. . hello, you're watching "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. foreign ministers from japan and south korea are looking to settle a war-time issue that has long strained bilateral ties. foreign ministers from both countries wrapped up talks on the issues of those referred to as comfort women. they say they have resolved the issue finally and irversably.

fumio kishida and yun byung-se met in seoul on monday for about an hour and then they spoke to reporters. >> translator: the honor and dignity of many women was hurt with the involvement of the imperial japanese army during war time. the japanese government feels responsibility for that. prime minister shinzo abe will make an official apology and express deep remorse for all the women who suffered from psychological and physical wounds that cannot be healed. >> kishida 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 acknowledges the statement and measured announced by the japanese government. we confirm the issue will nowe resolved finally and irversably together with our japanese counterparts on condition the japanese government steadily carries out the steps it has agreed upon. >> and yun touched upon the request from japan that a statue in seoul symbolizing the women be removed. >> translator: we recognize the concerns of the japanese government over maintaining the security of the japanese embassy in seoul due to the statue of a girl standing in front of the building. we will make every effort to conclude this matter through discussions with the civic group that erected the statue.

>> yun also said both governments will refrain from blaming or criticizing each other over the issue at international events. leaders of both countries welcome the agreement and expressed expectations on the future of diplomatic relations. south korean president welcomed kishida at the presidential palace after the meeting. park told him she suspects the conclusion will be accepted by all citizens and asked him to keep promise. >> 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. >> she also said the timing of the agreement is significant as both governments tried hard to

get the issue settled before year end. japanese prime minister shinzo abe also commented on the 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 behd that statement. >> abe also said he hopes the agreement will usher in a new era for relations between japan and south korea. differences over history and territory have long been thorny issues for the two countries. here's a look back. >> reporter: relations were good

enough in 2002 for the countries to jointly host the fifa world cup tournament. then in 2012 things took a nose dive. south korean president bak made a surprise visit to the tack ch -- takeshima island in the sea of japan. the visit sparked strong opposition. the two countries also disagreed on the issue of those referred to as comfort women. japan maintains that all issues of reparations were settled in 1965 when the two countries normalized relations. but some south koreans continued to call for compensation. statues symbolizing the women were set up, including one in front of the japanese embassy in seoul. the current president, park geun-hye call for japan to address the matter, making it a precondition for a summit but

she changed her stance on that. last month, the two countries held their first summit in 3 1/2 years. and the first for abe and park. >> translator: i expect today's summit to be an student to cure our painful history and be an important step in developing the two country's relationship. >> translator: i want to work together with president park to build a future-oriented relationship between our two countries. >> reporter: some see thats is a turning point. the south korean court acquitted a japanese journalist of defaming president park. >> translator: i value the court's decision of acquittal. i expect it will have positive effects on our relations with south korea. >> the historic agreement over the biggest source of tension comes at the end of the year. the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of normalizing

diplomatic ties. in other news, leaders from afghanistan and pakistan have agreed to work toward a peace settlement between the afghan government and the taliban. they're scheduled to meet in january. the united states and china will also attend. afghan president met with pakistan's army chief general sharif in kabul. they agreed the first four-party meeting will pursue reconciliation with taliban groups. they will also discuss measures to deal with others who continue to resort to violence. they held their first direct peace negotiations in july in afghanistan but talks were derailed. analysts say the latest move suggests the u.s. has pushed for the peace talks as u.s. troops remain in the afghan region. taiwan's three presidential candidates held their first

televised debate on sunday, sparring over the key campaign issue, relations with china. the election will choose a successor to the current president. polls suggest the front-runner is tsai ing-wen from the opposition democratic progressive party. she's running against eric chu from the ruling nationalist party or kmt and james soong from the opposition people first party. chu criticized tsai for being vague about her policies on china. he says taiwan will benefit from closer ties between the two governments. >> translator: the democratic progressive party pledges taiwan's independence. that's the biggest concern of all voters. >> tsai said if chu's party continues to rule, the benefits of relations will be limited to a handful of corporations and industries. >> translator: just like president ma, mr. chu doesn't understand what the people want.

>> tsai said the nationalist party won't solve the widening gap between the rich and the poor. taiwan voters go to the polls on january 16th. let's check on the markets, tokyo stocks rose and the nikkei average ended five days of losses. we go to our business reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. there are very few trading cues with investors for wall street. a lot of asian markets closed on friday. let's have a lookt how the nikkei and topix closed for monday, december 28th. 18,873 up 0.56% and the broader topix closing at 1,529. now, the weaker yen boosted major japanese exporters. we were tracking carmakers, consumer electronics

manufacturers such as mazda and sony which traded higher. construction machinery makers such as hitachi construction machinery were up on the day as well. shares of panasonic were focused as well. it gained following news over the weekend that it intends to manufacture car batteries in china, a deal worth close to $500 million. shares of sharp were also a focus. foxcom may buy the struggling company for around $2.5 billion. so a lot of focus on those shares. all in all, the nikkei finally snapping five-day losing streak and the nikkei and the topix ending well into the positive. that's all for me. back to you in the studio. >> that was mamin milligard reporting from the tokyo stock exchange.

12 countries taking part in the trans-pacific partnership free trade deal are trying to get the deal signed by february. they want it to take effect as early as possible. japan and other nations have begun negotiating a date for the signing of the pact. they're following up on a broad agreement reached in october. the possibility of signing an early february came as the u.s. government is expected to clear the necessary legal procedures by then. the signing could take place either in the u.s. capital washington or in new zealand which is in charge of compiling the text. once the deal is signed, japan plans to submit to the diet, bills that would enable the nation to endorse it and provide support to its farmers. but many u.s. lawmakers remain reluctant to endorse the free trade pact, saying it would lead to job cuts. some are predicting it won't take effect until after next year's u.s. presidential election. the world aviation industry has become big business.

china and other emerging nations are joining an increasingly crowded field dominated by the u.s. and europe. japan is not being left behind. honda is best known for its cars and motorcycles but now it has developed a seven-seater business jet, including the engine. company officials are hoping other manufacturers will put the same engine in their aircraft. nhk world report. >> reporter: las vegas hosted in november a trade fair of around 1,000 aviation companies. honda's booth showed an aircraft engine which the company made. the engine caught the eyes of many people in thendustry. honda has just launched this small business aircraft. what surprised aviators about the honda jet was that the company had developed its body and engine. but buildin engines requires special skill. they are usually manufactured by separate companies.

>> it could be a great engine for a little more thrust than what we need right now. we have a new model that we'll have, it's larger and this engine might be a perfect fit for that. >> reporter: it had been a long-time dream of honda's founder to enter the aeronautics industry. about 30 years ago, the company created a project team to develop a jet engine. this man has been involved in the project since almost the start. he says the engine development was top secret carried out in a completely sealed room. he couldn't even talk about his work at home. >> translator: i'm sure our executives thought we couldn't make an aircraft without mounting our own engine. our team felt we had to develop engine technology no matter what. so we worked really hard.

>> reporter: 30 years have passed since the start of the project. now the company is trying to sell the engine as a stand-alone product to rival aircraft manufacturers. the project team is working hard to improve the performance of the engine. today the project team discussed how to improve the air intake of an engine fan. engine thrust and efficiency depend heavily on the dimension and thickness of the fan's blade. engineers worked out how to make the blades as thin as possible without compromising strength. >> translator: the wind surface looks like. >> reporter: he says this fan will boost efficiency by 0.5%. >> translator: it turned out better than we expected. >> reporter: to sell its engine, the company has built a factory in the united states.

>> nice to meet you. >> reporter: tieing up with american engine manufacturer general electric. he visited the factory and reported the good news about the engine. >> reporter: hyundai is planning to make the engine in this factory and sell it perhaps as early as next spring. >> translator: we're hoping to expand aerodevelopment into a major honda project. it's important to improve engine design but personally, i want to start working on the next engine. >> reporter: the u.s. aircraft engine market has not had a newcomer for 23 years. can honda create a splash? the coming year will be crucial. nhk world.

whirling around like a merry go round, conveyer belt sushi has been a popular dining option in japan. recently some of them have been taking a new spin on an old favorite. nhk world reports. >> reporter: at this major restaurant chain in suburban tokyo, small pieces of sushi make their way along the counter. they also sell made-to-order sushi. they make their request, then fresh sushi is transported to their table. these days more diners want their sushi made to order. the company says it accounts for about 80% of their customers. in the new center tokyo, there's no sign of the familiar.

instead, a single express lane shoots orders straight out to customers. >> translator: it's delicious because it's all freshly made. >> reporter: since everything is made to order, there's less waste. and it takes up less space. the company plans to open 100 similar outlets in tokyo by 2019, the year before the olympics. >> translator: we've always focused on the suburbs. central tokyo is almost untouched. that's why we're developing our business in that area and concentrating on this kind of store. >> reporter: another restaurant chn is making large profits,

even though it has not been in center tokyo. this sushi restaurant is taking a different approach to winning over customers. the restaurant features curry and other items in addition to sushi. it added a number of desserts in hopes to attract budget diners and people looking for a quick bite. taste is a primary concern. once a week a team reviews the dishes. last year they tasted 1,200 items but only 50 made it on to the menu. >> translator: not spicy enough, is it? >> reporter: the company started offering its expanded menu three years ago and profits are up since then.

>> translator: i think it's a great idea to let customers choose from a variety of items besides sushi. >> translator: these days we're facing competition, both from restaurants and convenience stores offering high-quality items. if we want to survive, we'll have to make adapting and moving forward. >> reporter: competition in japan's food service industry is intense. but this companies are hoping the fresh approaches will put them in the express lane to higher profits. nhk world. once against, our top story this hour, the governments of japan and south korea have reached a historic deal to settle a wartime iss that is strained by lateral ties. foreign ministers from both

countries wrapped up talks on the issue of those referred to as comfort women. they say they have resolved the issues finally and irversably. fumio kishida and yun byung-se met in seoul monday for about an hour and then they spoke to reporters. >> translator: the honor and dignity of many women was hurt with the involvement of the imperial japanese army during wartime. the japanese government feels responsibility for that. prime minister shinzo abe will make an official apology and express deep remorse for all the won who suffered from psychological and physical wounds that cannot be healed.

>> kishida 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 acknowledges the statement and measures announced by the japanese government. we confirm the issue will now be resolved finally and irreversibly together with our japanese counterparts on condition the japanese government steadily carries out the steps it has agreed upon. >> and yun touched upon the request from japan that a statue in seoul symbolizing the women be removed. >> translator: we recognize the concerns of the japanese government over maintaining the security of the japanese embassy in seoul due to the statue of a girl standing in front of the building.

we will make every effort to conclude this matter through discussions with the civic group that erected the statue. >> yun also said both governments would refrain from blaming or criticizing each other over the issue at international events. it's time now for the world weather with meet our meteorologist. what's the latest. >> many tornadoes have been reported across the united states since last week, december 23rd. about 30 tornadoes occurred in the deep south, killing at least 18 and on saturday, six more tornadoes occurred in oklahoma as well as texas and the strongest one which was an ef-4 tornado, that's the second strongest category on the fujita scale, killing at least 11 people. we have some video coming out of

texas to show the damage done by the storm. tornadoes tore through the dallas area on saturday, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens. more than 600 structures in northern texas were damaged. homes were destroyed, power lines were cut and traffic was halted. a tornado outbreak in december is fight rare because typically tornadoes peak in spring and it's the fso far this month, ab0 tornadoes have been reported. more tornadoes on the way across the deep south. there's a slight risk for tornadoes and thunderstorms across the deep south areanto your monday and flash floods will be at high risk across this area. record-breaking heavy rain fell in missouri and illinois over the weekend, killing at least 11 people. now, to the north, winter storm warnings are in place across the u.s. midwest. heavy snow is expected and freezing rain is expected across the northern areas. so driving is going to be very hazardous. please watch out for that.

temperatures are going to be very low across much parts of the continent. negative 15 degrees in winnipeg but in the southern areas. spring-like conditions, 22 degrees for the high in atlanta, 27 degrees expected in miami on your monday. a series of low pressure systems has been bringing wet weather to the united kingdom. now, earlier this month, a storm killed at least three people, causing significant flooding across the uk and more wet weather affected the uk over the weekend. we have pictures coming out of england. the worst floods in 70 years have hit england during the weekend. about a month's worth of rain fell in northern england in a few days. more than 100 flood warnings were in place, including 24 severe warnings. economic losses from the floods could reach 900 million to 1.3 million pounds. incredibly dangerous conditions occurred across the united kingdom.

unfortunately, another rainmaker is moving over the area, providing more wet weather as we go into tuesday and more potent low pressure systems moving into this area on wednesday. so flooding is going to be a continued risk. now, calmer weather is affecting across central portions of europe but fight chilly across the eastern areas. moscow minus 4 degrees, that could go down significantly as we go into tuesday. finally over asia, calm weather across many parts of the continent. it's fight heavy across the northwestern flank of japan from hokkai hokkaido. this is your forecast into the new year. tokyo will see fight high temperatures on december 31st as well as january 1st. enjoy the nice weather. here's the extended forecast.

monkeys at a zoo in central japan are warming themselves by a bonfire. the gathering may be natural for humans but unusual for animals. zoo keepers at the japan monkey center in inuyama light a fire for the monkees around this time every year. more than 150 japanese monkeys enjoyed the warmth this year. the animals scramble for sweet potatoes baked in the coals by a zookeeper. some zip 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 zoo keepers made a bonfire for themselves and noticed the mompg kiz who were usually scared of fire, move in.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.go

>> cuba, in the days before fidel castro. 59, fidel kept castroary, 1959, phil and his troops marched in print , they are ready to seize the moment, as is a new generation of cubans