north korean leaders boast their country as a nuclear power as constitutional changes solidify their military first policy. welcome to nhk world "newsline." military might and nuclear power, they've revealed the changes the people's assembly made last month to the constitution state clearly for the first time the country is now a nuclear power.

authorities posted the full revised text of the constitution on a north korean website, the document praises kim jong-il for transforming the country to what it calls an undefeated political and ideological power, a nuclear power and an invincible military power. last month's supreme people's assembly also appointed new leader kim jong-un as first chairman of the national defense commission. north korean officials carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. the country's state-run media has claimed north korean is now a nuclear power. earlier i spoke with our reporter hiroki yajima who has been covering issues on the korean peninsula. hiroki, why they did put in the constitutional phrase stating now it is a nuclear power. >> kim jong-un wants to convince his people and the international committee that he will continue the military first policy. he also seems to hope the move will help tighten his grip on power. but what is also noteworthy is a

phrase laid out for kim jong-il kim jong-un's father, for transforming the country into a nuclear power. the new leader also seems to be aiming to boost his prestige by making clear that he is following in the footsteps of his grandfather, kim il-sung, as well. in fact, kim jong-un referred to the country's nuclear weapons when he first made a speech in public at the military parade last month. the new leader looked confident about the country declaring itself a nuclear power. north korea began extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel in the 1980s. it then carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 when talks with the united states stalled. it is believed to have used plutonium on those occasions, but experts suspect that after

2002 the north has moved on to nuclear development using enriched uranium. and the international community is looking on forcing the north to abandon this program. >> the united states is obviously in the minds of north korean leaders. now how do you think north korea, now saying it is a nuclear power, affect the situation on the korean peninsula? >> well, it's obvious that the north wanted to cement the fact that it has now joined the nuclear club and send a strong message to the united states that it can now negotiate on an equal footing. recently a north korean foreign ministry spokesperson suggested that currently the north has no plans for performing a nuclear test. this shows the north koreans are in dialogues and talks with the united states, but with a presidential election only five months away, the obama administration cannot afford to devote himself to the north's nuclear issue.

and it's highly unlikely that the united states will agree to come to the table, so pyongyang might consider further provocative action. the situation on the korean peninsula pretty much hinges on whether or not the united states comes around. an envoy of the chinese government apparently went beyond his assigned role. a spokesperson for the chinese embassy in japan says his government will look into charges that one of its diplomats illegally obtained foreign residency card in tokyo in 2008 by hiding his official status. spokesperson bong yu commented on the actions of the 45-year-old first secretary. >> translator: the matter requires further investigation. chinese diplomats are banned by strict service regulations. >> yang denied his unfounded media reports that the diplomat was involved in espionage in

japan. japanese police say the man is suspected of opening a bank account with the unlawful card, and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from japanese firms for what he described as investment in china's farming industry. police wanted to speak with the envoy, but he ignored the request and returned to china. in beijing they denied the man was a spy. they said china told japan reports of the diplomat's involvement in espionage are groundless. and added that his government will review other details of the case. japan has expelled syria's ambassador in a coordinated protest over the massacre of civilians there last week. this came one day after the united states and european countries announced they would expel syrian dimts. the nations are protesting the mass killing of more than 100 civilians, mainly women and children in the houla district

of the central city of homs last friday. >> translator: the japanese government has asked the syrian ambassador to japan, mohamed ghassan al habash, to leave the country as soon as possible. >> more than 80 people were reportedly killed in the past two days in homs and damascus. aung san suu kyi spent the last 24 years either under house arrest or from the government. she'll give a speech at the economic forum on east asia. her supporters were waiting to greet her at the airport. aung san suu kyi will stay in thailand until the end of the week. she'll speak with representatives at the international conference about the work she and her colleagues are doing to move her country

toward democracy. aung san suu kyi returned home from britain in 1988, and became a leader of the democracy movement. she spent a total of 15 years under house arrest by the military government. but she refused to leave myanmar. she feared government officials would not allow her back into the country. recent moves toward democracy encouraged her to travel again. myanmar has a productive work force, low wages and abundant resources. many business people see it as the last frontier of asia. so executives from japan and elsewhere are trying to find a way in. nhk's hir oh ta ka nagano reported from naypyidaw. >> reporter: the aim is to deepen ties and gain a strong base to promote investment.

>> he's here for a long time and we're working together for a long time. and we believe he is a very true and very good partner for us. >> reporter: this is a japanese business partner. he goes to college in myanmar. it was created by japan's group with a local band. the plan is to expand and set up the new exchange. he stayed behind even when many left the country due to u.s. and european sanctions. he has a wide network of partner connections with government officials and other key figures.

he wears ethnic clothes to work to fit in with the local society. while working on the project, he found competition from south korea. but in the end, the deep trust he had earned over the years from local officials made all the difference. >> translator: japanese people take time and nurture relationships. and it's not all about money. i think that our culture struck a chord with the people in myanmar. >> reporter: a major japanese band is ahead of its competitors from other countries. the banking corporation has joined hands with myanmar's commercial bank. they're aiming to tighten the

partner network to other financial strategies to the farms when the markets opens its doors to other banks. in myanmar, most payments are made with cash since automatic payments are not so common there. this branch handles as many as 5 million bank notes a day. >> translator: this is myanmar's leading bank. so its methods are actually the most advanced for this country. >> reporter: this will help to boost operations and improve its services. japanese firms aim to play a leading role in setting up a financial market in myanmar to boost the local economy.

it's just begun. hirotaka nagano, nhk world, naypyidaw. people don't want to get burned again. they've spent more than a year dealing with the aftermath after the accident of the fukushima daiichi plant. they'll be dealing with it for many years to come. so they're teaming with members to focus on switching to renewable energy. it's truly a unique wind power plant. >> reporter: the planned power plant in fukushima will be built offshore and the entire facility will be floating. the global output of wind-power generation has been growing 20% a year. europe has been installing offshore turbines mounted on structures fixed to the seabed. in contrast, japan is on its way

to introduce floating wind turbines, more fit to be built in its deep coastal waters. the government is set to start an experimental run to check its feasibility. a substation will also be built offshore. electricity generated there will be delivered to consumers on land via submarine cables. here, an experiment is under way to build floaters that will keep wind turbines from gets displaced by wave shocks. japan hopes to develop floating power plants that are resilient to tsunami and typhoon and export the cutting-edge technology. in a nationwide project, the university of tokyo and ten japanese companies are undertaking the challenge to build wind turbines that are 200 meters high. they plan to make a prototype turbine by next summer, and two more by 2015. the project's goal is to construction 150 commercial turbines, enough to generate 1

million kilo watts of electricity. that's equivalent to the output of a nuclear reactor. >> we have an associate professor at the university of tokyo. he specializes in reconstruction of devastated areas, including war-torn states and he proposed the project to the mine government in fukushima and laid the groundwork for its launch. why are you focusing on offshore wind farms instead of like solar power? >> actually, i started visiting iwaki city three weeks after the march 11th earthquake last year. in terms of mr. watanabe of the city he wanted to discuss renewable energy to replace the nuclear power plant. where i did the research i identified that offshore wind power plant is very expanding in the world. for example, in the uk, it's

implementing 7,000 new offshore wind power plants, which can cover one-third of the whole energy for the uk by 2020. so i met professor shihara takeshi and he told me there's a big potential in fukushima offshore due to strong wind. because the japanese ocean tends to be very deep it's very to start or experiment kind of a floating type of the offshore wind power plant, so i proposed this idea to the mayor of the iwaki, who proposed it to the prime minister and several ministers in charge of this renewable energy and finally the government decided to start this experiment. >> why does it have to be floating, again? >> because japan tends to have a very deep oceans. >> deep, okay, all right. >> it's better to use floating systems.

>> now, what impact will this have to fukushima prefecture and to the people that live there? >> yeah, one of the reasons i proposed this idea, i was very shocked by the fact that almost 70,000 people needed to be evacuated from the nuclear power plant, and it's desperately needed to create a new industry and to create a new job opportunities. the governments feel if we can succeed in making a business from this experiment, it might create almost 5,000 new jobs in fukushima. and also, because it's very leading technology, japan might make it a kind of new industry, which can export it, be exported to the foreign country, which also need to, you know, renew energy, so i hope it has a big impact on the reconstruction of fukushima. >> so it might not just end in fukushima, it might be something that can be exported overseas as well.

it sounds good, but are there any drawbacks, or potential problems? >> the biggest challenge is to, how to get the cooperation and support and even the participation by the fishermen, who have the right to use the oceans, and i keep talking with both fishermen and businessmen that they should work together to design the policy, which can make fishing and also creating energy possible, and because i engage with both of them, i become confident that they can work together to start a new model, and i also believe that if they can succeed in creating a sustainable model, which can be fukushima model, it might change the image of fukushima which can be the stronghold for the new and renewable energies overcoming this catastrophic accident of the nuclear accident. >> so one of the most important thing is being able to work with the fishermen and local industry there in order to make this successful. all right. >> we need local ownership by them. >> thank you very much. daisaku higashi, associate professor at the university of

tokyo. and now, here's the latest market figures. two dogs at an animal

shelter are waiting for their owners to show up. it's not an uncommon tale that these dogs are not strays, their lives were upended by the accident at fukushima, and their troubles didn'op there. >> reporter: an animal shelter run by a nonprofit group, far from the disaster area. there are 30 dogs here. most were rescued from one village in fukushima. after the nuclear accident, the shelter took in dogs whose owners were no longer able to care for them. the dogs get plenty of food, but the organization is short-staffed, so animals only get five minutes a day outside of the pens to walk around the grounds. five minutes is not much time for an energetic pup like cha. and the 3-year-old wants more than a leisurely stroll.

far away in fukushima prefecture, cha's owners are trying to rebuild their lives. they couldn't take their dog when they evacuated. heartbreaking for the three daughters. >> translator: when we see a dog on tv, we always think about cha, and start talking about him. sometimes we look at old pictures. cha was an important family member. we thought of him like a little brother. we used to run outside together. we would go for walks. i want to do that again. >> reporter: back at the shelter, 13-year-old beagle chiby is also missing her owners. she's 70 in human years. she has rarely barked. a present has arrived. perhaps this will cheer her up.

a new collar sent by chibi's owners. the old beagle seems to perk up immediately. one month later chibi's owners visit the center. but this is a sad day for the family. nine days after receiving the collar, chibi died. chibi had chronic heart problems. staff gave her medicine and took her to a vet, but she wasn't able to see her family again before she passed away. they retrieve her remains. and the collar that got chibi barking again. >> translator: chibi was always walking in the mountains. i will take her remains there so she can go back there and run free again.

>> reporter: two other dogs have died in the past year. like chibi, they never saw their owners again. >> translator: it's really sad. for sure, the dogs all want to go home. just because they're dogs, doesn't mean they don't miss home. i hope they can all go home soon. >> reporter: more visitors arrive. this time this family, it's been one year since the girls played with cha. they spend two and a half hours together. their little brother is having the time of his life. >> translator: it was fun. but cha ran so much, it tired me out.

>> reporter: fukushima and this town are more than 500 kilometers apart. the girls don't know when they'll have a chance to see their dog again. it's time to leave. the children promise they'll come back soon. cha watches them go. and keeps watching long after they've gone. >> the shelter's manager says they will look after the dogs for two years. if the owners are still not able to take back the animals by then, the shelter will start searching for foster homes. overcast in tokyo, but it looks like it's going to hold out more on the weather for here, and elsewhere. here's robert speta. >> much more favorable weather across most of japan. down to the south, you are seeing heavy rainfall. this is due to a frontal

boundary pushing in from the west. and actually in okinawa, you can see up to 150 millimeters in the next 24 hours. accompanied by lightning, and even gusty winds here. this is all due to the stationary boundary, even extending out to southeastern china. already, you have been seeing widespread flooding here. into the next 24 hours, it looks like another 100 millimeters will fall in many locations, 13esh8 especially down to the coastline. in towards thailand, short-time heavy rain showers, bringing the threat of thunderstorms, and even a risk of flooding. also, the risk of flooding here in eastern lu san. see this big red l here? this is a developing low pressure area. it does look like it's going to be continuing to move off to the northwest. it could be bringing flooding, even land slides. looking at temperatures in manila, at 33. shanghai at 24. as well as in seoul and tokyo, you're looking at a high of 33.

on your thursday. all right. over towards the americas. here in the southeast, the big topic has been a tropical depression, beryl. finally, it's going to be moving out here. we will quickly start to rush off to the northeast. it will intensify up to a tropical storm as it does move off the coast. the winds will be remaining off the coast. that is the heaviest rainfall could hit some areas in the outer banks bringing the threat of some localized coastal flooding, and even beach erosion. outside of that, that storm's quickly going to rush off to the northeast. by the end of the week, it will be well out into the atlantic. also in the central plains, we're looking at severe weather. cool air is definitely surging in from the north here. warm air from the south. as these two collide, yet again tornadoes are coming out of this area. hail baseball size. you've got to think about the force coming from a piece of ice that large. so if you get caught in any of these storms, do take cover

immediately. check your flight schedules ahead of time. looking at temperatures, very warm in the south. oklahoma city at 31. even off towards the east in washington, d.c., at 30. new york at 27. over towards europe, let's first start here in the southeast, because in the balkans, you have been seeing widespread thunderstorm activity. area of low pressure still lingering down here, bringing frequent lightning. gusty winds and heavy rains. behind that, you have the frontal boundary extending off to the alps. behind that, some fairer weather. this is reflecting in the forecast in northern italy here. we had the large earthquake yesterday. does look like on thursday some thunderstorm activity will be firing up here, accompanied by these rain showers. good news, after that front starts to push down to the south, partly cloudy skies will be setting in on friday and saturday. but looking at the rest of europe, though, here in london, actually rather cool there. 13 is expected for your high on sunday.

toward berlin at 18. and even in moscow, a high of 15 on your thursday. now, here's a look at your extended outlook.

we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.