inside a secretive nation. exclusive video obtained by nhk sheds light on life in north korea and suggests the new regime of kim jong-un is gaining support. north korea's often referred to as the hermit kingdom. it's a reclusive nation, a place where government leaders wield ultimate power and citizens seemingly do what they're told. many people wonder what life's like inside north korea.

nhk has obtained amateur video that gives us a glimpse. the images show us how people in the capital pyongyang live. gene otani spoke earlier with a reporter and korean peninsula specialist, hiroki . >> hiroki, who took these pictures and what do they mean? >> the video was given to us by a graduate student who went to pyongyang as part of our citizens exchange program. it shows everyday scenes in the capital. nothing dramatic, but it does give us some clues about the new leadership and its plans for the country. starting, slogans praising the nation's founder kim il-sung are always across. now you can see banners of the new leader kim jong-un.

this one reads, let's award the highest honors to our comrade, kim jong-un. here we can see another one that says let us move forward to final victory. the slogan is familiar to experts of north korea because they are the final laws used by kim jong-un, during his first speech in public. such displays of kim jong-un's across the capital seems to indicate the transfer of power is going smoothly. let's see what else we can learn. this is at the subway station in the capital. the feature, you note here, is a ticket gate which has an electronic card system. a relatively new experience for commuters that was launched in 2008.

a north korea bank has also launched a debit card system in january 2011. more significant is that ordinary citizens can be seen using mobile phones. north korea's state run tv teaches proper manners for using mobile phones in public areas. [ telephone ringing ] >> how popular is the use of mobile phones in north korea? >> well, it's becoming very common in the capital. north korea launched its region network in 2008 as a joint venture with an egyptian

provider. the service is important to a million subscribers. the spread of mobile phones means information is cycling much faster, but there are still some important limits. for example, ordinary citizens are not allowed to make overseas calls. on the other hand, a u.s. state department survey published earlier this month shows that people in north korea have more opportunities to access foreign media. the survey targeted north koreans. 7 75% of the respondents said they have seen foreign tv programs and nearly half of them said they have watched foreign dvds while in north korea. this resident explains that the surface of her apartment is 470 square meters. the rent was a mere 410 wong per month, the equivalent of 10

cents u.s. she says this is made possible by the country's new leader. >> people in pyongyang seem to be very loyal to the new leadership. >> yes. i think the new regime's footing appears very solid. kim jong-un is said to be especially keen to promote modern technologies. north koreans are getting to know a little more about the outside world. so maybe he's trying to convince them that their country is not too far behind. >> it seems like it's quite a change from early policies. >> well, the government still enforces a strict ban on viewing of foreign movies and temperatutv

programs at home. the regime is worried about people gaining m ining more acc the wider world, so it's likely to step up efforts for the flow of information. another is a widening gap between rich and poor. housing construction is booming in pyongyang, but it's mainly reserved for the wealthy elite. in the long run, this combined with the inflow of information may weaken kim jong-un's control. >> nhk world there. kim jong-un's regime doesn't just have control over people in north korea, it also has influence over group in the south. that angers south korean president lee myung-bak. for the first time he criticized pyongyang supporters in his country, accusing them of believing authorities in the north who say they haven't been involved in terrorist activities. >> translator: the north is problematic, but pro-north korea groups in our country who bli

blindly follow the north are a greater problem. >> the president made the criticism during his latest address reporting on his visit to myanmar earlier this month. lee said he visited a site in y yangon to mourn for the south korean victims of a 1983 terr terrorist bombing. the attack targeted the then-south korean president who survived. 21 south koreans were killed including cabinet ministers. lee criticized north korea for denying involvement in the bombing and in the sinking of a south korean naval vessel in 2010. accusations of fraud were made against opposition lawmakers close to the north during a preliminary election that took place last month. analysts say lee apparently hopes to eliminate any influence on the part of the north in a presidential election to take place in south korea in december. china's ruling communist party has expelled a former railway minister. the party's disciplinary watch

dog found him guilty of corruption. the state run xinhua news agency said monday the party's central commission for discipline inspection will refer liu zhijun to prosecutors. the commission said he abused his power and received large sums of money as bribes. he oversaw investment in china's booming railway sector over the last decade. he was removed from his ministerial post in february of last year. the ministry came under harsh criticism after a fatal high speed rail crash last july raised questions about corruption in railway development projects. a government panel concluded in december that a flaw in the design of the control equipment was a key factor in the accident. the investigators said the railway ministry violated rules in the bidding process for the equipment. china's state run news agency is reporting a story that highlights ongoing tension between the country's central government and tibet. it says two tibetans set themselves on fire sunday in

lhasa and that one of them is dead. the xinhua news agency said it happened near the techl in the administrative capital of the tibet autonomous region. the area was crowded with pilgrims celebrating a buddhist festival. the self-immolations are the late ef in a serious of tibetans protesting china's tight control over their religious activities. similar incidents have occurred in other provinces. the latest cases are the first reported in lhasa. according to the agency an official in the region commented on the incident saying the acts were done for tibet's aim to separate its from china. chinese government authorities tightened their control and moniring of tibetan temples across the nation after a 2008 uprising in lhasa. u.s. affiliated broadcaster radio free asia says the city is filled with police and paramilitary officers.

a fire has swept through a high end shopping mall in doha, qatar. 19 people died including 13 children. the fire sent black smoke rising above the buildings. some of the victims died as rescuers struggled to reach a daycare center. the mall houses luxury brand shops, an amusement park, indoor ice skating rink and a canal. authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. human rights groups say syrian government forces have killed at least 20 people in central syria. the latest attacks follow friday's massacre that resulted in more than 100 deaths. the groups say forces loyal to president bashar al assad shelled the city of hama killing 20 civilians in 24 hours through monday morning. the united nations says more

than 100 people were killed friday in an assault in hola near the central city of homs. human rights groups blame the massacre on forces loyal to assad. the u.n. security council released a statement sunday condemning the killings and that they comply with security council resolutions and immediately stop using heavy artillery in populated areas. >> i urge the government to take bold steps to signal that it is serious in its intention to resolve this crisis peacefully. >> u.n. arab league envoy kofi annan is now in syria. he's scheduled to meet assad on tuesday. one of two men will become the next president of egypt. a former prime minister and a candidate from the muslim brotherhood will compete next month in a runoff. members of the election commission announced the results of last week's first-round vote.

they say the turnout was about 46%. the muslim brotherhood is the largest party in parliament. its candidate, mohamed morsi finished first with more than 24% of the vote. former president hosni mubarak's last prime minister ahmed shafiq came second with more than 23%. but no one secured an absolute majority, so the two front-runners will enter a runoff june 16th and 17th. protesters ousted mubarak last year in the swell of the arab spring. young egyptians spearheaded the uprising, but the youth failed to field a strong candidate in the presidential poll. the runoff campaign is expected to be a divisive showdown between the islamists and a reminder of the old regime. 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." japan's former prime minister is defending how he led his country through one of its most challenging times in history. naoto kan was in charge on march 11th, 201, when an earthquake shook the nation, triggered devastating tsunami and sparked meltdowns at fukushima daiichi. he gave his side of the story when he testified before a government panel investigating the stent accident at the nucle plant. >> translator: the government must bear responsibility for promoting its nuclear power policy and failing to prevent the accident at the nuclear plant. as the head of the government at

that time, i'd like to apologize again for this failing. >> kan also added the government didn't receive enough information about the accident from japan's nuclear safety agency and other sources. he said he feared the situation could get out of control. the day after the accident, kan flew to fukushima daiichi. >> translator: i decided to go to the site, because i thought i might be able to grasp what was happening in i spoke to the relevant person. >> the former prime minister explained he wanted to know why emergency venting was not being carried out, despite rising pressure in the containment vessel. kan says the tepco official responded that he didn't know. >> translator: japan might not

have been able to function as a nation if the worst case scenario had been realized. after experiencing the accident, the safest thing to do is not to rely on nuclear power but to denuclearize. >> the members of the government panel investigating the fukushima daiichi accident will finalize their report next month and submit it to the speakers of both houses of the diet. japanese scientists say radioactive substances from the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant may have spread around the globe in about 40 days. a research team from fukushima university measured the concentration of airborne radioactive substances in fukushima city. they took daily readings from may of last year, about two months after the disaster. the scientists say the measurements rose and fell in 40-day cycles, but they say the overall density declined by

around 85% by march this year. fukushima university professor and research leader watanabe says the results of the study can be applied to any other country or region. >> translator: the research will enable us to measure what influence the radioactive materials from fukushima has on the planet. >> engineers at fukushima daiichi are getting ready to carry out a delicate operation. they'll be removing unused fuel rods from a storage pool at the nuclear plant to check them for damage. the procedure is a dry run for the extraction of more than 1,500 rods. the volatile material could pose a threat if there's another earthquake. the engineers plan to remove two unused fuel rods in july from the pool at the number four reactor. if they're successful, they'll take out the rest of the rods next year. the reactor did not go into meltdown after the tsunami

because it was offline. but areas near the storage pool were damaged when hydrogen from another reactor got into the building and exploded. engineers suspect the blast weakened the pool. they're reinforcing the structure to keep it in tact until they can get the fuel out. the nuclear accident raised concerns about the safety of food from fukushima, some consumers still avoid buying products from that prefecture, even if inspectors have approved the items. police say that prompted a former meat shop manager to bend the rules. investigators say hiroshi kutsukake admitted to selling falsely labeled beef from fukushima in february at a store in osaka in western japan. police say he told them he didn't think people would buy meat from fukushima. agriculture ministry officials ordered the shop's operator last month to label its products correctly. they discovered it falsified the origin of 1.4 tons of beef.

myanmar has been called the last frontier of asia. the country presents untapped economic potential as it opens up. now a first visit by an indian prime minister in 25 years. our bangkok bureau has the latest. >> as myanmar continues its efforts toward its democratization, its asian neighbors in western countries are reaching out to the formally reclu reclusive country. china has long had an influence over the country and now india is courting myanmar with a three-day visit by the prime minister. s singh vowed to help, during his meeting with president thien sien on monday. he outlined india's plans to improve transportation systems linking the two nations and to support regional development. he also stated india's readiness to aid the country's

transformation to democratic rule. unlike many western countries, india has not opposed economic sanctions against myanmar. instead, india has been steadily supporting myanmar including helping to build ports. however, china also has political and economic ties with the country, due to large financial aid packages to myanmar. singh's visit comes amidst moves by other nations to improve ties with the former military regime. it makes clear india's intention to strengthen its relations with the bordering country. singh is set to meet myanmar's pro democracy leader aung saung suu kyi on tuesday. thailand's prime minister is on an official visit to australia. the trip celebrates the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries. but the thai leader is cooking up a commotion of her own.

thai premier youngluck shinawatra met with julia gilllard. the female ministers of both countries are working on strengthening bilateral cooperation. yungluck kicked off her four day experience with an experience of thai cuisine. he cooked a popular spicy salad made with green papaya. the demonstration is part of a government program called thailand: kitchen of the world. the initiative aims to increase the popularity of thai food. the thai premier also presented the thai select seal to some selected owners of thai restaurants in australia. the certificate recognizes high quality cuisine and service. she also emphasized thailand's position as a major food exporting country. and that wraps up our bulletin in bangkok.

all right. now let's take a look at the market figures. rachel ferguson joins us now with the world weather forecast. a beautiful morning in tokyo, rachel, but i hear there are more thundershowers on the way? >> you are absolutely right. there are. it is going to be a fine morning here in tokyo. we had those popup thunderstorms yesterd yesterday, and we're going to get about the same today. in fact, the rain could be even heavier. parts of central japan could see as much as 50 millimeters of rain just in the space of one hour. so some very heavy rain. that can cause flash flooding which as you know, very, very

dangerous stuff. hail and tornadoes are also potentially -- will have the potential for hail and tornadoes. so some pretty severe weather coming our way once again from the afternoon into the evening hours. now, more heavy rain is targeting inland china. it's along this front here. you can see pushing in toward the shanghai region. today, the bay provinces, you're looking at the potential for maybe 100 millimeters of rain. probably going to be seeing the peak of it on tuesday. up toward the north, we have another system moving across. this one's going to bring some very heavy rain into the korean peninsula, particularly seoul as we head on into wednesday. clearer, though, across much of the korean peninsula today. the southwest monsoon is starting to rev up now across much of indochina. the ma lay peninsula getting heavy rain today. in the tropics, temperatures many the mid 30s. manila as well as bangkok. 27 in hang docong kong.

12 in ulam bator. fairly chilly day. 25 in tokyo. we're likely to see the severe weather coming through from the afternoon hours. all right. as we head into north america, we're going to start down here in the southeast. as you know, yesterday, tropical storm beryl made level just around jacksonville in florida. now, the system has since come down to a tropical depression. the winds down to 45 kilometers an hour. is moving very slowly, around 7 kilometers an hour. so this system, the winds are not too much of a threat right now, however, the rain is continuing to fall, and it will continue to fall over the next couple of days. as it makes its way up through georgia and in toward north carolina. now, once it leaves north carolina, comes back into the water, over those warm waters and gets out of that rough terrain, it is likely to energize again, once again becoming a tropical storm. we're certainly not out of the

woods where the system is concerned. the rain, alone, is going to prove a problem. 100 millimeters-plus in the next 48 hours right through florida, up into georgia. you could see as much as 200 to 300 millimeters of rain locally. so the likelihood of flooding is certainly going to be with us over the next several days. more severe thunderstorms today from texas right up through into ontario through the great lakes region. that's going to move very slowly toward the east. it means that severe threat will continue right through our tuesday. out west, it's looking cooler, but much more settled. see a few showers starting to come through in toward the coast. we have 16 degrees in vancouver and just 11 in winnipeg. meanwhile, we're really keeping the heat. lots of temperatures in the low 30s. new york city, d.c., as well as oklahoma city, and houston. very, very hot. it stays hot and dry also to the southwest. all right. a quick look into europe. it has been so hot across the british isles as well as parts of western europe. that's going to change. we have this front here sagging

down from the north. that's going to bring temperatures down as cooler air comes in. lots of thunderstorms spread out across the mediterranean. some particularly heavy rain around the black sea region. talking about the balkans as well as turkey dealing with heavy downpours. here are your temperatures. i'm going to leave you now with your extended forecast.

our lead stories this hour. china's ruling communist party has expelled a former railway minister. the party's disciplinary watch dog found him guilty of corruption. the state run xinhua news agency said monday the party's central discipline inspection will refer liu zhijun to prosecutors. they said he abused his power and received large sums of money as bribes. liu oversaw investment in china's booming railway sector over the last decade.

he was removed from his ministerial post in february of last year. the ministry came under harsh criticism after a fatal high speed rail crash last july raised questions about corruption in railway development projects. a government panel concluded in december a flaw in the design of the control equipment was a key factor in the accident. the investigators said the railway ministry violated rules in the bidding process for the equipment. a fire has swept through a high end shopping mall in doha, qatar. 19 people died including 13 children. the fire sent black smoke rising above the buildings. some of the victims died as rescuers struggled to reach a daycare center. the mall houses luxury brand sh shops, an amusement park, indoor ice skating rink, and a canal. authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.