♪ seoul, capital of south korea. one community in the center of this city is drawing widespread attention.

seongmisan is made up about 770,077 70,000 families. this restaurant is one example of their efforts. >> translator: members invested anywhere from h$45 u.s. all the way to $4500. that's how we built the restaurant. >> this soap store opened when four home makers each invested $5500. each bar is hand made, using natural materials. >> translator: my kid has allergies, but a natural soap really helped calm them down, so i decided to try making it myself, and that's how i got started. >> the cooperative businesses

include a school. unusually the curriculum is decided by teachers and parents. in this community, the key concept is to provide what's truly necessary. decisions are reached through heated discussions. >> translator: whatever you want to achieve, we will help you get started. the strong community ties here create a very supportive environment. it's relationships that count. >> a cooperative community run by its members for its members, discover every day life.

this modest hill, 66 meters high is seongmisan. the community is known across south korea. one popular tv documentary focussed on three days here, reporting on its charms.

>> the mapo area is in central seoul. residents formed this community incorporating the korean word for village into the name. the community began with a child care center. it lies just off a main street of the named "our children's home", the center is operated using member contributions. today 35 children, aged between 1 and 5 are cared for by seven staff. that's a better than average ratio of child minders to children. and it means each child gets more care and attention.

>> translator: this facility can be traced to a group of parents who were concerned about their children. as the group developed, they saw a need for a safe, supportive space where dual income parents could place their kids. that led to this cooperative child care center. >> in 1994, the center was set up with funding from 25 30-something careers with full-ti -- couples with full-time career kids were often stuck inside a small room all day. wanting a place for their children to grow, these parents

built their own center. >> translator: it's very rare to find green spaces anywhere in seoul. it's amazing that these kids get to play outside. ♪ >> to enter their children here, parents pay an up-front fee followed by monthly payments of $270. the center even has its own catering staff. meals here are safe for children with allergies. great care is taken over ingredients. most parents take turns to clean the center and help care for the children. >> translator: the kids grow here, but so do parents like us. forming relationships with other parents is one of the great

things about this place. >> like the parents who opened the center 22 years ago, today's parents care for the safety and health of their children. in 2001, the same residents who set up the center decided to build a consumer cooperative food store. it was the second business formed by the community. 50 people, mainly young mothers, each invested between $80 and and $800. the goal was to provide organic food safe for young children. ♪ it began from just 25 families. ♪ one incident in particular forged the community's identity and drew attention to its appeal. in 2001, the city of seoul

announced a development scheme. it would have transformed the neighborhood, and this scenery would have been lost. the plans called for leveling the hill and building a reservoir. the natural environment was threatened with destruction. local residents and parents protested fiercely, based on detailed research into the city's water storage capacity. they insisted that the k construction was unnecessary. the eventually, the plans were scrapped in 2003. >> translator: after that battle, we realized that our community needed to voice its concerns. we came together to talk about what kind of future we wanted to build.

>> taking action to make dreams come true. the experience helped boost qvc den -- confidence and communities began to widen theirvc -- confidence and communities began to widen thec -- confidence and communities began to widen the -- confidence and communities began to widen the- confidence and communities began to widen the- confidence and communities began to widen the confidence and communities began to widen the confidence and communities began to widen the confidence and communities began to widen their activities. the conversatiservation protest raise their profile. more families flocked here each year. kim has been part of the community for 11 years. she and her husband have three children.

her husband works at a major credit card firm. his annual salary is around $100,000. both parents graduated from top universities. these days, kim is focussed on looking after the children. when the family moved to the area in 2005, kim was combining child care with a full-time job at an internet company. the main factor in their decision to relocate was the child care center. >> translator: i had my first child in 2002. three years before we moved here. i wanted to deep working, so i left my baby with a regular day care provider. when i went to pick him up one day, he was being fed instant noodles instead of baby food. he'd always had allergies and was constantly scratching at his neck and other places.

there's a strong link between that and diet, so you felt i couldn't leave him at day care anymore. it was around then that we heard about the cooperative child care center. where parents are involved in management. that's why we decided to move here. >> the son kim was so concerned about is now 13 and in junior high school. his two sisters also went to the child care center as their mother continued to work. >> translator: quite a lot of my colleagues are interested. a lot of female colleagues in their 30s ask me about it. some people are thinking of marriage, while others already have children and are thinking about child care. the community is a good model

for them to consider. the it it is a valuable point of reference. >> the biggest issue for members is raise their kids. some moments had concerns about many schools' single-minded focus on entrance examinations. in 2004, they set up their own educational facility. today it has 122 school-age students. parents pay an initial $9,000, followed by monthly payments of $550. the curriculum is decided by parents and staff. it features a mix of such typical subjects of english and math with more unusual classes. the since the school is not government accredited, students must take an academic test before university entrance

exams. here is a junior high class. the group is preparing a present thetation f presentation for their younger schoolmates. the topic is important, energy and the natural environment. two moments of the class will make the presentation. their classmates play the role of the younger children who will be the audience for the presentation. >> translator: we are going to present a renewable energy to third, fourth, and fifth grade students. we practiced using power point.

it's fun. like playing. >> this woman teaches june josh high. in 2004, she came here so that her third grade son could attend this school. she has a painful memory that she cannot forget. >> translator: when i went to my son's former school to tell them that we were leaving, i told his classmates, he's going to a different school. and right after that one kid said who are we going to beat up now? i was shocked. and when i went home, i spoke to my son. this is what i heard at your school. what's going on? that's when i found out that he was getting bullied by the other kids. i had no idea he was going through any of this.

i promised i would pay more attention to him from then on. >> at the time, cho was an illustrator and visited the school regularly to check up on her son. shy soon began helping out, and eventually, the principal asked if she'd like to become a teacher. >> translator: the guiding principle of our school is independence and cooperation. nobody can stand entirely alone. we become independent through building relationships and by working with others. cooperation is an intergral part of independence. we have a school project called "granny's lunch".

the kids cook meals and deliver them to older people who live alone. in other schools, this would be seen as community service, but we don't see it that way. it's part of what it means to live as members of this community. >> the next morning, the two junior high students make their presentation. they'll speak to 13 children, aged between 9 and 11. they practice up until the last minute, to get it right. they were greeted by applause,

but they become so focussed on reading that they don't look at their audience. it's hard to know how much the children are the younger children's teacher asks a question on their behalf. the speakers vugstruggle for an answer. >> translator: i think the children have concerns about

their future, but they have their friends and me here. they can talk to people as much as they need and also tackle new challenges. i'm a teacher. i want to make the best possible use of the time i have with the children. so i want to talk openly about how we feel. >> moving beyond supporting children, some cooperative initiatives now focus on grown-up pastimes. this theater was built in 2009. members have formed theater companies, choirs and rock bands with all groups sharing the space. it even has professional lighting and sound rigs. some members built their own apartment block, from buying the land to designing the exterior and interiors, the entire block

was built through cooperation many its families and four offices. talks are under way to build a new type of residence, an apartment complex for senior citizens. today there's a discussion on buying land, the first step of the process. about 20 couples exchange ideas about the steps involved in paying the deposit.

diverse careers, incomes and family circumstances. it's not surprising that these discussions are far from easy.

members say they don't know when the complex for older residents will be complete. this is built on the concept of strong neighborhood relations. but the methods used don't suit everyone. some cooperative ventures have fallen by the wayside, while some residents have chosen to leave the community.

>> translator: when i was a student or out in public, if there was someone i didn't want to spend time with, i could just ignore them, just turn away. but, if you do that here, you wouldn't be able to achieve anything. you're forced to work with others. instead of turning away, you thrash things out, no matter who you're talking to. you do your best to share your views. that's the best and fastest way to communicate here. >> this restaurant was built through members' joint investment. just for today they're serving a special menu to raise the res

metropolis's profi toronrestarant's profile and at new customers. the meal here is a special stew made by a student who wants to be a chef. it costs just $2 more than a regular lunch. for the 14 year old, it's a chance to achieve something he really wants. the philosophy extends to residents of all ages. the event was sponsored by this 24 year old who grew up here and was one of the first to attend the child care center. along with the childhood friend and their teacher at the school, park has recently set up an online store to sell various products.

park's team made cards to promote the new online store, promote the restaurant and support the dreams of a young chef, killing three birds with one stone. >> translator: people here make some truly amazing things. i wanted a job that would promote those items. so i chose this. some have told me that i won't make money doing what they see as volunteer work. but i want to build this into a sustainable business model. i want to make it clear that it's possible to help others in this way. >> today the restaurant attracts 110 customers, half of them newcomers. sales are 2.5 times higher than

usual. on this day, kim and other members visit an apartment complex to welcome a friend who is moving in. they have a welcome gift of toilet paper, believed in korea to bring a peaceful life to households. the new family chose to move to the area for its strong community relationships. even before they unpack, they prepare dozens of bean cakes, a traditional gift in south korea from newcomers to neighbors.

her daughter helps. the best way to get used to local life is to meet as many people as possible. mother and daughter visit their neighbors as well as the stores and facilities they'll be using in the coming months. a welcome party. up on the shared roof space, the newcomers are quickly settling into the community. >> translator: we're in seoul, but it feels like a rural community with all ages and genders. i think that's the real

attraction of this community. >> translator: who knows what the future may hold? but for now, i want to live here. surrounded by friends. i want to find the right way to grow older alongside them. for the time being, i feel at home here. >> kids from "our children's home" head out to climb the hill. a community run by its members for its members. 22 years after its creation, the spirit lives on in a new

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hello there, welcome to nhk "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. u.s. president donald trump called his oldest son innocent after coming under fire for meeting a russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election. trump tweeted on wednesday that the development is the greatest witch-hunt in political history. the president also criticized media reporting the story, tweeting that fake media often uses sources that are made up and do not exist. on tuesday, donald trump jr. released e-mails related to his meeting with a russian lawyer during last week's election campaign. they show he was promised information that was incriminate