once again. u.s. republicans have nominated mitt romney as their party's challenger to president barack obama. representatives from the 50 states chose romney as their candidate for the november presidential election, at their national convention in tampa, florida. the participants adopted a party platform to seek a smaller government. calls for cuts in deficit, relaxation of federal regulations and tax cut for all n come levels. it criticizes the ob