promises but no progress so far on investigating the abductions. japanese delegates wrapped up talks with north korean official in pyongyang. creating leaders, a new international boarding school brings together a diverse student body in hopes of cultivating innovators for the future. luring the culprit, a japanese researcher has found a way to stick it to dengue fever

mosquitos. we start with talks with north korea in decades. japan's top diplomat for asian affairs led the 12-member team. the group arrived in pyongyang on monday. early the next day, the head of north korea's special investigation committee, so tae ha, created the -- greeted the visitors. >> i know there are differences of opinion in your country about this visit. i think the trip is a positive step forward. showing the japanese government's will to follow up on our previous agreement. >> a briefing took place on what the north's four investigative panels said they had learned so far. each panel is looking into a particular part of the problem.

what became of abducted japanese, missing japanese, those left behind during world war ii, and japanese spouses of north koreans, and the remains of japanese who died in the north near the end of the war. so and some of the officials involved are attached to the ministry of state security. it is thought to be a kind of secret police organization whose representatives rarely are seen on camera. thus, their appearance could be designed to convince japan the north is serious about disclosing what it knows. after more than ten hours of talks over two days, the delegation left pyongyang on thursday. back in tokyo, the minister informed prime minister abe about what they were told. >> translator: the north korean committee members promised to carry out a thorough

investigation. they agreed to look at the issue from new angles without regard to the outcome of previous probes. the committee said the scope of the probe will include a north korean agency that carries out special missions. >> japan's government believes at least 17 of its people were abducted by north korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. five were return in 2002. previously, pyongyang said eight abductees had died and four never entered the north. japan's chief cabinet secretary told reporters the new committee had not yet provided any specific information about the abductees' fates. in the talks the delegation sphresed then -- stressed the point that the japanese government considers the abduction issue to be its top priority.

it sees pyongyangpyongyang's pra half step forward. the government hopes to receive at least an initial report by the end of the year. despite the perception gap over the abduction issue, north korea does appear to want to detoxify its dealing with japan. it may hope such a change will open the way to economic assistance and normalized relations. at the same time, it's backing away from its long time benefactor. nhk world reports on the growing distance between the north and china. >> dandong is a major trade for north korea. it sits right next to the border. in october>> translator: we're

here to promote bilateral exchanges involving the economy and science and technology. we also are inviting more investment from china. >> reporter: the exhibition featured goods such as honey and herbal medicine. from this event, it would appear that north korea is determined to maintain the business connections it has built with china. north korean officials briefed operators on investment opportunities in special economic zones. they highlighted natural and human resources that the zones have to offer. >> translator: you can expect a big profit with a small investment. >> reporter: but beneath the surface, evidence of discord is starting to show up. >> the two countries jointly

developed a special economic zone in an area. three years ago, a groundbreaking ceremony was held with much fanfare. this man led the project for the north. he was known for his strong connections with china. but those bonds did not count for much when he developed differences with north korean leader kim jong-un, neither did family ties. he was kim's uncle but he was executed. china responded by imposing financial sanctions. the damaged ties have delayed development of the special economic zone. nothing can be seen except a few people in an area meant to be an

industrial park and a free trade zone. china is paying to build a bridge connecting dandong and the north, but the two show evidence of a growing political difference. the bridge is schedule to be finished around this time but on the north korean side, the road leading to the bridge has not yet been built. the north is now turning its attention to another country, russia. the two nations have a history of being on friendly terms. the north late leader kim jong-il even road to russia on for his journey. kim jong-un also went to russia

earlier. >> translator: russia is beginning to see connections with north korea as a partnership that makes sense geographically. it assume a leading law inputting up a coal export tunnel in the special economic zone, and then a few days ago, russia aagreed to spend $25 billion to help modernize north korea. the countries had a ceremony at a station in pyongyang. >> translator: speeches made in the ceremony declared that their railway project will serve the interests of both countries and help develop bilateral economic cooperation. >> reporter: north korea's nuclear development is a main issue putting it at odds with china. even so, the countries still

have many mutual interests. the north, however, is seeking to diversify, if that helps build up the economy, it may also solidify kim jong-un's grip on power. next, japan gets an ebola scare but it turns out to be a false alarm. according to the world health organization, the u.s. and spain are the only countries outside of africa where actual cases have turned up. the number of confirmed or suspected cases has passed 13,000 and nearly 5,000 people have died. this week, i aa man traveling from liberia to japan was quickly quarantined because of a possible ebola symptom, an elevated body temperature. japanese health authorities were alerted monday when a canadian journalist arrived at tokyo

international airport with a fever. the man said he had spent two months in liberia, reporting on the ebola outbreak, but he said he had no direct contact with any of the patients. health officials took him to a hospital in tokyo that's equipped to deal with highly infectious diseases. japanese health minister asked the public not to overreact. >> translator: ebola can only be caught through physical contact. unlike influenza and sars. >> the next day, the health ministry announced that the man had tested negative for ebola. authorities in some countries have announced travel restrictions. australia's government announced on monday it would temporarily cease issuing visas for people

from the west african nations hit by the outbreak. the scientists who co-discovered the ebola virus in 1976 was in japan earlier this week. peter piot urged nations to work together. >> i never expected ebola would take on such a dramatic dimension. as i mentioned, all previous outbreaks were very limited, and it is this combination of lack of health services, lack of trust, very slow response. >> french medical workers are planning to test a new anti viral drug on ebola patients in guinea. it will be the first full scale test of a drug developed by a japanese firm. now more of the week's news in previous. >> pro democracy protesters in

hong kong have been marking the one month anniversary of what's been dubbed the umbrella revolution. they are calling for free elections of their next leader. they held umbrellas open for 87 seconds in front of the government headquarters. 87 is the number of tarry gas canisters. protesters called off a two-day referendum. they said there was internal disagreement about the vote. pro-beijing groups collected more than half a million signatures calling for an end to the demonstrations. >> the protests have ib viens -- inconvenienced commuters. i want the situation to return to normal as soon as possible. >> student leaders wrote an open letter asking hong kong

authorities to urge leaders in beijing to retract their plans to screen candidates for chief executive or offer them direct calls with the chies premier -- chinese premier. ♪ british troops have left afghanistan after 13 years of combat operations. they handed over control of their last base to afghan security forces. britain sent more forces to afghanistan than any other country except the u.s. with 10,000 stationed there at one point. most were deployed in the southern province of a strong hold of the taliban. u.s. marines also ended their combat operations in the southern province on sunday. most international troops are scheduled to leave afghanistan by the end of the year and that's raising fears about security. on monday, taliban insurgents attack a prosecutors office in

the northern province killing at least seven people. the switzerland based world economic forum has released its annual study of the global gender gap. the survey looks at gaps in education, health care, and the economy. philippines came in 9th, china 87th and japan 104th. that's up one notch than last year, but still the worst among industrialized nations. researchers blamed the poor percentage of women in managerial posts. south korea fared even worse. its vast wage gap put it in 117th place. japan's space agency unveiled its latest asteroid probe on monday. officials at jaxa hope hayabusa

2 will help us understand the universe's history. it's due back on earth in 2020. hayabusa 2's predecessor was launched in 2003. it was the world's first space craft to bring asteroid particles back to earth. leaders are not born. they are created. these are the watch words of an international school established in japan this autumn. its aim is to bring about transformation in asia but nurturing future leaders. i visited the school to learn how it expects to realize such ambitious goals. >> the main thing we came up with was the definition was

migration. >> the international school of asia, karuizawa, uses the diversity of its student bodies to its advantage. students learn about other countries through conversations with one another. today's topic is global refugees. >> activities are due as well on friday and are there any other issues that came up, perhaps when you were looking at it related to where you come from? >> well, in 2011, we had a big flood but the local government couldn't deal with it and people died. they had to move -- >> for example, the northern part of somalia, where i lived, there are people who usually have to em he great from there to european countries for a better lifestyle.

[ applause ] >> 49 teenage students entered the boarding school this autumn. they come from 15 countries and regions, mainly from within asia. the founder of the school believes that learning with people of different backgrounds is important in the education of future leaders. >> i think, you know, that the real world that the students will be facing will be very diverse. the leaders need to learn to embrace diversity and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and others strengths and weaknesses, and then seek a way to work collaboratively. >> one aspect of diversity is money. donors have funded a scholarship program to make sure the class includes kids that don't come from wealth. this young man spent his younger

years at in nep al. just as he was thinking that he would like to continue his studies, he found out about the isak scholarship program. >> my family, two of my sisters, three, they are still uneducated and lots of people like them in my village. >> reporter: in an ordinary school, students with such different bioographies would never share a classroom, but having that opportunity here has given karma ideas for a future stage of his life. >> the countries that have education and countries that don't have that much education, there's a really huge difference, and with education, you also come to understand a

lot of things. so if i can take that back to nepal, it will be really cool. >> $14 million were raised to turn her inspiration into an educational institution, complete with teachers, equipment, and a structure. the idea arose when she was working with unicef on the educational problems of street children in asia. >> i saw an immense disparity in society and i saw lots of corruption and that's the time i said educating the poor is critically important, but does that really solve the root cause? while we educate, you know, the disadvantaged people, unless we educate the leaders or change makers at the same time, we cannot, you know, solve the root cause. >> she believes another aspect

of producing leader is cultivating the ability to identify issues and resolve them through cooperation. students showed their prowess in their skills in addressing a practical problem. eating lunch with the same people all the time. they put through a proposal for allocating the seats through a daily lottery. dorm life can be a breeding ground for discontent. what one person sees as clean, another may see as obsessive. the home economic teacher used their complaints as a learning opportunity. compiling a list of all the problems. >> the bigger fridge, lack of space. >> the problem that i saw was like stealing food. >> once the issues were out in the open, the kids collaborated in deciding how to reduce the

friction. >> you should find a solution to solve it. it's how we relate together. >> like when we talk with each other, each person gives an idea, and from that idea we can build and build and like kind of merge those ideas to create something better. >> only two months since the opening of the school, its ideology is already taking root. i talk with some of the students about what they think they have learned? >> i learned to accept myself more than i did before. people accepted me here. now i'm more willing for that change. >> what i wanted to ask everyone, you know, just everyone here, you know, because you've chosen to come to a school where, you know, leadership is like the

keyword -- >> i think it's really important to try to take action. i want to try practice that through these three years, and then apply it to what i can do in the future. >> even the philippines, like so many global issues occur like poverty and child labor and all these, and i just want to like -- i don't exactly know what exact career i want to take, but i want to be able to like relate to those global issues and like contribute and to help and creating solutions for these global issues. >> my goal is to bring a change in education system in nepal because i would say education system is good, but the political situation is affecting the education system a lot because there are a lot of strikes and whatnot, so i would like to bring stability, so even if there's political

instability, i would like to bring a change such that it doesn't affect the education system. >> stability within instability sounds like a prescription for what als the world. isak students may have the opportunity to prove that what works in the classroom can also be effective across the globe. >> now three years may seem like a short time but for teenagers it's a significant percentage of their lives so far. when they get a bit older and i do too, i'm looking forward to reporting how their years at isak have led to further accomplishments. now, people in tokyo are heading back to one of the city's most popular public spots. the park is open for the first time in two months. the park was closed after a case of dengue fever was traced to

there. it was the first domestic outbreak in about 70 years. world wide as many as 100 million people are affected every year, primarily in warmer areas, but nhk world's reporter says a new technique may stop the mosquitos in their tracks. >> this black object on the ground is a most ketotrap. its adhesive lining holds a biting insect fast. it caught more than 500 in about three hours. it's believe that using the box for just half a day, drastically reduces the number of most qeet toes in a given area for a few days. this doctor is the inventor of this trap. he started working on most quito

traps 20 years ago after seeing a child suffering from ben-gay fever -- dengue fever while on a business trip in thailand. >> i started to ask myself why someone must suffer miserably because because he or she was bitten by amos keto. this question let me to my current research project. >> his first invention uses carbon dioxide, to lure most ketos in. another apparatus has a fan that pulls in most keet toes attracted to its black color, but these devices were impractical for its use in developing countries because they were too expensive or needed electricity to operate. so he invented a nonelectric

device to attract mosquitos and than traps them to an adhesive sheet. he also experimented with different shapes. this prism-shaped device was the most effective. >> when i leave the device out just as it is, mosquitos are attracted to it. i realize that they don't see this as a trianglear cardboard box but as an object that looks like an animal. >> it folds up to make it easy to store and carry. he tested the trap in malaysia where he also teaches.

he discovered the mosquito can pull itself free of the sheet because it's stronger than the japanese tiger mosquito. he's currently inventing an adhesive to trap the dengue-carrying mosquitos. finally, thousands of lanterns filled the sky over thailand, the annual festival is a buddha celebration that attracts visit aryns the world. we hope you'll visit us again in seven days. we'll see you then on "asia this week."

this week on "moyers & company" -- >> people need to start voting against the excessive power of the great moneyed interests. but more than that, we need a powerful grassroots movement that will fight for the interests of ordinary men and women and for this new generation of americans that's coming along right now. >> announcer: funding is provided by -- anne gumowitz, encouraging the renewal of democracy. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. the herb alpert foundation, supporting organizations whose mission is to promote compassion