threatening south korea. north korea warns of what it calls special actions against its neighbor. welcome back to "newsline." north korea's military dialed u to the south. leaders warn they will reduce the government to ashes. they said they would act soon against what they called rat-lining elements for slandering their leadership.

the military supreme command issues a threat and accuses him of disrespecting north korea. the statement gave no details of all the planned action. the military criticized a south korean proof for destroying a photo of kim jung un. they protested against their counterparts in seoul. the defense ministry analysts said there is no evidence of unusual action in the north. still a government leader is concerned. they maintain officials in the north are trying to divert attention from the failed missile launch. u.s. state department spokesperson has criticized the for making the threats. >> the dprk needs to understand

it is not going to achieve anything but further isolation and pressure by threats and launches and by any of this. and we call on the new north korean leadership to change course and instead put their effort into moving their country into the modern world and the 21st century. >> they said north korean leaders are in the wrong and they were called to give people the right to live in dignity. chinese leaders remain committed to their allies despite regional tensions. they called on leaders to exercise restraint amid fears they are planning a nuclear test. china's central television reported that they met with kim jung il, who reportedly cold kim that china is willing to expand in various fields and promote

lasting peace and stability on the korean peninsula and northeast asia. he also called for deepening the ties between the two countries through more high level exchanges and they are believed to have discussed a visit to china by kim jung un. they are boosting military presence in the asia specific. they updated a chip at nag saki, japan. the u.s. said he is an amphibious assault vessel and for a new and controversial aircraft. we go on board. it's 250 meters long and can carry 1,000 crew members and an additional 1900 marines. u.s. navy personnel on monday merged a rival of the u.s. in japan.

>> thank you, kosovo city and japanese definitely was force. >> navy spokes people said upgrades to the vessel made it the most capable ship of its class. the uss has been on water since the late 1990s. they rely on the iraq war. they can use the vessel to help with relief efforts following the 2004 indian ocean tsunami. here in japan, they will merely be used for the carrier of the new helicopter and they trained it. the deck has been reinforced and that hasn't put an end to it. some people say the helicopter is not safe. they had a series of crashes. the latest happened early this and two american marines died.

he is quiet in october as the u.s. air station in okinawa, western japan. the sbas in an intensely populated area and they have been protesting the arrival. u.s. navy leaders didn't talk much about that today. they instead focused on talking about their updated ship which would be used to draw in tons of conflict. >> we had the most capable flat form for the defense of japan and to provide stability in the region. >> that's a new focus for the united states government. the american persons in asia. nhk world, nag saki, japan. >> the highest debt ratings in the euro zone. dutch politicians have shaken

that. let's go to the business to tell us what's going on. >> the program and his government can't agree on budget cuts. in fact the entire cabinet of the netherlands is set to resign over a political crisis concerning austerity measures. the dutch prime minister offered his coalition government's resignation to clean up on monday after his political partnership with the ultra right freedom party collapsed over budget cuts. the freedom party led by the anti-eu and anti-immigration politician. it has been supporting the government for the past 18 months. the netherlands has supported fiscal discipline among eu countries. it is fired the country's turmoil will affect the efforts to deal with the debt problems. they are expected to call snap general elections and the vote is expected to be held as soon as late june. share prices plunged across

europe on the back of political uncertainty in the netherlands. as the dutch cabinet looked into resigning, stock prices tumbled on monday, 3.4% as you can see. 1.9% in london. friends also added to the selling pressure. nicholas sarkozy failed to gain a majority in the presidential election. another factor in the plunge is worse than forecast manufacturing data. it damp eped the economic outlook. u.s. markets also fell on mounting concerns over euro zone debt issues. the dow jones industrial average fell 0.8%. the tech-heavy nasdaq was down about 1%. let's see about stocks here. it's a brand-new day at tokyo

stock exchange. it seems the euro zone issues are dragging stocks lower. >> as you were mentioning there, it's a big focus for the markets and we'll follow that throughout the session today. after the huge gains that we saw in the first three months of this year, it looks like global stock markets have pulled back after the rush forward or the huge gains initially with investors pulling back. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topics. both are trading lower on the losses you just mentioned in europe and the u.s. the nikkei closed yesterday down for a third day in a row. we were looking like it's going to get more of the same. marks are digesting the news of the contraction of the pmi data and the euro zone and germany which is the region's strongest economy. investors are taking in further news from france and as you

mentioned, the stand still in the netherlands. quite a little bit of a focus from the europe not only from the euro zone issues, but the political fronts. now we're going to track financials as the wall street saw some of the biggest declines from banks and brokerages. the yen of course becoming a focus again within the last 24 hours. investors shifting assets to the relative safety of the yen. that's also coming just at a time this week when the bank of japan is meeting and there is hope that is the yen would weaken because of hope that is the bank would continue monetary easing and asset buying program when it meets on friday. just looking at the yen, they are 81-10 to 13. the yen has strengthened a touch against the dollar. >> ahead of that meeting, that's on friday, we have other key events, right?

>> definitely. we have key economic data and also the federal reserve is going to be meeting later today. the news conference tomorrow by the fed chairman who will be closely watching for further wording on monetary policy. dita-wise, we will get the closely watched index and housing starts and consumer confidence. let's not forget we are in the thick of the earnings as well. one of the biggest companies in the world in the tech sector heavily weighted on the nasdaq, apple will be coming out with earnings later today. we will see the market effect on that. a lot of analysts saying that the policy meetings as well as events in europe may just take center stage. we will see. for now, trading lower. back to you. >> thanks for that update. both seem to be trading lower by just about 8/10 of 1%. from the tokyo stock exchange

and i will leave with you a look at the latest market figures. discord is growing between the ruling government and the pro democracy opposition. they are going through a year of surprising reforms, but this change hit a wall. other newly elected lawmakers are part of a team covering the story from bangkok. >> in myanmar, negotiations are heating up between the ruling

government and the opposition. pro democracy leader is postponing in parliament. the elected lawmaker didn't attend the opening session of parliament on monday. we have more from june kobayashi. 40 members of the national league for democracy didn't append the opening session on monday. it was to the first appearance for the opposition party members. since they were listed by elections. the lawmakers objected to the wording required before officially taking office. they are asking that the expressions safeguard the constitution and be deleted from the press. the constitution maintains the strong rule of the government. they were in the parliamentary seats should be filled by military officials.

they have to amend this part of the constitution and reject what they say to contradict the principals. current negotiations with parliament are not going smoothly. that leader is optimistic. the government and parliament are under pressure to handle the situation carefully. for the international community, the inauguration of lawmakers will be a milestone in derock raitizing the country. negotiations are just the opening chapter to the goal in bringing democracy to myanmar. jun kobayashi.

>> in related news, myanmar's president did not comment on making immediate changes to the oath at a press conference in tokyo on monday. he has not ruled out the possibility of amending the constitution. >> the myanmar president was eager to show his positive starts on the country's reforms. . >> they stressed that there will not be any u-turn in myanmar's reform process towards democracy and he expressed his intention

to improve the economy and standard of living in the country. despite discord between opposition leader and the parliament over the oath of office, the eu is offering incentive for the regime to continue efforts towards that. they suspend economic sanctions on the country. >> the decision was made at a meeting in luxembourg on monday. an embargo remains intact. the suspension is being described as a rewar for the country's progress. the temporary action sends the message that sanctions will remain suspended only if myanmar continues the democratic reforms. the foreign policy chief is set

to travel to myanmar on the 28th to meet with the president. that will wrap up our bull tip for today. reporting in bangkok. >> earlier gene otani talked to the institute of developing tokyo. >> first off, other nld members didn't attend the reopening of the parliament. how do you see the situation? is that a party that is going to react in a negative way? >> yes, actually this is a symbolish issue. she went to show her serious liner to a man and that has some democratic clauses. this is automatically reserved for the military members.

he intentionally took this action to take advantage of the victory of the elections on the first. however, the oath wording is written in the constitution and it is not easy to amend the sentences. the president pointed out that the amendment is possible, but only according to the preskricrd procedures. >> not an easy task. japan decided to resume its aid and they are getting ready to ease sanctions against the country as well. they are sending a clear message unless democracy happens, they will not do it. how would they take steps towards democracy. >> japan's resumption is one of the biggest results that the government achieved.

they started to relax their sanctions step by step and these are also rewarding the president's efforts. they will go along for the foreseeable future. the land slight victory for the elections has made the change possible for the people at the next general elections scheduled for 2015. the possible loss of the power is now a real threat to the government. they are ready to release power? it could be fluid again after that. that was an expert on myanmar for the institute of developing economies in tokyo. >> people are focused on overcoming the challenges of the

2011 disaster. they have to rebuild homes and businesses and communities. we will show you their struggles and their successes on the road ahead. every wednesday at 1:00 japan time here on "newsline." >> japan's nuclear safety agency wants four plants to reassess the review. they assess a risk of a major tremor increased since the march earthquake in northern japan. the nuclear and industrial agency wants a reassessment of the plant and plants in the area industry experts say there is now a greater risk of faults more than five kilometers apart. they say this would cause an earthquake stronger than current quake-proofing standards. the power company said it would

have little effect on the facility and key buildings would be little affected. >> the agency experts say the tremor will be stronger if the two-fold shifts simultaneously. they agree to reexamine the plants and they could force a revision of standards and they have it soon after the plants can resard. coming up, rachel ferguson with the world weather forecast. >> we will be starting off with a look at china and rain targeting the east under all of this clouds. downstream of the yellow river, it is going is it get we are ta accumulation of 50 to 100 millimeters in a 24-hour period. heading in towards the area, heavy rain and another area up towards the northeast pushing across the peninsula and coming in to japan on wednesday as well.

clear skies across the peninsula and much of japan with temperatures increasing by about 10 degrees. in some places that will include tokyo and partly sunny skies with the temperature of 25 degrees for the high. a great improvement on yesterday's chilly rain. down towards the south, mostly dry across the peninsula and getting wetter towards the lake. it will be hot though in gang caulk. 39 degrees for the high. you will see pop up thunderstorms. that heat is going to be moving in as well. 28 degrees and another hot day and up into beijing. 20 for the high. however they are still under the influence of very cool air and 4 degrees for the high and much of western mongolia is feeling that chill. let's head to north america. you will see that bet weather through bc and showers starting to spread and you will see pop up thunderstorms in the intermountain west due to the

instability of the air. getting a lot of warmth up to the four corners and denver up to 30 degrees for the high. not much going on in the center of the u.s. or mexico, however that slow-moving storm system is impacting the northeast. over your overnight hours from virginia and west virginia through western parts of new york state, you are still going to be seeing heavy snow that will continue through southeastern parts of ontario as well. 30 centimeters possible. further towards the east will be warmer. you will see a mix of rain and snow and heavy rain for the canadian maritimes. not too much of an improvement. 7 degrees for the high at 16. out in denver, 30 degrees for the high. we will see a lot of heat in mexico through arizona and southern california.

into europe, this is where the most of the action will be here today. low pressure over france. it's going to be influencing southern portions of the british aisles into northern iberia and the alps. heavy rain could result in avalanches and flooding as well. the system will dissipate as it pushes east and you can see the next storm coming in. not much of a change in the continue conditions here and gust we heavy rain in places over the next couple of days. that energy will hit the mid-mediterranean as thunderstorms are unstable and nothing too severe. a few snow showers popping up for the peninsula, but heavy rain over the states today. temperatures are very warm across the east. we are looking at thepper teens in moscow and 20 in kiev and 25 in the southeast in athens. further out towards the west, 12 in london and 13 in paris. i will leave you now with the extend forecast.

> here our top stories again. north korea's military threatiened to reduce targets to ashes. they will launch special actions for grave insults to the new leadership. the military supreme command issued the threat and accuses south korean president of disrespecting north korea. the statement gave no details of the insult or the planned

action. north korea's military criticized a group last week for destroying a photo of kim jung un. they staged a rally to protest against their counterparts in seoul. south korean military analysts say there is no evidence of unusual action in the north. still government leaders are concerned. they maintain officials are detracks attention from the failed missile launch. a spokesperson has criticized north korea for making the threats. >> the dprk needs to understand that it's not going to achieve anything but further isolation and pressure by threats and launches and by any of this. we call on the new north korean leadership to change course and instead put their effort into moving their country into the modern world into the 21st century.

>> she said the leaders are putting energy in the wrong place. she called on them to open up the country and give people the right to live in dignity. >> chinese leaders remain committed to their allies in north korea despite tensions. still president called on leaders to exercise restraint amid fears of planning a nuclear test. they reported that those who met with the secretary of the worker's party of korea. he told dham china is willing to expand cooperation and promote laughing peace and stability on the peninsula and in northeast asia. they called for deepening the ties between the two countries between more high level exchanges. they discussed a visit to china by kim jung un. that's all for this hour on "newsline." thank you for watching. 0