and south korean producers are trying to produce another export to audiences around the world. a japanese envoy has received some praise. the north's second highest ranking official says he appreciate the efforts of an advisor to shinzo abe. this is being seen as a sign the mission is held in high regard by pyongyang. he held talks with kim yong um, president of the korean people's assembly. the state-run agency released a short video clip of the meeting on its website. >> translator: we know that mr. ijima has been making an effort and we highly appreciate it. >> a north korean interpreter quoted kim as saying ijima visiting pyongyang once again on a very important mission.

they are believed to have discussed the abduction of japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s. ijima accompanied foreign minister koizumi on his trips in the early 2000s. in tokyo, chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga said that they are serious about wanting to resolve the abduction issue. >> translator: japan's position is that it wants to resolve the abduction issue as well as north korea's nuclear and missile development comprehensively. the abduction issue is the abe administration's top priority. >> suga said the government is working hard to bring the abductees home. ijima spoke to reporters on his way back to japan. he called the talks sincere and said the japanese government will need time to analyze their significance. for more on this story, we spoke with an expert on korean affairs at the university of shizuoka.

>> the main purpose of the visit is to create dialect, channel s of communication with kim jong-un and his associates. i think that's the most important one. because now abe administration, upon the assessment of now kim jong-un government is quite stable. if he had this purpose, so therefore i think that this time japanese government did not prior notification of both u.s. and south korea. of course in the long run the north korea has some intention to improve relationship with japan. especially with abe administration. so there has been much hope to make some progress with abe administration. i believe that, well, in the

short run, that their purpose of having the visit to the country and revealing his visit, is to make some pressure on south korea. i think this time, ijima's visit is a good opportunity for all of the three countries, japan, the u.s., south korea, to repromote our mechanism among the three countries. all three countries, it's much easier to get together, to talk about how to deal with north korea, especially on the denuclearization issues. me an mar president pardons 23 prisoners on friday. it comes after a meeting scheduled with barack obama next week. it's likely a move to emphasize

his performance or stance. the pardon applied to 23 political prisoners being held in eight prisons in the largest city yangon. the facility is notorious for harsh treatment of detainees under the former military regime. >> translator: i don't think the president, because he's just doing good things to create a good image for himself. we're released now, but it's intentionally done before his visit to the u.s. president. it's only a means of exchanging political interests. >> a separate pardon by the myanmar government was made just before obama visited the country last year. yet another was granted last month after the eu lifted most of their economic sanctions on myanmar. next week, thein sein will become the first myanmar president to visit washington in

47 years. the powerful cyclone dissipated quickly after affecting bangladesh and myanmar, but it left casualties in its wake. and now residents are going back to their homes. afp says the storm killed at least 15 people in bangladesh, authorities evacuated one million people, especially from vulnerable low-lying areas. populous areas were spared major damage. across the border in myanmar, displaced residents started to return home after the storm passed. in the western state of rakain, over 100,000 people were living in camps dotting low-lying areas in the country. many of them are muslims who have fled conflicts with buddhists. u.n. officials warned last week that a humanitarian catastrophe could develop if people were not evacuated. emerges economic powers still struggling with poverty.

citizens still demanding smock si. the threat of violence, the push for peace, and the shadow of conflict. get news and inhave the right every weekday, live from bangkok on nhk "newsline." people who had to evacuate near the fukushima nuclear plant have been waiting to go home. they may have to wait longer. workers have cleaned less than 5% of the designated clean up area after that work is completed, radiation levels in many places have not fallen to government standard. the town hirono lies 30 kilometers south of the plant. it's 0.3 now

>> translator: the radiation level is not falling. >> residents are calling on authorities to decontaminate these areas once again. >> translator: the radiation must drop to a level that we feel safe to live with. otherwise, we can never rebuild this area. >> the workers washed down roads and roofs and scraped off the surface soil in gardens, but town officials say it's difficult to remove substances from the tiny gaps in asphalt. heavy snow hampers the work in winter. sometimes the homeowners have evacuated and officials can't contact them. it's also difficult to find a place to temporarily store the contaminated soil. one expert suggests it's time to review the cleanup plan. >> translator: radiation levels over the long term are expected to drop below the standard only in some of the areas. in the high level areas,

officials should allow the residents the options of moving out. >> officials in the center government say they will re-examine the decontamination plan later this year. japanese and american scientists are sailing off the coast of fukushima in japan and studying the area. they're checking whether rararararararararararararararara nhk world reports from on board the research vessel. >> the team of scientists sailed out of tokyo on monday. they will spend ten days testing the waters of northeastern japan. on friday, they approached to about five kilometers of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the team members are collecting water and marine species from various depths and taking soil from the seabed.

they're aiming to find out whether the release of radioactive material is still affecting the environment and whether there have been any further leaks. kim leads the americans on the team. he says they want to shed light on the medium and long-term effects of the accident. using the technologies of both the u.s. and japan. the scientists will be taking samples at various locations until next thursday in hopes of getting answers. yoichiro tateiwa, nhk world, off the coast of fukushima. >> and yoichiro will have more on this in next week's edition of "nuclear watch." japan wants to enter one

shooin zoe's abes efforts to help the economy has been focused on a new growth strategy. the prime minister unveiled part of his vision on friday ahead of the official announcement expected next month. abe delivered a speech entitled winning in a global market. he focuses on structural reform from education to farming. >> translator: i want to support companies that promote innovation. we need to deregulate to help the challenge. i will travel to any country in the world and take the lead in sales. >> abe hopes to triple the value of japan's infrastructure. the prime minister singled out education as a key sector to boost competitiveness. he says they will join hands to

make it more affordable to study abroad. he also set out for the agricultural sector. he said increasing exports of produce can double the income of farmers within ten years. japanese experts are gearing up to develop their country's next mainstay rocket for lunching satellites. the development of the rocket, the h 3, is expected to begin in 2003. development is estimated to cost about $2 billion. they're expected to launch the first h3 in 2020. the new rocket would succeed the current h 2 a rocket that has sent satellites into space 16 consecutive times.

it is popular, but the high cost has hindered it's use. they will discuss developing the h3 rocket later this month. it is seeking outlays. the yen's decline is bringing an increasing number of tourists from southeast asia. and they're trying to track even more. they invited people from over o 10 0 travel companies. tourism industry officials in japan also took part in the meeting. the number of visitors from the six southeast asian nations to japan totalled nearly 104,000 in march. officials were trying to pinch popular tour itch sites like high walls of snow along an

alpine route. >> people in southeast asia are strongly interested in snow scenery. we have a strong response. >> is it increasing to japan? >> yes, increasing. very significant during this year. so, more people want to go to japan. >> advanced organizers also talked about how to arrange it for muslim tourists. and to prepare food under muslim diet guidelines. it will provide the cities with expertise to reduce global warming. the urban environments in countries such as malaysia have been getting worse. japan plans to offer its technologies and know-how related to things like energy

conservation, renewable energy, water saving and waste treatment. >> translator: asian countries are facing a rapid growth in greenhouse gas emissions. we hope to help them create a low carbon environment in cities and regions. >> japan is having difficult reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions. after the 2011 fukushima nuclear accident. when gas emissions are reduced in the asian cities that japan plans to help, the environment ministry plans to count those carbon offsets towards the country's own emission cuts. japanese leaders are working on organizing aide to the continent. they spent years secures markets in africa, and the japanese government wants to regain lost ground.

they bring together african leaders, business representatives of organizations. shinzo abe is expected to announce measures to make more business. they want to improve roads between countries and add customs facilities between borders. they're expected to send former employees of japanese trading houses to serve as advisors to african leaders. they also want to help ease shortages of food and help farmers grow more rice. they hope to double the output within five years. here are the latest market figures.

the international degree of the red cross is looking for donors to help syrians fleeing. >> our frustration is that the conflict spreads faster than our our ability to deliver. >> mauer says the biggest obstacle for the red cross is the disrespect they face on the part of combatants. because there's no clear distinction between military and civilian objectives. >> the fragmentation of the

power in syria is so that we are confronted with route blocks and checkpoints all over syria in the hands of different authorities. >> the red cross asked donor nations to help double its aid budget for syria and refugees to about $104 million. kpop is popular entertainment from south korea that's gained fans from around the world. hoping another cultural offering will receive the same enthusiastic response, musical theater. nhk world reporter reports on the country's latest strategy to promote korean culture. >> reporter: this area is known as south korea's broadway. 130 theaters, big and small, are crowded into one square kilometer. it is becoming increasingly

popular in south korea. the market has grown by 20% in recent years. with ticket sales reaching roughly $220 million. over 100 musicals are performed every year. fierce competition keeps the quality high. ♪ many theater goers appreciate the intimate atmosphere of smaller venues. >> translator: it's ideal for dates. it's also nice to talk about the show afterwards.

>> reporter: now the south korean government is getting into the act. it's launched a project to help develop a regional musicals. it's spending 3 billion yuan this year on promising productions. several south korean universities have launched musical theater departments. at university in seoul closed its department of voice and contemporary dance three years ago. it opened the musical theater program instead. the faculty's made up professional directors and musicians. competition to get in is fierce. only 1 in 40 applicants makes it. singing and acting lessons run

late into the night. >> translator: it's natural for universities to help produce the talent that the market demands. >> reporter: a theater showing nothing but korean musicals open in tokyo in april. actors perform to a near full house on the opening day. japan is a huge market for musical theater. if south korean musicals are here they are likely to make inroads into other countries. >> translator: we will use this as a step to decide what kind of content to produce for the wider asian market. ♪ >> reporter: it's been a decade since korean pop music and tv shows started capturing

attention on the global stage. now a new form of korean entertainment is ready for its worldwide debut. nhk world, seoul. heavy rains causing floods in china. rachel ferguson has an update. it has been a very bad week in terms of the heavy rainfall in southern china. let's go straight to a video to see some of the effects of these inundations. this was in guangdong on thursday. this resulted in a landslide and three deaths. eight people were saved by rescue personnel. a few people are still missing. the last is a latest in a series of events to strike china this week. there was also a tornado in addition to flooding, flash glooding, and it resulted in an economic loss estimates around

$16 million u.s. dollars. it is still lighter today, but that will not last into saturdays we'll see a return of rain 50 to 100 millimeters. into sunday, it is expected to intensify further. the next three days. we're expecting 100 to 150 millimeters of rain. the tail end of the front line will be moving over taiwan as well as okinawa. into japan, you'll see showers moving into south korea as well. it's not a particularly significant rainfall, but you could see cooler temperatures as well. here are those temperatures for saturday. it is 30 in bay individual. it is cloudy there, staying hot and dry. we see it coming into thaipei.

on wednesday, a spate of tornadoes thouchouched down in . they're going to be moving across much of the u.s. and canada. the really severe threat will be up and towards the upper midwest. and you can see thunderstorms and rain are quite likely. flooding can also occur from montana to minnesota because of locally heavy rainfall. that can cause river flooding and flash floodings. part of the reason is because it's quite warm. when we got that instability in the air and the moisture in the air, and the heat. 31 in denver, that's going to come down to about 20 about thursday. all right, lastly, we go into europe, and it's been a bad week as well out west.

the western half of the continent in wet and chilly. heavy rain targeting portions of the southeast and go toward the al pine region. you could see cool air here that could bring snow to the upper elevations. it will be a little gusty for you. 60 kilometer gusts. it's going to be warm, but very unstable. still scattered thunderstorms for you there. themes there way above average. 27 in kiev. 13 in london, 18 in paris, and 15 for you down in madrid. here is your extended forecast.

before we go, every year thousands of wild animals in the united states are killed by moving vehicles. in the state of pennsylvania, there is now one very lucky deer that survived a spectacular crash and with no noticeable injuries. the accident occurred this week when a bus hit a white tailed deer. the animal crashed through the front window. the deer scrambled frantically. the driver finally stopped the bus, opened the door, and the deer saw it's chance to flee. neither the driver nor the loan passenger on board were injured. that's "newsline" for this hour, from all of us here at nhk

world, thank you for joining us.

♪ the kingdom of bhutan. a landlocked nation tucked away in