hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. officials report the outbreak of mers has infected 166 people and killed 24. still, they say the rate of new cases is down. the mers outbreak in south korea began with a man who had returned from the middle east. doctors diagnosed him on may 20th. officials say new cases peaked on june 6th and 7th. they say 90% of patients who have died were elderly or had underlying conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

world health organization director general margaret chan praised south korean efforts to get the virus under control. >> the mers outbreak can be resolved. although it may take longer than everyone would like to see. >> officials are struggling to work out how the virus spreads. they say some infections are the fourth in a line that began with the original patient. officials have isolated more than 5,900 people who may have come into contact with patients. government leaders have come under fire from citizens for their handling of the crisis. they're seeing an economic impact as foreign tourists turn away. leaders in tokyo and seoul are mending fences but still have a way to go. the south korean foreign minister will be the first in his position to visit japan in four years. he'll talk with his counterpart about a range of subjects but says the two governments still don't agree on the issue of

those referred to as comfort women. >> translator: consultations between senior officials have made some meaningful progress, but many aspects still need to be worked out. >> he told south korean lawmakers he does not think the two sides can find common ground at this stage. he's due to meet sunday with the japanese foreign minister. he will also attend a ceremony to mark 50 years of normal diplomatic ties. he said he aims to make as much progress as possible on bilateral issues and discuss medium and long-term relations. analysts say yun may be trying to temper hopes raised by the south korean president. she told the "washington post" her country and japan had reached the final stage of negotiations over the comfort women issue. a veteran diplomat is shedding light on the early days of normalized ties between

japan and south korea. endo played a major role in maintaining stability between the countries, but he said one incident pushed relations to the edge. nhk world has the report. >> reporter: endo spent 4 1/2 years working on korean affairs as japan's foreign minister in the 1970s. during that time, he had his first meeting with future president kim dae-gin. he had fled there after losing 1971 presidential election to the incumbent president, park geun-hye. he said he felt his life was in danger because he had criticized park's regime as a dictatorship. >> translator: kim was talkative, eloquent. he was perfectly fluent in japanese. another important factor presidential park was a dictator.

when kim came to japan, many came after him, including korean intelligence agents. that's why we often met at small discreet restaurants. >> reporter: kim was unable to elude his enemies, even in japan. he was kidnaped from a hotel in tokyo. >> reporter: a couple of days later, he was mysteriously set free in seoul. investigators in tokyo collected fingerprints at the hotel and matched them to an official at the south korean embassy. >> translator: the japanese side reacted strongly. what was that all about? was it an infringement of

sovereignty? but the south korean government would not admit to any involvement. >> reporter: japanese officials asked their south korean counterparts to hand him over for questioning. but officials in seoul refused. then they placed him under house arrest. president park held secret negotiations with the japanese side. then japanese prime minister tanaka agreed to settle the incident. >> translator: government leaders shared the view that ties between the two countries were important. they also thought a certain level of compromise would also be necessary, even if they couldn't always be so honest. >> reporter: kim was forced to spend time in confinement as a

political prisoner, but he eventually won his freedom. >> reporter: the political showdown helped avoid one of the biggest crises between the countries. more than 30 years later, the south korean government admitted committing the crime, and officially apologized to japan. hiroki kajima, nhk world. the president of toyota motor has apologized following the arrest of an american executive at the center of drug smuggling allegations. police in tokyo arrested julie

hamp on thursday on suspicion of importing dozens of pills containing a narcotic substance. toyota president akio toyoda bowed deeply to a room full of reporters. toyoda said he's sorry for the trouble the case has caused, and he called hamp an indispensable colleague. >> translator: what we can do now is believe in our colleague. we will cooperate fully with the investigation. we believe it will prove that hamp didn't have any intention to break the law. >> toyoda says hamp is the first non-japanese executive to reside in japan. he says the firm may not have given her enough support and he stressed there will be no change in the automaker's policy to appoint the right person for a position regardless of nationality or gender.

lawmakers with japan's ruling coalition have moved closer to enacting a bill they regard as one of the most important in the current diet session. the lower house has approved legislation that would change the rules for employing temporary workers. >> translator: i want to emphasize that this bill is aimed at improving working conditions for those who choose to work as dispatch workers and opening a path for those who want to work as permanent employees. >> opposition lawmakers walked out of the lower house plenary session. they accused the coalition of steamrolling the vote. the bill was passed with the support of the ruling liberal democratic party, its coalition partner komeito and other parties. it was then sent to the upper house for deliberation. the amendment would set a three-year limit for the use of all temporary workers for a given job. after that period, staffing agencies would need to ask companies to hire the staff as regular employees. but firms will not have to accept the request.

they would be able to use dispatch workers indefinitely as long as they change the workers every three years. three opposition parties agreed to cooperate to have the bill scrapped through deliberations in the upper house. >> translator: the bill was put to a vote at the plenary session in violation of the rule that all parliamentary groups must agree to deliberate the bill urgently at a plenary session after it passes a committee. it is outrageous. >> the lower house approved a separate bill that calls for equal pay for equal work regardless of a worker's regular or nonregular status. temporary workers and lawyers opposing the bill say it would undermine stable employment. >> translator: i'm worried i might lose my job if they put a three-year limit to skilled laborers. i'm so shocked. i feel as if the government doesn't care about us at all.

>> under the current law, a company can use a temporary worker indefinitely for jobs involving special skills, such as interpreting. >> translator: we've consulted with many people who are worried about losing their job. some say they've already been notified. we've called for measures to heed their concerns again and again. it's extremely regrettable the coalition ignored our warning and steamrolled the bill through the lower house to change the worker dispatch law for the worse. >> members of japan's largest trade union group are also opposed to the bill. >> translator: the bill would enable companies to use dispatch workers one after another. it will force more people to work on temporary jobs, all through life, for low wages. that's such a bad law. >> the trade union group plans

to hold rallies and demonstrations to protest the legislation. the european central bank is giving banks in greece more emergency cash to keep them operating. depositors there have withdrawn billions in savings. eurozone finance ministers have not agreed on the greek government's reconstruction plan. an agreement is a precondition for a bailout. european and u.s. media report the ecb raised the ceiling on a loan program for greek banks. the ceiling is currently 84 billion euros or $95 billion. depositors are believed to have withdrawn about $3.4 billion this week alone in an attempt to keep cash on hand. the greek government has to repay $1.8 billion to the international monetary fund by the end of this month. the deadlock in negotiations has raised fears the country may

default and leave the euro. the leaders of eurozone nations plan to meet on monday to seek a solution. bank of japan policymakers have decided to maintain the monetary easing measures they began last october. the bank is trying to hit a 2% inflation target. they've let their views on the economy unchanged. the officials are sticking with their description of the japanese economy, saying it has continued to recover moderately. they've also revised their assessment on housing investment. previously they said it has bottomed out and shown some signs of picking up. but now they say it has started to pick up. the policymakers' views on private consumption, business investment and exports remain unchanged. boj officials say from next year they'll hold eight annual meetings down from around 14. they say that's a framework widely used by major central banks. but they plan to double the frequency of the publication of

a report called the outlook for economic activity and prices. it's currently published twice a year. they say these changes will help deliberations at the meetings and improve communication on monetary policy. the bank of japan's governor has defended its decision to reduce the number of policy board meetings a year. he said he does not think the move means any fall back on information disclosure. he said the bank will be making its operations more transparent by issuing more reports on the economic outlook. china's government and military have long controlled the country's skies. but recent deregulation has spurred air travel. and now the business industry is taking off as well. and the key to success is getting the rich onboard. nhk world explains. >> reporter: shanghai was a site of business export in april. more than 180 companies,

including major airplane builders, came from around the world. the goal is to woo china's wealthiest people on business executives. they wasted no time getting down to business. >> translator: the jets are mainly for business travel. the clients want to get around as efficiently as possible. >> translator: the best way to do that is to fly your own jet. >> reporter: major airplane manufacturers estimate there are between 300 and 400 business jets right now in china. that's just a fraction of the number in north america. but china is expected to more than double its business jets over the next ten years.

new flight paths are expected to become available as deregulation opens air space over china. this is a great opportunity for the business jet market. >> as chinese businessmen discover the value that comes with the business jet, we're seeing the market expand. by some estimations become the largest aviation market in the world. >> translator: competition is getting fierce, but as demand grows, the pie will keep getting bigger. >> reporter: the explosion in china is bringing new businesses. last year in shanghai there were business jets and helicopters for exclusive use of clients. >> translator: i want to offer a new experience for people with assets.

>> reporter: the company threw a party for its members. it's a club opened only to those with at least $50 million in assets. members are said to be rising, especially among business owners and their families. the company plans to buy a new long-range business jet. the plan is to expand capacity and expectation over growth and demand. >> translator: the vast skies over china have only just opened up. and local aviation looks set to be a huge market with room for many kinds of businesses. >> reporter: the winds of change appear poised to lift china's business jet industry even higher. nhk world, shanghai.

niger's president is asking japan to become an ally in its battle with islamic insurgents. he told nhk he wants help to reduce poverty to tackle the group boko haram. >> translator: terrorism has no borders. japan is far from the region where the threat exists but it's not immune. >> he said poverty is one of the main reasons extremists are becoming more active. two-thirds of niger is desert. the country's annual income per person is about $400. more and more people in some areas are trying to get out of poverty by helping boko haram. >> translator: forces are conducting operations to

eradicate the boko haram threat around the lake chad. but there is a limit of what they can do. >> boko haram is active from nigeria to southeastern niger. they killed 32 people on wednesday in two villages in niger. officials at the u.n. refugee agency say the number of people displaced in asia grew by 31% last year. the total now stands at 9 million. patchari raksawong at our bureau in bangkok is following the story. >> the figures come from a report released by the u.n. high commissioner for refugees ahead of world refugee day on saturday. a large number of displaced people in asia are from or near myanmar. our reporter visited a refugee camp here in thailand to meet some of the people living there.

>> reporter: a seven-hour drive from the city of chenlai in northern thailand. the mountain slope is covered with houses made of bamboo and tree leaves. they are home to more than 10,000 refugees. this camp is near thailand's border with myanmar. most of the people living here are members of the current ethnic minority. one of only nine camps in thailand that support refugees in thailand. about 110,000 people live at these camps. civil war drives the flow of people into neighboring thailand. the international community has made efforts to help the migrants, such as letting them resettle in a foreign country. but no comprehensive solution

has been put into place. but recently, things have started to change. the government of myanmar is trying to promote democracy and is pushing ahead peace talks with ethnic minority groups. >> translator: this agreement proves that myanmar, as part of an international society, can bring unity to its citizens and to different ethnic groups. >> reporter: refugees have mixed reactions to these developments. this man came to the camp 16 years ago. he thinks his only realistic option in the end will be to return to myanmar. but he is still haunted by the memory of fleeing government forces.

>> translator: i can't go home out of fear that i would go through the same thing again in myanmar. also, i have family here now. >> reporter: his 16-year-old son was born in the camp. the young man says he doesn't want to live in myanmar where he doesn't know anyone. >> translator: do you want to go back to myanmar? >> translator: no, i want to go to australia. >> translator: why? >> translator: because i have relatives and friends there. >> reporter: a survey done by the u.n. hcr and another group shows that about 90% of the refugees from myanmar don't want to return. apparently being away from the country for many years has made many feel that myanmar is no

longer their home. >> translator: we're still not emotionally ready to return to myanmar. >> reporter: as people become refugees in other parts of the world, the pressing challenge is helping them find a place to settle peacefully. buddhism is one of the oldest religions on earth. it's passed down its traditional beliefs through various forms of cultural heritage. thailand is no exception. at some temples buddhist carvings may be some graphic for some viewers however in modern tie society they still serve a function.

nhk has the story. >> reporter: beautiful sculptures of divine beings and characters from myths and legends form an important part of thailand's buddhist cultural heritage. but at this temple, it's a different story. here at the temple's hell gardens, statues of sinners are being punished depending on the nature of their sins. like this sinner here getting his arms chopped off for stealing. the gruesome sculptures show how sinners are punished for their misdeeds once they go to hell. the harsh penalties for sinners such as killing, alcohol addiction, lying and gambling are grotesquely portrayed. on busy days, hundreds of people visit the so-called hell temple as its popularity as a tourist attraction grows. an increasing number of parents are bringing their children here

to learn what it means to live a moral life amid the growth of a materialistic culture. >> translator: when i go back home, i won't do anything wrong. >> translator: my parents brought me here when i was a kid. so i brought my kids here, too. >> reporter: images of hell are nothing new in thailand. the country's national library says they can be traced back hundreds of years. there are excruciating scenes from hell depicted in thailand's oldest existing buddhist-illustrated manuscripts. this dates back from the early 1300s. >> translator: thais can get a graphic idea of what heaven and hell are like from these man you skrimts. they are intended to warn people p that they should be good and avoid bad behavior. >> reporter: it was four decades ago that the first so-called

hell temple was created. and more followed. there are now about 40 of them in thailand. >> reporter: at the very first hell temple, classes teaching buddhist morality are still ongoing. even after four decades. the monk responsible for the education unit thinks proper guidance is necessary to give people a better understanding of good morals. otherwise, he says the park is nothing more than a tourist attraction. >> translator: imagining hell might be difficult, especially for kids.

the temple built sculptures based on scriptures and created the hell park you see today to teach people about the concepts of buddhism. >> reporter: the sculptures from hell are a chance to see whether or not we can live moral lives without conflict in this world. nhk world, bangkok. >> reporter: that wraps up our bulletin from bangkok. i'm patchari raksawong. and now here's the three-day outlook on the world's weather.

and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. and from all of us at nhk world, thank you for watching and have a great day, wherever you are.

>> hello and welcome to "global 3000." over the next half hour we'll bring you up to date on some of those key issues that matter wherever you live. and here is what is coming up.

is coexistence impossible? how indigenous groups in peru try to live in harmony with nature. witch hunts in papua new guinea. a barbaric practice that simply won't go away. and moving to the city -- we visit chinese farmers happy to have left traditional life behind. we humans have left our mark on th