i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.back with more of your updates. do stay with us. j

i'm catherine kobayashi. former north korean spy kim hunion hee has arrived in. her case is expected to shed light on people abducteded by north korea 30 years ago. the former agent was sentenced to death in south korea for her role in the 1987 bombing of a south korean airliner which killed 115 people. she was later pardoned. kim's visit is her first trip abroad since her arrest. the japanese ministry used her discretion to allowed kim to enter japan. she will spend four days in the country. shortly after 7:00 a.m. tuesday, kim arrived at a villa belonging to former prime minister hatoyama where she will be staying. later in the day she will meet with family members offan abductor who taught her the japanese language. kim meant the brother and son in south korea last year. kim will meet the parents of another abductee on wednesday. the former agent said she wants to tell the parents what she bpz their daughter. kim is known to have lived with japanese abductee taguchi in north korea from 1981 to '83. she learned japanese and customs from taguchi. in march last y

i'm catherine kobayashi. a shinkansen bullet train line in western japan suspended operations on thursday morning after two maintenance trains collided in a tunnel. west japan railways says the accident occurred in a tunnel in kobe. the train repairing the tunnel wall collided with another one that was inspecting the track, and the first train derailed. there were five workers on the two trains, but no one was injured. shinkansen trains have stopped operating between shin-osaka and himaje stations. police are conducting an on the spot investigation. the railway company plans to put the derailed train back on the tracks after the investigation is completed. the company says it does not know when services can be resumed. it says 60 trains have been cancelled so far. police say a worker on the first train told investigators that the brakes were applied too late due to poor visibility caused by dust. >>> the parents of megumi yokota, who was abducted by north korea more than 30 years ago, held a news conference a

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

i'm catherine kobayashi with your updates. >>> former north korean spy kim hyun hee will leave japan on friday, ending her four-day visit to meet the families of japanese citizens abducted by the north. the relatives obtained little new information on the fate of their loved ones but expressed hopes that her visit will help to resolve the long-standing issue. after arriving in japan on tuesday kim met relatives of abdu abductees yaeko taguchi and megumi yokota at a resort town in central japan. taguchi's son spoke to reporters after the meeting and read out a message that kim wrote in his diary. >> translator: kim wrote me a message. "beloved son, your mother will return. please hold on with hope and courage, looking forward to the day when all of us can meet together." >> kim reportedly told yokota's parents that she had met their daughter once but had no other information. >> translator: kim didn't know anything about the things we most wanted to hear about megumi. we were disappointed. but she encouraged us by saying megumi must still be alive. >> kim traveled to tokyo on thursday