hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's thursday april 5th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. people who are trained to prepare for disasters in japan are getting ready for north korea's upcoming rocket launch. fire and disaster management agency workers are going to test an early warning system in the country's southernmost prefecture, okinawa. g alert transmits crucial information in times of crisis. it's designed to automatically

kick-start municipal public radio systems across japan to warn of major natural disasters or other emergencies. fire and disaster management agencies spokespeople say g alert will be used if the north goes ahead with its rocket launch which is expected to happen between april 12th and 16th. agency workers will test the system in 26 municipalities in okinawa to make sure it functions properly. they're going to run two rounds of drills. they'll send out dummy data and audio information. then they'll check to make sure the transmission is received. agency spokespeople say j alert will be used immediately after the launch and if the rocket passes through japan's air space. for self-defense forces on the ground in okinawa, it's not if, but when. they're under strict orders, shoot down any possible debris from the rocket that could land on japanese territory.

north korea says it's only sending a satellite into space but many believe it will be testing a long-range missile. the rocket is expected to pass over the southernmost part of okinawa. units equipped with the pac-3 interceptor missile system arrived wednesday in in a hoe city and miyako island. another will arrive on ishigaki island thursday to complete the deployment. ground self-defense units have been dispatched to undertake rescue and relief operations in case of injuries from any falling rocket debris. about 40 troops were transferred from western japan to naha on wednesday. another 400 troops will be deployed to the southwestern islands offish gashie, miyako and yonaguni. the defense ministry is sending three aegis equipped destroyers to the east china sea and the sea of japan. japan's defense ministry is apparently using north korea's

planned rocket launch to boost the country's defense capabilities in okinawa. the ministry's latest report on defense policy guidelines cites china as a major source of concern for the region and the international community. china has stepped up military activities in the east china sea in recent months. an nhk reporter says the ministry is attempting to ease frictions with local communities by showing its eagerness to protect local residents in order to pave the way for a further defense build-up. a u.s. media report says the american military is taking its own measures to deal with north korea's launch. cnn says the u.s. navy has sent its most advanced radar system to the region. >> we along with our partners in the region are monitor developments very closely. >> the cnn report says the navy moved the advanced radar system from a base in hawaii, but defense officials have not given

any details on how u.s. forces will be deployed to prepare for the launch. for more on this subject we spoke to chiaki akimoto at the royal united services institute uk. is he an expert in defense and security issues. >> the u.s. international officials is a long range ballistic missile, the modified version of taepodong 2. it's an estimated range of 7,000 kilometers. now we should focus on the location of the launch site. it is a new facility on north korea's western coast, so-called tongchang-ri. many countries launch rockets eastward to take advantage of the earth's rotational speed, so they also have launch site on their east coast, so-called musudan-ri. what they plan to launch from the west means that the flight will be mostly over the sea. if they launch rocket on a southeasterly trajectory, it will fly over international

waters and avoid the air spaces of foreign countries. this may be why they have chosen this western launch site. the north has apparently designed the rocket in such a way that the first stage booster will fall off the western coast of south korea and from the second stage 3,000 kilometers away from the launch site. the launch will demonstrate how far north korea has developed its missile technologies over the past three years, to assess their capability. north korea apparently believes that perfecting the long-range ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and hit the middle of the united states will put the nation on par with the united states. and that's why north korea is in a hurry to develop the taepodong 2. they also undertook a test in 2006 in which the rocket

exploded and fell to the sea of japan soon after launching. three years ago, north korea succeeded in launching a rocket that accurately flew a distance of 3,000 kilometers to a spot in the sea in the area of the midway islands. the launch proved that north korea has made a considerable progress in the development of position guidance system. if north korea deploys taepodong 2 in the near future, the u.s. mainland will be within the range of the north korean missile. that means the threat of the north korean missile is expanding from east asia around japan, to the whole asia-pacific region. there is also a possibility that the pyongyang missile technology could be provided to the middle eastern nation, where several countries have close relations with north korea. it means, in other words, missile technologies developed by north korea is becoming a global threat.

>> jackie chiaki akimoto. japan will call on the u.n. security council to take action if north korea goes ahead with its planned rocket launch. koichiro gemba made the announcement in a news conference wednesday. >> translator: if north korea launches a missile, it would be in clear violation of security council resolutions. in that case, japan will work with the council members to draw up a response. >> gemba also said japan will urge the united states and other council members to take action, including adopting a new resolution. japan is not a council member. in other news, myanmar's president has pledged to work with pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi. thein sein's offer of

cooperation came to ous exclusie interview. cholaphansa narula joins us from bangkok. >> president thein sein gave a wide ranging interview to nhk. it was his first with foreign media since the historic bielections in myanmar sunday. those elections were won by the national league for democracy. its leader, aung san suu kyi is set to take a seat in parliament. the interview took place in phnom penh. he leads the new government that was naug inaugurated last year. it took over after the autocratic rule by the country's military leaders. the national league for democracy led by aung san suu kyi won a landslide victory in sunday's bielections.

thein sein said it was progress towards democracy. the number of seats won by the nld accounts for less than 10% of all the seats in parliament.

after the elections, aung san suu kyi called on the ruling party to cooperate for more democratization. in the interview, president thein sein responded positively to the call for the first time ever. the toughest challenge for myanmar is to boost its economy, one of the worst in southeast asia, and to do that, it has to get economic sanctions lifted by western countries. the president expressed hope that the recent bielections will help achieve that.

known for its rich natural resources and abundant labor, myanmar is often called the last frontier in southeast asia. many countries are paying attention to its economic potential. president thein sein is expected to visit japan later this month he expressed hope for japanese investment and economic assistance.

president thein sein's government will likely need to bargain with the nld. the party wants to win the next general election in three years' time. observers will be watching for signs of the cooperative relationship with the nld that president has stressed. nhk world, phnom penh. meanwhile, asean leaders are acting in unison to support myanmar in this moment of change. at a summit meeting that ended in cambodia on wednesday, the leaders welcomed the outcome of sunday's bielections. they also called on western nations to lift economic sanctions. nhk world's pinh chanda reports. >> reporter: asean leaders seemed cheerful at the closing ceremony. prime minister hun sen of cambodia chaired the summit. he issued a statement saying the

bielections in myanmar on sunday were just and fair. he called it a big step forward in the country's democratization. hun sen called on european countries and the united states to reward myanmar for its progress. myanmar has recently chaired the regional bloc in 2014. they agreed to come together and support the bid. asean summits regularly take place at the same time as the east asian summit, it's likely that the u.s. president may find himself invited to myanmar. that would be a meaningful opportunity for myanmar to show its return to the international community.

for years, myanmar's lack of democratization was a lingering problem for asean. the success of the bielection is an opportunity for asean to further its goal of an economic community by 2015. phin chanda, nhk world, phnom penh. >> that wraps up our bulletin for today. i'm cholaphansa narula in bangkok. the trial has begun in turkey of two former military leaders who toppled the government in a september 1980 koux. the trial began in ankara wednesday. one of the defendants led the cous as military chief of staff. he served as president for seven years. some 500,000 activists were allegedly detained during those years and many were tortured to death. the detentions lasted until the handover of power to a civilian

government. under the government, military officers intervened in politics. the government also amended the constitution to ban the prosecution of cous laeaders. the trial is seen as a step toward ending the military's longstanding interference in politics. erdogan's government wants to shake off that past along with its planned entry into the european union. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster, but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m., japan time, here on "newsline." food inspectors in japan are asking farmers to pull more

products from the market because of concerns about radiation contamination. the government introduced new regulations last sunday lowering the amount of radioactive cesium, it is part of dealing with the fallout from last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. the stricter standards affect rice and various vegetables. the government slashed the legal limit for vegetables. it was 500 becquerels per kilogram and now it's 100. some measured between 110 and 120 becquerels of cesium per pill gram in samples of bamboo shoots harvested in chiba prefecture. the levels were three times higher in shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in northeastern japan were found to

contain 30 becquerels of radioactive cesium. under the new regulations, farmers have been asked to voluntarily refrain from shipping these products to market. the government is considering ordering a compulsory suspension of all shipments of contaminated bamboo shoots. in a touching recital in tokyo last month, 100 people from areas devastated from last year's earthquake and tsunami spoke and sang of their experiences. we take a look at these people who are mustering up the courage to face the harsh reality of their lives. nhk world's misato ishikawa reports. ♪ >> reporter: the 90-minute recital took place in tokyo's ginsa district. on the stage, performers sung and spoke about their suffering in the march 11th disaster. >> translator: everything in the gymnasium was swirling around. i was swirling around, too. >> translator: we lost our families, our friends and our homes.

we were bruised all over, both physically and mentally. >> reporter: most of the participants came from higashi, matsuma city in miyagi prefecture, an area hit hard by the tsunami. ♪ they began preparing for the recital in november of last year. ♪ 63-year-old hidetoshi onodera lost his father and his mother. the group asked him to take part in the recital to make up for a shortage of male participants. this is where his house used to be. he lived here with his wife and parents. onodera happened to be away from home when the disaster struck.

his father, kenko, was found dead under the rubble of the house. the body of his mother, sadako, was recovered a month later. he was reunited with his mother at the morgue. >> translator: i caught sight of one of my father's yellow gloves in the rubble. i looked under the debris and saw his face. >> reporter: onodera said he's begged repeatedly for his father's forgiveness in front of his body. >> translator: i have been talking about the disaster, but i have never told anyone that i begged my father and mother for forgiveness. >> reporter: onodera kept wondering whether he should speak about his remorse in front

of a large audience. he felt that speaking about his repentance was not the way to salvation. onodera showed his script to his wife, keiko, and asked what she thought. >> translator: i thought if he had the chance to express what was bottled up inside him, it would ease his remorse. >> reporter: on the 18th of last month, 2,000 people came to watch the recital. ♪ >> translator: i used ten

bottles of water to try to wash the mud off my father's body, but in vain. i was mad at myself because i only had muddy water to purify his body. my house and my beloved parents were lost. it was too much. dad, mom, i'm so sorry. immediately after the show i thought i saw my father's face. he was smiling, saying thank you. i would like to treasure this experience and live with it for the rest of my life. >> reporter: all 100 performers hugged and gathered. that is a song they used to cheer themselves as they move forward to face tomorrow. ♪

♪ >> people really just trying hard to move forward with their lives. in the recital, participants also expressed their gratitude for the support that came from all over the world. and now let's take a look at the market figures.

it's a beautiful morning in tokyo, and it seems the temperature's rising by the day. sayako mori joins us with the weather forecast. good morning. the warm weather is a nice change after the storm we had a couple days ago. will this last? >> good morning, catherine. yes, sunny weather will likely continue into next monday and it's going to be a very warm day in tokyo. 19 degrees for the high, but because of the daytime heating, there is a chance of thundershowers late this afternoon, but it won't last long, maybe about a couple of hours. to the north a windy storm has moved out to sea so winds are starting to die down across much of northern japan.

tomorrow, cold air was sweeping into northern japan so rain in hokoriku may change over to snow and snow will develop in hoe i could dough and the tohoku region and that cold air is going to affect the rest of japan over the weekend. so in tokyo the high is expected to be only 12 degrees on saturday. meanwhile, southeastern china will see showers intensifying up to 100 millimeters is possible in the next 24 hours, and more rain will be coming down over the weekend. the ground is already saturated so the risks of flooding and landslides are very high. as for the indo china peninsula the combination of the remnants of a tropical storm and daytime heating will help thunderstorms develop so very unstable weather here. getting up to 34 degrees for the daytime high in bangkok, similarly wet in manila with 33, so coming up ten degrees under cloudy skies. now, heading over to the americas, unstable conditions are still ongoing across much of

the southeastern portions of the u.s. this low is producing active weather in the mid-atlantic region, but that will move out to sea by thursday. more of a concern is going to be southern texas and the lower mississippi valley, the threat of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds, will likely continue into, over wednesday night, and as many of you know, a lot of tornadoes touched down in this area, damaging a lot of buildings and homes, and on thursday, the threat will move into the lower portions of the deep south. meanwhile, another low pressure system moves across the northwestern corner of the u.s. and western canada producing wet and windy conditions. snow warnings have been posted for much of alberta, up to 15 centimeters is expected by thursday morning. as for the high in the single digits in vancouver and seattle but to the south heat is still hanging on, reaching 32 degrees

in miami. now moving on to europe, unstable conditions are still continuing across much of the southern half of the continent. thunderstorms and even gusty winds are possible all day thursday, and up towards the north, things are getting clearer, across much of the british isles, but snow will once again hit northern scotland, and then we have another active low pressure system dashing down -- dashing into the east over western russia. as for the highs, stay on the chilly side in moscow with only 4 degrees but to the south, lots of warm temperatures, getting up to 18 degrees in veriee in and 23 degrees in athens. all right, here's your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.