help wanted. work wanted. >> translator: the reality is way different than the fantasy. >> translator: i want full-time work so i can earn a better living. >> young people try to find their place in japan's changing job market. some stick it out. others choosto get out. many young people in japan are

mired in a aough labor situation. a government study shows that more than half the students in the class of 2010 either failed to find regular jobs or quit their work after a short time. according to the cabinet office, nearly 570,000 people who graduated from a university or vocational school found permanent jobs, but nearly 200,000 have already quit. some of 140,000 of them were not even working or were working only part-time. 67,000 students left school without finishing their degrees. the cabinet office says businesses are cautious about hiring due to the sluggish economy and it says some smaller enterprises are willing to hire but many students would rather work for large firms. >> translator: i don't even get around to job interviews. that makes me think how tight the labor market really is. >> translator: i was confident

at the beginning, but now i often give up hope. that's the situation, really. >> the head of the career center at the university of tokyo points out many are leaving their careers because they can't deal with the stress. >> translator: many companies say students can't cope with mental strains. and that's also what we feel. during the first three years they aren't sure if they're doing things right. it's important. they feel that they have to stick to whatever they're doing no matter what. declassified south korean documents show that iran and north korea began military cooperation more than 30 years ago. they show that north korea began supplying arms to iran after aq invaded in 1980. nhk world has more from seoul. >> reporter: the regulation is in the minutes of talks in

october 1980 between south korean roh shin-yeong and the u.s. ambassador in seoul, william gleysteen. gleysteen said iranian military aircraft had made more than 20 round trips between pyongyang and tehran. he said u.s. officers believed north korea was supplying iran with ammunition. roh said south korean officials knew north korea was supplying iran with antiaircraft guns and anti-tank rockets. a report from the south korean embassy in tehran shows other north korean arms shipments. it says north korean ships unloaded machine guns, armed vehicles and other military equipment at an iranian port. the south korean papers also point to north korean military ties with other countries. they show that pyongyang sent

6,000 military instructors to 31 nations in asia, africa, in south america, between the 1960s and 1981. >> south korea condemned north korea's planned rocket launch as a disguise attempt to develop a long range ballistic missile to carry nuclear warheads. president lee myung-bak on monday met with members of his cabinet to discuss north korea's announcement that it will launch a satellite next month. >> translator: the northorea project is aimed at developing delivery methods for nuclear warheads. the plan is a grave provocation. >> the presidential spokesperson said lee will discuss the matter with leaders from japan, china and the united states at the nuclear security summit to be held in seoul next week. south korea estimates that the first stage of the rocket will fall into the yellow sea after 140 kilometers off the southwestern coast of the

country. the second stage is expected to drop into the pacific ocean, 190 kilometers east of the philippines after it is shed by the ascending satellite. south korea's defense ministry plans to deploy a destroyer to retrieve the first stage in cooperation with the u.s. japan's defense minister says he may order the self-defense forces to destroy a rocket that north korea announced plans to launch next month. tanaka was speaking at a session of the diet. >> translator: i am considering ordering the destruction of the rocket after getting the go ahead from the prime minister. >> tanaka said the defense ministry would consider deploying the patriot missile defense system and egis equipped destroyers for the task. tanaka added the minister will take measures to protect the japanese territory. there is a great deal of speculation about the timing of the north korean announcement.

for more insight, we spoke with an associate professor at japan's national graduate student for policy studies, or grips. >> o posbility is that as the north koreans suggest, the launch is to mark the 100th anniversary of kim il-sung's birth. the timing of the missile launch is quite interesting from the military technological point of view. north korea has launched a missile twice in the past in 2006 and 2009. so there has been a three-year interval in the past missile tests. so if the missile is launched again in 2012, it would be consistent with this pattern. another thg th we are interested in seeing is whether the missile will have new features. the missile launched in 2009 had some similarities in terms of shape with an iranian missile. so we will see what they will

show us this time. the second possibility is that north korea is engaged in the brinkmanship diplomacy to extract additional food aid from the u.s. if the u.s. agrees to provide significant amount of additional food or take comparable steps to satisfy north korea, pyongyang might decide to cancel missile launch. however, it would be difficult for the north korean leaders to reverse what they have already announced. so this is a scenario of lesser likelihood. there is yet another possibility. in 2000, kim jong-il, kim jong-un's father, suggested to then u.s. secretary of state madeleine albright a missile deal in which north korea would haltuture rocket lnches while the u.s. would sponsor satellite launches for north korean use.

so north korea might make the same kind of proposal again in the near future. >> that was a associate professor from japan's national graduate institute for policy studies. women in a city in southern france are reeling after a man with a gun started shooting at a jewish school. the attack happened monday in toulouse. at least four people are dead, three of them children. the attacker was on a scooter. he fired a gun at students and their guardians near the junior high school. local police and other sources say along with the dead, some people were wounded. the gunman fled the scene and investigators are searching for him. they're also looking into possible links to two separate shootings that happened last week near toulouse. three french soldiers died in those attacks. french interior minister claude gueant called on authorities to strengthen security at all jewish schools in the country. france jewish population is

about 700,000. it is the largest in europe. next we go to bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> in east timor's presidential election, incumbent president and know belle peace prize winner jose ramos-horta on monday conceded defeat. two new comers face a runoff next month to see who will replace him. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this is a second presidential election in east timor since independence from indonesia in 2002. people went to the polls on saturday. vote counting proceeded without major disruption. the election was practically a three-way race. head of the largest opposition fretilin party, francisco guterres came in first place.

former military chief taur matan ruak was second. he previously led east timor's struggle for independence. the two men face a runoff next month as neither gained more than 50% of the vote. incumbent jose ramos-horta was a distant third, waiting in his bid to win a second term. he conceded defeat at a news conference on monday. >> tralator: i will hdver the ldersp of the country to the new president. i will be always available in whatever capacity to help the new president, to help the new government. >> reporter: others were unhappy about the nation's economic struggle. for months people in east timor, political freedom hasn't

been matched by improvements to quality of life. 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. the ection shows people's desire to share a new cause for the country ten years after independence. nhk world. new data has emerged detailing the rapid militarization taking place in nations across asia. a report by an international research institute in europe says asian countries are the biggest arms importers on the planet. the stockholm international peace research institute release on monday a ranking of weapons importing nations for the five years through 2011. india tops the list accounted for 10% of global weapon imports. south korea came in second with 6% followed by pakistan and china with 5% each, and singapore with 4%.

india is boosting its military and diverseifying sources of weapons. they now include more western nation on top of this traditional supply of russia. china was the largest arms importer in the previous report. the ititute says the country is turning to exporter by boosting its home grown weapons industry. the report highlights a rise in shipments from china to india's neighbor and rival pakistan. among asean countries, singapore and malaysia saw imports skyrocket 300%. imports rose 144% and vietnam 80%. the institute says the trend reflects territorial disputes in the south china sea. thailand is stepping up measures to prent aepea of last year's devastating floods. people are working around the clock as monsoon season approaches.

the province of ayuttaya suffered most severe damage. many schools were forced to close for two months. now houses and other buildings are being raised up 3.7 meters above the ground. the industrial state was completely submerged. a 77 kilometer long concrete wallp to 2 1/2 meters high is under construction. it will help protect the 213 factories at the complex. the government recently approved $11.4 billion for a water management strategy that's on top of the $588 million in other measures. last autumn's floods were the worst in thailand's in five decades. more than 800 people died. seven industrial states were swamped and businesses were crippled shattering confidence among foreign investors.

and that wraps up our bulletin bulletin. japan's fire and disaster management agency produced a video to warn of the danger of fires caused by earthquakes. household appliances started least 140 fires in the immediate aftermath of last year's earthquake. the video shows a powerful jolt hurling clothes around a room. an electric heater then ignites the clothing. the room burns down in about 20 minutes. the video also warns that floor lamps and fi tanheaters can starfire an agency official tells viewers to turn off circuit breakers and electric devices after a quake. the agency will send a video to local governments and fire departments across the country, it will also show the film on its website. last year's devastating earthquake triggered a huge tsunami. but that's not all. it also caused liquefaction, the most extensive ever seen.

liquefaction happens when strong shaking loosens the ground soil sending water and mud spewing to the surface. it destroys roads and causes houses to subside. this footage was taken on reclaimed land on tokyo bay. scientists say if it happened once it will happen again. so residents have decided to take a stand. >> reporter: the damage is still evident one year later. a manhole pushed out of the ground a tilted sidewalk liquefaction caused by last year's earthquake damaged about 9,000 houses. >> translator: after the quake, you could clearly see the house tilting sharply on this side. >> reporter: he recalls the sinking feeling on march 11th last year. muddy water spewed from the ground. his house was leaning at an

alarming angle. he looked at the rebuild options. his first idea was to reinforce the foundation a precaution against future quakes before straightening his tilting house. then he learned what it would cost more than $120,000. that amount was out of the question for him. he has a mortgage and school fees to pay. instead, he spent $50,000 to straighten the house and left it at that. >> translator: it is impossible for homeowners to reinforce the foundation by themselves. >> reporter: unstable ground affects the whole community. this group of residents is researching ways to prepare for the next quake. the group brought in experts to check underground. they found a straight of ground water nine meters below the surface that could cause liquefaction.

we have to confront ground liquefaction if we want to keep on living here. we are looking for i was to prevent it happening again, using methods that will keep the costs at a minimum. >> reporter: the group worked with a constructio company. they devised t rativy simple w to fix tiltin hous. it works like this. dig a hole and place a concrete slab under the foundation. put a jack on the slab and lift up the house. after correcting the tilt fill the dirt back, but at the same time leave a space open for the jack. in this way, the house can be straightened fairly easily if another earthquake hits. the work would cost about 50 to $60,000 per house. that's about half the cost of reinforcing the foundation in the regular way. >> translator: for those living on land where liquefaction may

happen again they need to take preventive measures like this one. >> reporter: the group is also looking at more radical measures, a system experts say could prevent the ground from liquefying. they first build a wall that surrounds the neighborhood. the wall is embedded deep below the stratum that triggers liefaction. they also build a barrier between each of the houses. when a earthquake strikes, the wall should prevent the soil from loosening, making liquefaction less likely. the cost per household works out at less than $25,000. >> translator: almost all the buildings in this town suffered damage. this is not a problem for individuals, but for the community. we all have to work together to deal with it. we hope the whole town can find peacof mind.

>> the residents are coming together to deal with liquefaction. the government wants to encourage that trend. it is offering to subsidize the work carried out by community groups. the world continues to show solidarity with japan after last year's disaster. about 1,000 palestinian children flew handmade kites in a display of support for people trying to recover from the earthquake and tsunami. kites of hope was held in the gaza strip on sunday. the u.n. relief and works agency for palestinian refugees organized the event. children who attended schools built with japanese aid joined in. some kites bore designs of the japanese flag. >> translator: japanese people have helped us palestinians who suffer under israel's economic blockade. today is a day for us to support japan. >> the kite flying was originally scheduled for march 11th, the first anniversary of the disaster.

it was delayed because of israeli air attacks on gaza. people who used to live around fukushima daiichi woke up today far from home. they were forced to leave last year after the disaster at the nuclear plant. elderly people in particular say they want to go back. but many are losing hope. nhk world's hiroki yajima has one couple's story. >> reporter: this couple wants to go home. but not like this. government officials allowed them to go back to their house, ten kilometers from fukushima daiichi. but they had to wear protective gear and they could only stay for a few hours. >> translator: my heart is thumping. i hope there is nothing wrong with my home. >> reporter: he was born in namir. he grew up in namir.

he and his wife built their home there. had two kids together. they saw their grandsoevery weekend. th thoughthey would le in namir until they died. the nuclear accident changed everything. they spent four months in an evacuation center. they lockwrote down their feelings in a diearydiary. >> translator: my wife, maybe from distress, is not feeling well. >> reporter: now the couple rents an apartment in shirakawa city. the more time they spend there, the more they want to return home. >> translator: i was so stressed. why can't we just go home?

>> reporter: it will take at least two years before their house is safe from radiation. they say they want to move back now. shoichi wants to visit his mother's grave, just steps away. >> translator: i want to pray there. i couldn't on the anniversary of her death. and i feel so sorry. >> reporter: their house showed signs, the floors were littered with their belongings. furniture was scattered around. still, they feel at home. >> translator: ian't leavey ho as it is. i have good memories of raising my family there.

>> reporter: and shiga was able to pray at his mother's grave. >> translator: i want to be as close as i can to my mother's grave. i visited her grave just after the anniversary of her death. that's when the feeling of wanting to return home became even strong erer. >> reporter: like the shigas many elderly people want to get back to what is familiar. but they're torn by their desire to go home and the sense that may never happen. hiroki yajima, nhk world. let's get a check of the weather from mai shoji. >> things are looking very wintry up in the northern areas of japan. we're expecting about 20 t 3

centimeters of additional snowfall in and around hokuriku region and northern japan, all the way up towards hokkaido even. we may see some snow. that will be tapering off. however, the winds are still going to be remaining strong. any kind of small amounts of snow plus the windy conditions could give you blowing snow which could be very dangerous for driving conditions. but out towards the pacific side remaining sunny and devoid from precipitation. also in the korean peninsula, northeastern china and mongolia, a couple of high pressure systems will be predominant, maki things clear and calm. here in southeastern china, also in taiwan, lingering showers will be skirting across the area. sometimes it could be heavy at times, especially around hunan province and jiangxi provinces. in the philippines, we have a storm system that will be moving in spreading showers across much of the country and some thundery activity also could be possible. manila, 31 temperaturewise.

and hong kong, 23 degrees, misty in the morning and then bright sunshine in the afternoon. we'll see some sunshine here in tokyo as well at 12 degrees. not too bad. and beijing also at 12 degrees, ulan batur 3 degrees with some snow. let's head over to the americas. things are getting nasty in the central portion of the united states. up in the north also we'll see some winter storm systems moving all the way north, dropping some amount of snowfall. we're very concerned with this area, especially in and around arklatex region, severe thunderstorms are possible to be making an outbreak. and heavy rainfall accumulating as much as 300 millimers cld be possie, especially inexas d okhoma taking a look at the outlook, anywhere you see the colored areas have chances of all these weather, flash flooding, damaging gusts, large hail, tornadoes even not completely out of the question to be unleashed. especially in and around texas and then towards arklatex is the area where there is very high

risk. now, temperaturewise we're still looking at very warm surge, all the way out towards the north, especially the two-thirds of eastern and central portions, we're looking at these very warm temperatures to persist on washington, d.c. we saw the full bloom cherry blossoms today, 23 degrees on monday. and 22 for thursday. taking a look at what is going to happen here in europe, we have got low pressure system here and across the scandinavian peninsula as well as northern scotland where we have disturbed wet and windy conditions. out towards these areas, the remaining cold temperatures will be turning the precipitation into snow. a very potent storm system will be moving towards spain. it is going to be a lot of wet precipitation in which could be welcoming, but things could get actually very nasty. heavy downpours, even in the higher elevations snow could make appearance in the sierra nevadas here in spain and also

hail could be possible. temperaturewise, 13s in london and paris. looking at madrid at 14. all the way towards bucharest, heating up to 18 degrees. here is your extended forecast.

that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.