welcome to newsline, it's wednesday october 2nd. a north korean vice foreign minister has urged the united states to end its hostile policy before asking the north to abandon its weapons.

they blame the u.s. for instability on the korean peninsula. >> the only way to ensure lasting peace on the korean peninsula is to bring the hostile u.s. policy to an end. >> pike urged the united states to agree to transform the 1953 armistice into a peace treaty. the two koreas technically remain at war. he did not mention talks on the nuclear programs, but the door for dialogue is open to improving relations. the north has been demanding the unconditional results of the talks. the government maintains the north should take concrete steps toward giving up its nuclear programs as agreed in the six party talks. south korea held its first military parade in five years on tuesday. to mark the anniversary of the founding of the country's armed force forces. tens of thousands of onlookers

cheered as soldiers, special units and tanks paraded through the streets of seoul, a new type of cruise missile with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers was displayed for the first time, be one spectator says the site gives them a sense of security, chuck hagel attend the the event along with south korean president many she pledged to maintain a strong alliance with the united states. >> translator: we have to build strong deterrents against north korea, until the north abandons its nuclear program and makes the right choice for the people of north korea and peace on the korean peninsula. >> she will secure preemptive strike capabilities for defensive purposes and launch her country's own missile defense system. north korea carried out combustion tests for an engine that experts say is used for a long range missile. the morning is also suspected of

restarting an experimental nuclear reactor. the prime minister of israel is urging the u.s. and other nations to keep up the pressure on iran. benjamin netanyahu says they shouldn't lift sanctions until iranian leaders completely abandon their nuclear development program. >> a wolf in sheep's clothing. a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community. >> netanyahu accused rowhani of pushing to build a nuclear weapon. rowhani's goal is the same as mahmoud ahmadinejad. the only way to peacefully deter iran is to deter sanctions with a credible military threat. a representative for the iranian u.n. delegation rejected

netanyahu's accusations. unlike israel, iran would not attack another nation. >> they are the greatest threat to the security. >> israel should not even think about attacking iran. >> netanyahu has become more vocal on iran afro -- after rowhani took a harder stance against the u.s. japanese and u.s. foreign defense ministers will meet to discuss defense cooperation. the 2 plus 2

to agree on revising bilateral defense guidelines in 2014, they'll likely agree to relocate the u.s. futenma air station within the prefecture. security in east asia is also high on the agenda, japan is seeking to include requests that would keep china in check in a written agreement with the u.s. he wants china to play a responsible and constructive role for the security of the region to abide by international rules and to increase the transparency of its military budget they say the islands will also be discussed. the officials want to reaffirm the islandses are within the scope of the japan/u.s. security treaty. the islands in the east china sea are ruled by japan but claimed by china and taiwan.

lawmakers in the united states are digging in their heals in a budget battle that's partially shut down the federal government. republicans are standing by their decision to make an agreement with democrats contingent on delaying president barack obama's health care reforms. obama says they're demanding a ransom for just doing their job. >> they shut down the government over a crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of americans. >> the full impact of the shutdown may not be known for some time. the last time it happened in the mid '90s, it hurt the u.s. economy. hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been told to stay home. national parks, museums and monuments across the country are closed and a range of services are unavailable. operations related to national security and public safety are continuing lawmakers in the house and senate have resumed

deliberations on legislation to fund the government, there's no sign of bipartisan compromise on a provisional budget for the new fiscal year which 125r9ed on tuesday. the government shutdown isn't just affecting americans, tourists are feeling the impact too. they can't visit many key attractions, including the statue of liberty in new york. about 3.5 million people head to the statue every year. tourists at the ferry landing in manhattan were upset when they found out they couldn't go to liberty island. >> we wanted to see the view on the top, and now it isn't possible any more, it's very sad. >> i'm really disappointed, because it's the best spot to feel i'm in new york. >> some visitors took a one hour ferry tour around the island to gaze at the statue from a distance. obama says he won't know the full economic impact of the shutdown for a while.

an economist is making a guess. tell us, what do the economists say? >> it's all about duration, every week that the government is shut down, she says will chip away more than a tenth of a percentage point off of this quarter's gdp growth. it's safe to say it will affect not only tourists, but the overall economy. we asked a senior economist at morgan stanley for her view on the impact of the government shutdown about. >> the length of the shut down becomes key, if it's a short shut down, just one week, you're looking at a .15 percentage point off growth of q4 gdp. if it's longer than a week, that impact starts to escalate. >> cutting the incomes of government workers staying at home could have a negative effect on personal consumptioco. >> 800,000 nonessential federal

government workers are furloughed without pay. that creates a lot of uncertainty sur rounding their finances. they're obviously not going to spend as much if they're not getting paid. so the services that they buy, the products that they buy, that's not going to occur at the same pace if these workers are not working. >> she also said, concerns prevail over stagnant government projects, which impact businesses involved. many investors had expected a partial government shutdown and seem to believe its impact may be limited. the dow jones closed higher, it ended up 4/10 of a percent to end the day at 15,191. let's now go to ramine standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. it seems there were incentives to buy despite the developments over in washington.

how is tokyo reacting this wednesday morning? >> a little bit of a mixed reaction here. the nikkei and the topix in and out of positive territory. the nikkei just marginally in the negative a couple seconds ago, it was in the positive. the topix also margin a.m.ly in the positive will we'll see how that develops during the day. investors are not convinced the shutdown will be that prolonged. and the big question is how the government is going to deal with the debt ceiling in a few weeks. here in japan, let's focus on the consumption tax due to take effect next april, is also hilted along with the sentiments. investors really focusing on how the government is going to put

into effect a huge economic stimulus, worth about $50 billion, which the government is promoting to offset the negative impact from the sales tax hikes. we'll see how that plays in the market as well. >> currency remains a focus for investors. where do we stand this morning? >> let's have been a look at that. the dollar/yen is a big focus for investors. it remains under selling pressure on uncertainty of the fate of the u.s. federal budget. the euro/yen has gained after manufacturing data showed improvement in september. let me remind viewers, of course, that main land china markets are closed today as well as the india index. not that much direction. however, hong kong's hang sang will be open for business today. we'll see if we get a new

direction from that. but by and large, of course, a lot of investors waiting to see how the consumption tax hike is going to play through in the markets and, of course, a big focus on developments in the u.s. over the partial government shutdown. for now, just marginally in the positive for the nikkei and the topix as we speak. >> thanks for that update. >> as he mentioned the japanese prime minister has decided to raise the consumption tax starting nexting april. he needs to make sure businesses used their approved earnings and hire more people and boost wages. >> translator: we will carry out bold stimulus measures to seize the opportunity of further economic reform. we are committed to balancing

economic revitalization and fiscal reform. >> government officials will create an economic stimulus. a special levee imposed to help recovery in disaster hit regions could be scrapped one year early. the officials hope to encourage business owners to pay their workers more and bump up capital investment. lawmakers say they're against the move unless it guarantees higher wages. the finance ministry will bring in specialists to discuss japanese government bonds. the national debt exceeds $10 trillion. i will have more headlines for you in business next hour. for now, i'll leave you with a check on markets.

a team of weapons inspectors has crossed the border into syria. it's part of a u.n. security council resolution to eliminate the country's chemical weapons arsenal. a member of a watchdog group will talk to syrian officials about how to proceed with inspections before destroying the arms. dozen more inspectors will arrive in syria next week. the watchdog plans to review all of syria's chemical weapons facilities within 30 days. it's aiming to destroy this dogpile by the first half of next year. syria is estimated to have more than 1,000 tons of chemical

weapons. new numbers from the united nations show the toll divisions in eiraq are taking on the population. more than 90% of those killed last month were civilians. along with the dead, 2,100 people were wounded. more than 5,700 people have died in the first nine months of this year that exceeds the total for all of last year. most of the deaths happened in the capital baghdad and other areas where many shiite muslims live. u.n. representatives are urging iraqi leaders to strengthen their efforts to promote national dialogue and reconciliation. authorities in zimbabwe are investigating the worst case of ivory poaching many at least 90 elephants died after drinking

from waterholes poisoned with cyanide. carcasses were found in national parks. the group hid ivory tusks in the park. poachers export much of the ivory they gather to asia about . officials with the japanese environment ministry have started a trial decontamination operation surrounding the damaged nuclear plan the in fukushima. people have been forbidden to live in these areas since the accident because of high levels of radiation. crews are mowing grass and removing the vegetation along with soil to see if that brings down radiation levels.

they'll keep at it until the end of the year. the government has designated parts of 7 municipalities near fukushima daiichi unsuitable for living. the exposure limit for the public is 50 times higher than is allowed. they want to figure out how much the decontamination effort will cost. they want to study ways to protect cleanup crews from radiation exposure. workers at the plant are cleaning up after another toxic spill. rainwater contaminated with radioactive materials has overflowed from a storage tank. four tons of tainted rainwater seeped into the ground a tropical storm passed over the facility last month, rain built up in sidebariers used to store contaminated water. workers pumped the rainwater into a temporary tank, the tank

overflowed during the process. the radiation level just after the storm was 13 times higher than allowed for release into the ocean. nuclear regulators have expressed concern about the way tepco has handled the contaminated rainwater. tourists and residents who pass through the tokyo station have been enjoying a face lift. the event was a high-tech spectacle. organizers covered the station in a brilliant array of moving images, projection mapping has made a huge impact in entertainment and advertising. now, a group of japanese artists is using it to transform the sky. >> on japan's northern island,

they're famous for this natural sea of cloud. it's caused by an inflow of damp air and popular with tourists. last month a group of computer graphics artists from tokyo arrived in the area. they brought with them four large format projectors, the kind often used in concert venues. the artists are veterans at large scale projection mapping. but usually they project images on to buildings and other man made structures. this time they're trying something completely new, using clouds as a natural screen. >> when i was young i used to sketch on paper, i often used to dream it would be fun to do the

same thing on clouds new technology is making possible to turn my childhood imagination into reality. >> japanese companies have led some extraordinary advances in the field of projection. as the market has grown artists are producing ever more remarkable shows. clear images can be screened on complex surfaces. a final frontier is the sky. the project began a year and a half ago, from the beginning, there were numerous problems. >> translator: i asked meteorologists if it's possible to project images on to clouds. they all said that although clouds seem thick when seen from below, they have a low density, so it wouldn't work.

>> undeterred they approached a major air conditioner maker. the company has developed its own equipment to create artificial clouds. they tested different projections finally they found if the cloud has the right thickness, bright colors were visible when projected on to it. under test conditions, it worked. but could it be duplicated in the great outdoors? they decided to hold four days of tests. but they need a cloud, they had to wait until the third day. they check the internet constantly, hoping for the right amount of cloud after dark. at 4:00 a.m., just one hour before sunrise, the conditions are finally right. >> whoa!

>> and then jack and the bean stalk climbing up the clouds. after a year and a half of trial and error, the project has become reality. >> translator: working with nature rarely goes as planned. this project reminded me how amazing nature can be, i want to do it all again. >> the team already has new projects in the works. when it comes to projection mapping, the sky is the limit. it's time now for a check on the weather.

millions of people are dealing with flooding and landslides in northern thailand. >> good morning, catherine, you're right. a strong typhoon sit central vietnam monday afternoon and travelled inland over the indochina peninsula, and downgreated into a tropical depression. let me show you video from northern thailand. it caused flooding and landslides. left 25 provinces inundated. 23 people have been killed due to floods in the rainy season so far. the system has weakened and is moving away from thailand, however, rain is expected to continue throughout the week. authorities are warning of more severe weather and possible further floods. as you can see in the satellite picture, you see a lot of cloud coverage across this area, it's

now a low pressure system hanging on to northwestern thailand and myanmar border. we have been seeing a lot of rain here across the western seaboards of indochina peninsula for a few weeks already. with this storm nearing, it doesn't look like it's going to be good news we'll keep a close eye on this, we have to keep a close eye on other storms as well. you can see three storms over the water. the water is very warm. the warm sea surface means it will be feeding the system. we have a system just below the eastern coast of japan, and it's affecting the iso islands reaching up to 70 kilometers per hour. it will be making storm surges and highways along the pacific

coast of japan, looks like this will be continuing. with the rain, we're seeing showers across the region. this will be traveling across the pacific ocean with sometimes very hev have a rain and with that combined with the high waves, flooding at low lying coastal areas will be at very high risk. another storm system over east of the philippines, not affecting land masses now, it will be headed toward oaken awe wau, and this will be fed, energized with the warm water and it will become a typhoon status. by the time it reaches okinawa. it will become a strong typhoon status, packing winds of 200 kilometers per hour. we will keep a close eye on this as we progress through the next week. 26 in tokyo. nagoya looking very hot. anywhere across the areas in japan, excluding the pacific side. looking very hot and sunny.

14 degrees, with plenty of sunshine there. now to europe, a quick look. the black sea region is looking pretty messy again, we have a waterspout that's been reported in greece. tornadic activity could be spotted from this system. another system moving in from the atlantic sit of the conti tent. temperatures as follows, stockholm at 10, we're reaching the double-digits. still very chilly across moscow and kiev. only reaching four in moscow with plenty of sunshine.

that is all for this edition of newsline. thanks very much for joining us.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: national parks and monuments are closed, and hundreds of thousands of workers affected on this first day of a federal government shutdown. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. there were few signs of a solution to the stalemate on capitol hill, but there was a flood of traffic to the government's new healthcare site. >> woodruff: on day one of the insurance exchanges, paul solman reports from massachusetts, which has had years of experience with them.