he also said the japanese government will pay more than $8 million to a foundation to be established by the south korean government. he said the foundation is aimed at helping the women regain dignity and honor. yun said his government will cooperate with the steps the japanese government will take. >> translator: the government of south korea values the announcement and efforts made by

the japanese government. together, we confirm the issue is resolved finally and irreversibly on the premise that the japanese government will steadily implement the measures specified in the announcement. >> and yun touched upon the request from japan that a statue in seoul symbolizing the women be removed. >> translator: we acknowledge the fact that the japanese government is concerned that the statue in front of the japanese embassy in seoul may disturb the peace of the mission or impair its dignity. we will strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner through measures such as consulting with related organizations. >> yun also said both governments would refrain from accusing or criticizing each other over the issue at international events. now, south korean president geun-hye welcomed kishida at the presidential palace after the meeting. park told him she expects the conclusion will be accepted by

all citizens. >> translator: what's most important is that the japanese government swiftly and sincerely takes action as agreed upon. their measures should heal the wounds of the victims and regain their honor and dignity. >> japanese prime minister shinzo abe als agreement. >> translator: in a statement that i issued in august to mark 70 years since the end of world war ii, i said japan has repeatedly expressed feelings of remorse and apologized for its actions during the war. i stand behind that statement. >> abe also said he hopes the agreement will usher in a new era for relations between japan

and south korea. now people in the region are watching to see if japan and south korea can implement the steps needed to resolve one of their biggest sources of tension. nhk world's shuhei ikehata explains. >> reporter: abe and park both said they wanted to conclude the issue before the new year. 2015 is significant, marking 70 years since the end of world war ii and 50 since the two countries normalized diplomatic ties. abe said he hopes the agreement will be an opportunity for both countries to create a new era of cooperation, and park decided to strike the deal after japan offered financial contributions and abe's pledge to apologize. the agreement does not necessarily reflect all of south korea's demands, including japan taking legal responsibility for the women. but it does represent a big

achievement for park as she said she will settle the issue this year. japanese officials are concerned whether their south korean counterparts will truly honor the agreement. seoul has changed its position on similar deals in the past, and such shifts adversely affected bilateral relations. in order to finalize their agreement, south korean government officials face challenges. they need to gain understanding from citizens, particularly groups supporting the women, and they have to persuade one of the groups to relocate a statue from outside the japanese embassy in seoul. the group argues the agreement betrays the women. park may have to call on them directly to support the deal. shuhei ikehata, nhk world, seoul. japan's aviation industry is taking off. one company has developed the

nation's first commercial aircraft in half a century and a car manufacturer also aims to fly high. next, we look at ways that government and small businesses are teaming up to take advantage of new opportunities. nhk world has that story. >> reporter: the city of niigata in the central government spent $5.3 billion to build this factory. it was completed last spring. it has a small cluster of firms engaged in machining parts for aircraft. >> translator: we hope that components made in niigata will soon find their way into airplanes. >> reporter: the aviation industry is expected to grow substantially. a recent air trade show in tokyo attracted hundreds of firms from around the country. the ministry of economy, trade,

and industry estimates sales in the sector will double in five years to $2.5 billion. a typical airplane contains over 300 parts, over 100 time more than an automobile. the company that makes these parts must have advanced technical skill. there are 28 aviation industry clusters in japan where 600 small and medium-sized businesses from teamed up with government. niigata was among the first to establish a joint manufacturing facility. this is one of companies operating there. its 140 employees have been making parts for home plumbing systems. over 70 years, the company developed expertise in handling

difficult-to-process metals, something few businesses can claim. with sales plunging, company executives decided to use that experience to try something different. this man is one of them. >> translator: focusing on this industry will allow us to pursue new opportunities in a number of ways. >> reporter: he began making the rounds of aviation companies in search of customers. recently, he received a request from a major passenger aircraft manufacturer to produce a prototype for a key component. the aircraft company will give him the production contract if he can meet the customer's high safety standards. the part must be very strong and be built to exacting standards. the company invested about $1.6

million in production equipment. work on the prototype can now begin. >> translator: we've committed ourselves to succeeding in this industry. so we have to keep moving forward. we've staked the future of our company on this project. that's the challenge we have to keep in mind. >> reporter: some small businesses are hoping that the rising prospects for japan's aviation industry will allow the dreams of success to take flight. now, let's take a brief look at the market figures. u.s. share prices ended lower on monday, following crude oil prices discouraged many investors as they begin the last trading week of the year.

iraqi leaders say they have achieved a major victory over islamic state militants. they say they have regained control of ramadi, a strategic city 100 kilometers west of the capital baghdad. government forces have raised the iraqi flag over buildings in ramadi. the city fell to the militant group in may, and earlier this month, government forces launched an all-out offensive to retake it. >> translator: we liberated the city from the insurgents. our forces are approaching the government complex. >> the u.s.-led coalition carried out more than 600 air strikes to support the

offensive. on the ground, sunni militia joined the government operation. security officials say islamic state militants remain in parts of the city planting bombs and putting up resistance. italian cities are resorting to emergency measures to fight air pollution. car traffic is being limited as people celebrate the year-end holidays. smog in the northern city of milan prompted authorities to declare a three-day ban on automobiles. cars cannot be driven through the city center 10:00 p.m. through 4:00 p.m. monday through wednesday. vehicle emissions combined with the lack of wind and rain in the region has pushed up pollution levels. >> translator: this works for now but we'll need to do more in the future. >> city officials are urging people to use public transport and have temporarily lowered subway and bus fares. authorities in the capital rome are also fighting persistent smog. they are limiting the number of

cars allowed on the streets based on even and odd numbered license plates. chinese police are investigating the deadly landslide in the southern city of shenzen and are focusing on 12 people. one man has committed suicide. the people under investigation includes an executive who runs a dump site. authorities call it a man-made disaster. soil from construction sites had been piled up. and collapsed due to lax safety management. media say the senior official who killed himself had proved illegal dumping of soil. the landslide left seven team bed and 75 people missing. world authorities banned

ivory trading 25 years ago in a bid to save plummeting elephant populations, but they have been unable to stop poachers and smugglers. we lift the lid on the understood ground network. >> reporter: hong kong, a global hub for the ivory trade. there are more than 70 retail outlets. they are prohibited from dealing in new stock, but they can sell ivory imported before the ban took effect in 1990. there are about 10 ivory manufacturers in hong kong, but those products are only supposed to be bought and sold locally. vendors have to provide the hong kong government with regular updates on their stocks. >> this imported in 1886.

if some customer need and we can use this to make carving. it's no problem. >> reporter: for years, vendors reported declining supplies of tusks and ivory products, but then figures began to level out. environmental activists say the reason is the shops are topping out with tusks from recently poached elephants. >> reporter: the environmentalists say lax regulations and supervision allow the illegal trade to

continue. one alleged member of a smuggling syndicate spoke with nhk on condition of anonymity. >> translator: the ivory comes from zimbabwe. >> reporter: he says illegal widespread trading is in the improverished african nation. not only in zimbabwe, but hong kong, too.overished african nat. not only in zimbabwe, but hong kong, too. >> translator: customs checks much stricter in mainland china. in hong kong, they are lax. >> reporter: smugglers use a post office near the border with mainland china. they say one box of ivory arrives from zimbabwe almost every day. the tusks are well hidden beneath wrapping paper in packages that weigh about a

kilogram and authorities rarely seize them. about 80 carriers transport packages from a smuggling organization. they hide the ivory among other belongings and pretend to be tourists crossing over to the mainland. members of the smuggling syndicate pay bribes to some chinese officials and carriers pass through the gates when those officials are on duty. >> translator: the carriers get about $70 per trip or $160 for two. there's a lot of money for people on the mainland. the ivory goes to beijing and shanghai. >> reporter: chinese president xi shin ping has pledge to crack down on the illegal trade. but he must contend with the belief among many of his

citizens that ivory products are treasures that bring great luck. virtual reality. they can take you into an imagery world. imaginary world.inary world. the stuff of dreams and fantasy but now vr technology is advancing going beyond mere games and into the fields of health, education, and welfare. we report on those cutting edge applications. >> reporter: this is an expo. one of the hottest topics is virtual reality. headsets are getting lighter and cheaper. their super sharp images lends themselves to many new uses. like this one with kickboxing. your fight takes place wherever you want. here, a crossing in a city.

you have a 360-degree theater view. the machine gives you instructions to punch and kick and off you go. it was a real workout. far better than i expected. >> did i fail? [ speaking foreign language ] >> she says i should train 100 times more to pass. that's a lot of kicking. >> reporter: the most exciting advances in vr technology bring new life to the elderly and the ill. ♪ ♪ this is a wedding party held in tokyo. and standing next to the bride and groom is a robot. >> translator: this robot is in fact representing the groom's grandmother.

>> reporter: the groom wanted to invite his grandmother to his wedding, but the 90-year-old lives about 300 kilometers from tokyo. she's been bed ridden for two years. he came up with an idea to have her virtually attend his wedding party. he set up a system that connected the camera on the robot with a headset. in real life, she cannot move her neck freely, but the headset features an eye tracking system which allows her to control the robot just by moving her eyes.

>> reporter: he's really eager to see the bride's nana who approaches the owe bot on robot and hugs it.robot and hugs it. it's so real that she holds out her hand in return. she says she wishes that she was there with them. >> when i see my grandmother next time, i think we'll be able to talk about my wedding as if she had been there. i'm glad we could share this experience. >> reporter: the developer of the headset says she has great

expectations. the virtual reality can drastically change the way we communicate with each other. >> vr can dramatically let us do things we think are impossible due to distance or time. i believe it will have a powerful effect on all means of communication. >> the vr industry is expected to grow into a $30 billion market by 2020, but it's not just about the money. this technology will become part of the fabric of our daily lives like the internet and keep us connected to those we hold near and dear. nhk world, tokyo. >> so wonderful to see that grandmother smiling. those of us who in tokyo who are going out to meet our loved ones in reality are bundling up. our meteorologist robert speta joins us now. it feels like it suddenly got cold here. what's going on?

>> yes, across most of japan, you are right. things are definitely cooling down. we have been seeing over the past, well, 48 to 72 hours, is the strong northwesterly winds coming out of very chilly siberian over toward northeastern china and while it was doing so, it's been picking up a lot of moisture. if you are across hokkaido and the mountains of honshu, you've been facing snowfall. sunny skies. overnight lows single digits out here. snow depth, if you are a skier or snowboarder, you are absolutely ecstatic about what's been happening here. one location has seen over 50 centimeters of the white stuff on the ground. you can see well over 100 centimeters snow depth continuing to pile up at a few locations out here. it doesn't look like the snow is continuing to linger across the north in the next 24 hours, even into sapporo. probably going to see it through

mid week before things taper off. cold air will continue to linger in place as as far south as okinawa. you can see naha only in the high teens. relatively cold and chilly there. sapporo expecting it to be chill in the air. a lot of people have plans friday morning. i do recommend, dress appropriately. it is going to be chilly on january 1st. back toward the west, high pressure does continue to dominate. it is creating some hazy conditions in northeastern areas of china. extending south into shanghai. but you are not going to be looking at very much in the form of precipitation unless you are in the south there. a few showers though, but overall, temperatures still chilly. taipei with a high of only 19. let's take a look over toward the americas. the big topic out here is this storm system. look at this. very large one continuing to sweep off toward the northeast and already this has been causing widespread problems. over 40 casualties from this one due to severe weather,

thunderstorms, tornadoes reported out here across parts of the missouri, even back toward the west, and also the snowfall. i know, across texas it has been coming down. back on sunday, some very hazardous weather conditions. this is out of el paso. when you think of this city, you are thinking cactuses and desert-type climate. the snow came down there near the u.s.-mexico border. overnight lows, temperatures dipping below the freezing points. in the west, staying on the cold side. in the east, we're contending with this very dangerous storm system. severe weather warning still in effect down toward the southeast. also heavy snowfall back toward parts of ontario, over quebec. 40 centimeters with 80 kilometer per hour winds. at the very least, causing travel delays heading home heading up to new year's. you are looking at that threat of flash flooding as well, keep that in mind across the gulf coast. over toward europe, some record-breaking floods there

across parts of the british isles. this is winter storm frank still developing and rapidly intensify with that low pressure area associated with it backing off toward the northwest. a tighter pressure gradient. some areas could see winds in 100 kilometers per hour. never mind the heavy rain, severe flood issues. back toward the east, i want to mention, turkey, you are going to be seeing some of the coldest air of the season. this is big news for a lot of refugees for people stuck outside. hopefully everyone gets indoor and stays warm as temperatures dive well below the freezing point for many areas down here. i'll leave you now your extended outlook. ♪

we have one more story to ♪ we have one more story to share with you before we go. monkeys at a zoo in central japan are warming themselves by a bonfire. this kind of gathering may be natural for humans, but it's unusual for animals. the people at the japan monkey

center in inuyama, aichi prefecture, light a fire for the monkeys around this time every year. more than 150 japanese yaku-macaque enjoy the warmth this year. the animals also scrambled for sweet potatoes baked in the coals by a zookeeper. some clever creatures dip their delicacies in water to cool them off before munching them down. >> translator: it looks so warm, and it's cute. >> translator: it's fun to see monkeys getting warm by a fire. they look just like people. >> the custom dates back to 1959 when zookeepers made a bonfire for themselves and noticed the monkeys usually scared of fire move in. >> clever creatures there. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi. thank for making us a part of your day.

announcer: "euromaxx highlights." and here is your host, anne o'donnell. anne: hello and welcome to "euromaxx highlights." here are the best bits of the week. let's have a look. the sky's the limit -- a dutch artist and his indoor clouds. underground art -- an italian city brightens up its subway stations. and drone alarm -- when quadrocopters light up the sky in austria. for someone who has his head in the clouds, dutch artist berndnaut smilde seems to be very well-grounded. he generates a storm of attention with his work by creating indoor clouds. his creations really make you question reality, even if it's only for a split second.