welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kit igawa in tokyo. obama has picked john kerry to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state. he says kerry makes the ideal person to serve as the country's top diplomat. >> i think it's fair to say that few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasp our foreign policies as firmly as john kerry.

and this makes him a perfect choice to guide american diplomacy in the years ahead. >> obama said kerry's life has been preparing for the job. kerry has played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for nearly 30 years. kerry was elected to the senate in 1984. he's shared the foreign relations committee since 2009. he's known for his knowledge of foreign policy. he applied for secretary of state when hillary clinton announced she planned to step down. u.n. ambassador susan rice pulled out of the running this month because of opposition from republican lawmakers. if kerry gets the senate's confirmation, he'll have to guide a tricky relationship with north korea. they are on criticism from u.s. politicians for pursuing a nuclear program and testing missiles and now they've detained an american in what they call a crime against their

country. the state-run korean central news agency identified the detainee as tinjano. they say he said be a man of korean descent. he entered the city of rason last month as a tourist and committed a crime against the country. the report said he admitted to the charge and they are taking legal action. swedish embassy officials visited peh. they had a diplomatic interest in north korea because washington and the u.n. don't have diplomatic relations. they said they may use that as a bargaining chip to get the u.s. to make concessions. north korean leaders endured condemnation last week for launching what they called a satellite-carrying rocket. the security council says there are consequences, but they are still struggling to agree on

what those consequences will be. councilmen has condemned them because the north koreans ignored a ban on using missile technology. still, they don't want to adopt a legally binding resolution. they said it could pump them to conduct another nuclear test. japan's diplomats are working with north korea to try to impose sanctions. but they're far from waiting for the chinese to change their position. world leaders of the two biggest economies have started laying the ground work for cooperation. china's president paid a visit to the u.s. president, obama. they agreed to boost economic cooperation. juan said members of china's communist party and government had great importance with their relations with the u.s.

they said they wanted to work more closely with americans on a wider range of issues. obama said building stronger economic ties is the core of the relationship. he said u.s. and chinese leaders may be able to overcome issues that divide them if they speak more frankly. officials with the chinese foreign ministry said obama mentioned he was to meet the communist party's new leader. italian prime minister mario monti has handed in his resignation. he promises to step down once the lawmakers pass the budget. they expect to meet with party leaders this weekend and dissolve the lower house and expect an election late february. monti led efforts to deal with italy's debt crisis. he appointed a cabinet of experts, not politicians. he pushed for structural reforms for over a year. he says the government has been hard to run since it lost support from the vice party led

by prime minister berlusconi. he is expected to outline his ideas at a news conference this weekend. the head of nato says syrian president bashir assad is acting like a desperate regime. he is condemning the syrian military for continuing with opposition forces. he said it justifies nato's mission to overcome turkey. it is a country which borders syria. >> the facts that such missiles are used in syria emphasizes the need for effective defense and protection of our ally, turkey. >> the united states, germany

and the necessity netherlands we turkey with 200 personnel. they are expected to deploy the troops and artillery early nextier. japanese government officials are expanding their reach in an economy that has a trusting global interest. they signed a developing agreement with nenya. they have been carrying foreign development after taking steps. representatives of both countries signed a memorandum of understanding, giving japan exclusive rights to develop the two-hour special economic zones. the area is several hours from the largest city. >> i hope that and i'm very confident that the friends shipping to the two countries will be deeper and stronger.

>> translator: nen-ma has officially confirmed that we will take a leading role in the development. it is a huge step for japan. >> japanese officials see the artillery zone as a flagship project, one that will allow them to strengthen the bond between private and public sectors. they want the deal of the opposing competition, including china and south korea. a group of firms is currently producing surveys. it will make it one of the biggest industrial parks in the world. but attracting more companies to the zone will take work. areas are lacking basic infrastructure, including power and water supply systems. coming up, a three day weather forecast.

30 years ago, two children

wrote to the post office in the german village believing santa claus lived there. they wrote back as to tradition. staff spent the day before christmas replying to letters from kids all over the world. this year they got 300,000 letters. they don't know whether the children were naughty or nice, but they're busy replying in 17 languages. local kids bring their letters am person for a chance to meet santa, or at least a postal worker who looks like him. >> translator: the children write their special wishes, so we're delighted to get their letters. >> the workers say they'll keep on writing and sending replies until christmas eve. that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm keiko kitigawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.