korean president yoon. joining us for analysis is nhk's former seoul bureau chief. we've heard from both leaders on the outcome of the summit. what kind of impact do you think it will have? improve things dramatically for the time being. it's symbolic of improved relations. the last time this kind of summit happened we have to go back to 2011, so this is a very rare summit. the wartime labor issue was perhaps -- is perhaps the last big sticking point between japan and south korea. as you just heard president yoon stressed his plan to resolve the

issue will work, and prime minister kishida welcomed it. so if the two nations can get through this, i think there's nowhere to go but up. >> well, in south korea the settlement plan is facing opposition on a number of fronts. so how do you think the meeting we just saw now will be received at home? >> yes, many groups have called the settlement a one-sided concession by seoul. so yoon cannot afford to go home empty-handed. he needed to be able to point out something that would be seen as a diplomatic win. and as we saw, some agreements came out of the talks. first, they'll resume regular visits by their leaders. they also said foreign and defense officials will resume security talks. andapan announced it would lift export controls on south korea, which had been a long-standing concern. also today major business groups in both countries announced that

they will accept each establish a foundation to cooperate on climate issues like climate change, energy security, and promote young generation exchange of views. so those can be used to promote these things. and president yoon also announced south korea will completely normalize the agreement exchanging security information between south korea and japan and the u.s. so those are points he can sell to his country. >> you know, history has been at the heart of the dispute between the countries. so from what you just saw now, how do you think prime minister kishida addressed that? >> well, it was very brief. prime minister kishida said his administration maintains previous government declarations, which includes the phrase deep remorse and a heartfelt apology regarding the colonial rule of the peninsula.

but prime minister kishida did not actually say those words, so it will probably be difficult for south koreans to measure his sincerity. and this could harm president yoon's effort toell his plan on wartime labor at home. i think kishida wanted to avoid taking a political risk here because some conservative politicians within his ruling liberal democratic party strongly opposed to make any kind of apology. >> thank you very much. so i guess we have to see how the reaction will be in south korea. thank you very much. that was our former seoul bureau chief with his insight. next, japan's defense ministry says a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile fired by north korea has the range to hit anywhere in the u.s. mainland. am ministry said the launch happened about 7:00 a.m. it reached an altitude of 6,000

kilometers. ministry also believes the missile fell in japan west of oshima island. south korean president yoon ordered joint exercises happening this week with the united states to continue. it's the 12th time pyeongyang has launched an icbm with a range of at least 5,500 kilometers. it also comes after north korea conducted several shorter range missile launches this week. the pentagon has call on moscow to respect the right of u.s. aircraft to fly through international sites. that's after the u.s. says one of its drones was brought down by a russian jet over the black sea. defense secretary lloyd austin spoke by phone with the russian defense minister about the incident but gave few details. >> the united states will continue to fly and to operate

wherever international law allows, and it is incumbent upon russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner. >> u.s. officials say their surveillance drone was on a routine mission on tuesday. they say russian jets intercepted it and one of them hit its propeller. they say they're not sure whether the collision was intentional. u.s. forces had to crash the drone into the black sea. but russia denies there was any direct contact and has criticized the u.s. for flying the drone near crimea in an area they've declared off-limits. security any incidents that promote a clash between two great powers, two nuclear powers, the largest in the world, always pose very serious risks. >> the crashed drone has not yet been recovered but rusan officials say they may try to go

ter it. the u.s. national security council spokesperson has expressed doubts whether an american recovery mission would be mounted. john kirby told cnn the drone fell into deep waters, which could make it difficult to retrieve. tokyo police have obtained an arrest warrant for a youtuber turned absentee japanese lawmaker who was stripped of his diet member status on wednesday. he's facing allegations of repeatedly threatening celebrities. he gained fame for running a gossip channel. a number of prominent figures have filed criminal complaints against hem saying they were slandered or intimidated. he was elected to the upper house as a member of the opposition party last year, but

he was expelled for failing to appear at any diet session. he's said to be staying in the united arab emirates to avoid prosecution. investigators are also looking to arrest an acquaintance who was allegedly involved in video production. the foreign ministry is expected to order him to return his japanese passport now that the warrant has been issued. it's believed he'll be arrested as soon as he returns to japan. japan is building up its defenses in some of its most remote areas. as part of that effort the ground self-defense force has launched a new unit on an island in the southern prefecture of okinawa. about 570 personnel and 200 vehicles are based at a new camp in the center of the island. senior personnel visited the city hall and made a report to the mayor. the mayor asked them to maintain harmony with local residents.

the camp's commander said personnel will work as one as they train to protect the island and its people. >> translator: through our work in this region we intend to keep everyone safe and give them peace of mind. we'll strive to earn their trust and understanding. >> some local residents gathered outside the camp to protest the unit's presence. the defense ministry plans to hold a briefing for the public next week. in other news a woman from uganda who sought asylum here in japan has won a landmark legal battle. she says she was persecuted back home for being a lesbian. now a court in osaka has ruled the government should accept her as a refugee. the woman in her 30s fled to japan three years ago.

immigration authorities did not recognize her as a refugee and ordered her to leave the country. she sued claiming she was arrested and badly beaten in uganda for being a lesbian. in wednesday's ruling the osaka district court said given that ugandan law targets homosexuals it's natural to assume women could be detained and prosecuted. >> translator: i believe the ruling will give hope to lgbti people from african countries with extremely tough punishments for them. >> immigration authorities say they'll consider the ruling and respond appropriately. next, japanese astronaut says his time in space was like a dream. he's been back on earth since last week after returning from the international space >> i really felt what happened

in the last five months was a dream. it's wonderful to have accomplished so many things with a great crew. >> wakata had been at the iss since last october. he spacewalked for the first time during his stay and conducted experiments that may provide helpful information for future explorations on the moon and mars. reporters asked him whether he'd like to go to space again. he said space is his passion and he wants to keep flying. >> flying on the crew, i'd like to support the training and flight. and also we have selected new jaxa candidates, so i would like to help support their training and mission. and utilizing my experience of training and also spaceflight. >> wakata says he'd like to be involved in exploring space regardless of where he is. he expressed the hope that international collaborations will continue, so people will be

able to keep exploring the moon and mars. he says when he gets home, one of the first things he wants to do is eat sushi and ramen. astronauts joining nasa's program to land on the moon for the first time since the apollo project will be wearing a new type of spacesuit. e next geration it for the armis lunar mission was developed by a private contractor. it's equipped with a life sustning devic on the back and features heat insulating material to protect wearers from extreme temperature fluctuations. astronauts will be able to continue their activities for about 8 hours with the suit. the helmet gives wearers a panoramic view. it is also equipped with lights. a soft material is used on the arm and leg joints to allow for more flexible movement. the final version will have a white outer layer to reflect heat. last year nasa launcd a newly

developed unmanned spacecrt that sucssfully tes orbed the moon. the first artemis astronauts are scheduled to set foot on the moon in 2025. we move now to the weather. we are hearing about more places in japan seeing their first bloom of cherry blossoms this season. >> hello there. following yokohama and tokyo gifu city also entered the cherry blossom season today. that was nine days earlier than normal and in fact the earliest on record tied in two years. now, it looks like other areas of japan will see an early blooming this year. the flowers may start blooming in fukuoka tomorrow as well as hiroshima and then the front will move up north reaching aomori on april 13th. that would be the earliest on record, across the ocean and then reach sapporo by the end of

april. right now we have a cold front moving through the northern areas, so snow and rain is falling up in the north. now, people in central japan are probably planning cherry blossom viewing, but you should avoid today because it's going to be cold as well as as rainy. rain will develop from the south and that will affect central japan including tokyo, yoke homa and gifu and temperatures going to be only 11 on saturday. quake areas in turkey were hit by severe floods. take a look at this video. disaster has once again struck the southeast region of turkey as torrential rain triggered flash floods on wednesday. at least 14 people have been killed. the flood waters carried away cars and debris and also inundated buildings and roads. one third of its annual rainfall fell in just a couple of days,

and it was due to multiple storms south eastern turkey will continue to see rainy weather at least into monday. now, in the southern hemisphere it's autumn but it's stifling hot in sydney. the high reached 37.9 degrees on thursday. that's it for me. stay safe.

and returning to our top story, japanese prime minister kishida fumio and south korean president yoon have just wrapped up a joint news conference after their summit in tokyo. it was part of the first bilateral visit involving leaders of their countries in more than a decade. >> translator: president yoon and i met for the talks, and in a tough strategic environment we have agreed to recognize the urgency of cooperation. >> translator: we actually fair progressive values including democracy and also in terms of

security and economic alliance we pursue the common interests that we are the closest ally in this regard. >> both said they want to strengthen cooperation including on security issues. they voiced concern over north korea's accelerating nuclear and missile program and said they'd work together to address it. the leaders also said they want to return to regular visits between their countries. japan's prime minister also hailed a south korean proposal to settle an issue dating back to world war ii. a south korean government affiliated foundation is set to pay damages in place of japanese companies that were accused of forcing koreans to work for them. the plan comes after years of strained relations between japan and south korea, which were set to be at their lowest state since the end of the war. and that concludes this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next and "newsline biz" with gene otani.

so stay right there. ♪ this is "news line biz." i'm gene otani. a visit by south korea's to japan is spurring expectations relations may return to normal. tokyo announced on thursday it's set to drop tighter controls on high shipping costs of materials. that came after a meeting between the countries. japan tightened rules for

exporting free materials used for semiconductors and organic led displays in 2019 citing security concerns. japanese companies are major manufacturers of these goods. south korea reacted to the controls by filing a complaint with the world trade organization in 2020. japan's decision to ease the controls came as it has confirmed that south korea will drop the wto case. japan has posted its biggest ever trade deficit for february as soaring energy prices pushed up the value of imports. the finance ministry says the deficit last month was nearly 900 billion yen or about $6.7 billion. it was the largest deficit for february since comparable data became available in 1979. japan's trade balance has now been in the red for 19 straight months. the value of imports rose by over 8% in yen terms from a year earlier. the rise is due to higher prices

of coal, liquefied natural gas and crude oil, as well as a weaker yen. exports were up 6.5%. that was due to an increase in automobile shipments. investors and analysts around the world have been concerned with the latest news on a major european bank credit suisse. the lender has asked for funding from wits switzerland central bank and also comes after the failure of two u.s. financial institutions. the bank has a history of problems from trading losses to repeated executive shakeups. officials there have now identified what they call material weaknesses in the oversight of their financial reporting. the saudi national bank agreed last year to invest $1.6 billion to help turn the firm around. the 10% stake made it credit suisse's largest shareholder, but the bank has ruled out raising its stake as this would

subject it to additional swiss regulations. swiss authorities pledged a liquidity lifeline to the bank in an unprecedented move following the tumble. the national central bank and the swiss financial regulator released a joint statement saying credit suisse reached the capital liquidity requirements imposed on systemically imported banks. credit suisse announced on thursday it would borrow up to 50 billion swiss franks or about $54 billion from the swiss national bank. it says it is taking this decisive action to strengthen liquidity. the bench mark stock index in tokyo fell on wednesday. the credit suisse situation had investors in a conscious move after the failures of silicon valley bank and signature bank in span of just one week. the nikkei stock average ended the day at 27,010, down 0.8%

from wednesday's close. it briefly lost almost 600 points. analysts say traders unloaded shares across the board right from the opening. they also say concerns over financial institutions of the u.s. and europe and the yen's appreciation against the dollar and euro prompted investors to sell financial and export related issues, but the index trimmed losses after credit suisse announced it would take a $54 billion loan from the swiss central bank. one of the world's largest exhibitions of satellite technology and equipment is under way in washington. it comes at a time when space is taking on an increasingly important role for both business and national security. the show features more than 350 exhibitors from 112 countries and regions including japan and the united states. among the tech show is this

model of a satellite from a tokyo based startup that's equipped with robotic arms. it's designed to dock with inoperable satellites in the earth's orbit and use the arms to make adjustments and repairs. another japanese exhibitor is showcasing a relay device to send maritime data by satellite to the ground through high-speed networks. >> translar: space will be important in terms of national defense. we would like to demonstrate our strength, know-how, and about by highlighting that we have already started doing business in the field. >> japan and the u.s. are working to promote cooperation in space. they reaffirmed in january that article 5 of their security treaty can apply to space under certain condition. it obliges the u.s. to defend japan if the latter comes under attack.

the make-up industry in japan has a rapidly expanding segment. the market for mens cosmetics was worth $3 million in 2018, and it jumped five fold by 2021, and it has continued to grow. some consumers are inspired by k-pop while others want to look their best at the office. >> this man visited a department store cosmetics counter for the first time in his life. he has more online meetings as part of his work in the food service industry and cares about how he looks to clients. >> translator: it's my first ever mascara. >> he worries about the dirk circles under his eyes.

>> translator: this area gets darker. >> translator: yes. when i've been busy, that always happens. it really bothers me. >> translator: a concealer can brighten the skin under the eyes. >> translator: bts and other pop groups got me interested in make-up a few years ago. and men who do their best to look good at work seem happy. >> this department store has watched sales of products for men increase over the past five years to account for about 60% of total cosmetic sales. it now carries gender neutral lines. let's start with some simple make-up pointers. the management believes male staff should first enjoy products themselves so they can make recommendations for a

growing variety of customers. >> translator: it's no longer only young men who are buying cosmetics but also ones in their 40s and 50s. there is great pential for more customers regardless of gender to enjoy make-up. >> more people are sharing their know-how. the video racked up a lot of views and comments. takahashi hirroki started sharing tips eight years ago. he believes mens cosmetics will become even more common. >> translator: i think more people will wear make-up to look neat and can or t look better than usual. it will no longer be something

for a particular gender. i think there will be more general neutral items. >> one analyst says new brands are emerging that don't fit the traditional concept about men, and manufacturers are diversifying their product lines to cater to customers needs. this is creating an environment that will encourage even more men to enjoy cosmetics. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

and from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks for being with us.ñl■x■x

environmental impact of water privatization, on al jazeera. ♪ laura: a decades-long conflict in the region rich with natural resources. millions of people have been killed in the eastern democratic republic of congo, and millions more have been displaced. can this region ever find a lasting peace? this is "inside story." ♪ hello there and welcome to the program.