do you need a north korea. these military drills as provocative we know that they certainly the u.s. and japan's involvement with south korea has provoked seventy five state threats today though they've loosely said that they perhaps we willing to have to face that they'd be willing to welcome the i.a.e.a. in to examine clear facilities and we know the new government in south korea. perhaps coming under pressure from the public especially in the wake of the attack to make them but to really take a tougher stance towards north korea that is the russian ambassador to the u.n. . the u.n. saying that it's really hate now that talk to me and this sort of situation can be a peaceful situation could be resolved. if the situation is spiraling out of control. ok sara for thanks so much for that. and in fact for more on what's happening on the korean peninsula we're now joined by your guitar ryan the director of korean studies at the institute of economics in the russian economy of sciences thank you for joining us here

expects north korea to change north korea does not want to change north korea's prepared is doing everything possible to avoid this change because it simply cannot sustain any economic or political change so resides on the other for a north korean regime it's a survival south korea is doing everything possible to destabilize the situation either militarily or using to provide the traditional usual for this time trying policy they can use on truck about destabilizing the region the south has been staging these nonstop military war games i think approximately forty nine times this year alone what's the logic behind this well south korea is a security ally of the united states and united states is presence in the region united states really wants to influence its control over the group in utah united states our station for this station in the sky. and part of the korean peninsula these what irritates north korea tremendously sort of feels threatened intimidated cornered. this very fact actually creates the paranoia from the north korean side and north korea has to spend more and more resources

south korea has carved out far and. close to the border with north korea despite threats of retaliation from. council military exercises warning they might aggravate tensions on the peninsula. despite the threats of war from north korea we see in south korea carrying out this weapon till today now this comes after it was delayed at the weekend heats the bad weather we've had there are carried out today around food to people evacuated from the front line buddha knew that the speech to the territory and the rest of the people had me freeview say this weekend to the mainland when they'd received that warning has to be as he said these drills have now got ahead this comes after more than eight hours of discussion last night as an emergency un security council meeting does meet russia's request and participants at that meeting were discussing a russian drought state with a cool base north and south korea to really try and ease the tension was there may be going to vision of them some. serious conflict for that matter so in t

they hope all koreas will be united. on the nov side of the border, jog begang to wonder why his government controlled and oppressed christianity. he witnessed the public execution of 3 christians who smuggled bibles into the countr >> one woman and two men. men were 22 or 23 years old. >> watching the executions increased his spirual hunger. >> the public executions made me want to know more about christ and the bible because the authoritys are killing people who have the bible but no god. >> after 4 years in south korea, john wants to return and evanglize his own people. >> i learned the christian life is not easy. there is suffering and hard times, there are martyrs for christ. i have learned how to live and die as a christian. >> matt dubwa helps train north korean exiles >> they understand the gospel and sharing christ and accepting christ doesn't make things better, right, in north korea. it makes things worse. you are persecuted for becoming a christian. >> the one -year curriculum includes the biblical theology o

we begigin evening with the conflict between north korea and south korea now being debated in the security council with david sanger and ian bremmer. >> certainly the analysis of the u.s. officials i've talked to is that almost all of the acts of aggression that we've seen from north korea in the past year have been about succession. and certainly you go back in north korea's history, wherever there had been a time of succession, there have been acts that could be attributed to the heir apparent. >> the real question is how much do the chinese believe that they have real leverage over north korea? and, frankly, after four years of two nuclear tests and ballistic missile tests and the sinking of the cheonan, the south korean corvette and now the shelling of an island with civilians on it-- merry christmas-- it's not clear to me that the chinese themselves think they have a lot of leverage. >> rose: we continue this evening with congresswoman carolyn maloney, one of the authors of the 9/11 first responders bill. >> we're working on all levels. we are all... all cylinders are working. the new

attacks on south korea. >>> north korea's secretive stance makes it extremely difficult to gather information its real motivations. nhk world's shuhei ikihata traveled to china's border with the north to get a closer impression of everyday life on the other side. >> reporter: the chinese city of changbai in the province of jili lies on the border with north korea. across the yalu river is the north korean town of hyesan. the stream here is so narrow, you can literally hear voices from the other side. in the winter, the river freezes and becomes a natural bridge for the countless north koreans hoping to cross into china. the shore is lined with old wooden houses and traffic is sparse. even on a normal weekday, the city seems to be cloaked in silence and most factories appear to be at a standstill. despite a temperature of minus 10 degrees celsius, many women are washing clothes by the river. the bridge linking hyesan and changbai is one of the trade routes between north korea and china. a popular export to north korea is this electric torch which can last up to ten hours with a single charge.

south korea's military exercises. next week, three countries will have foreign ministers meeting to keep this unity. so this six-party talks can wait. >> thus far, there have been a number of disputes in east asia, the incident between china and japan in september near the senkaku islands is one and another is north korea's shelling of south korea last month. what do you think will be the key to stabilizing the region? >> u.s. and its alliance unity is a key to keep deterrence. on the other hand, to stabilize east asia is china. that is a key. china can create pressure on north korea to change their behavior. if it refuses to take the same step with us, china should understand the instability of the region will not work to their advantage. in this sense, china can be the solution for the problem. secondary, china starts to create problems as shown in the process of senkaku island and the fishermen's arrest. they tend to use power for their own sake and ambition. this is called arrogance of power. it will be a difficul

and coming up next a look at south korea and north korea and the latest in that situation. back to your calls. this headline from "the new york times." in michigan town last pleading for bankruptcy. m the town is asking the state to allow it to declare bankruptcy. it once had 50,000 people. now about half that number in 2010. floyd is joining us from butler, tennessee. republican minority -- republican line. caller: good morning. i am an old man. i have been in the wars, i have been in all of that stuff, and nobody mentions in this country, nobody mentions the fact that we have gone -- we have been brainwashed most of my life, i can see that -- and nobody mentions the $43 trillion that was stolen out of this economy since 1994. you keep talking about the poor man. they stole $43 trillion of the top -- host: who is gay? caller: the rich in this country. you check it out. a $43 trillion has disappeared since 1994. and you are talking about cutting a poor man's medicare or his health care. the poor people are the stupidest people in this world. this country is nothing but tryi

. >>> south korea's intelligence chief says north korea is likely to attack again in a bid to shake up the government. the director of the national intelligence service made the remarks at a closed parliamentary meeting on wednesday. his warning came after south korea shifted to a tougher alignment against the north following its attack on a south korean island in the yellow sea last week. lawmaker who is attended the meeting say won't explain the background of the north's attack. the chief reported that the north was irritated with south korea's rising international status after the group of 20 summit in seoul last month. he also said that the north's leadership needed to distract from the worsing on the economy and the success of kim jong il. >>> china's foreign minister says that china remains neutral on the korean issue and is working towards calling attention on the korea -- calming tensions on the korean peninsula. he made the remarks at a forum attended by foreign diplomats based in beijing on wednesday. >> he stressed the importance of not enflaming intention and ask that the c

he added south korea needs to take various factors into consideration before it can determine north korea's intentions. >>> that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour. thanks for joining us on nhk world.

north korea has said it will not retaliate against south korea's actions sized island close to their disputed sea border despite dumping it was a close military provocation moscow called on told to cancel the drills warning they might aggravate tensions on the peninsula cross-wind now to our correspondent sara firth was following the situation there what is the situation looking like up the moment. the north korea has now responded to these military drills to the carried out this morning by south korea despite previous threats that they said that they would respond but she was taken they've not said that the north going to retaliate the reason that they cited that this was the south korea actually changed its firing say and say the shells that came from that military. actually learned of further away from north korean territory i know from previous military drills that are being carried out unconfirmed reports of these shells. on north korean territory and that's possibly what provoked the attack that we saw the last time this military drill was carried out but we have heard of cours

in south korea. president lee is often times seen as a puppet of the united states and the area around his office is called by many south koreans the news united state of south korea is there ever a danger do you think that the north would ever play the car that it's that it's brought out yet again talking about maybe using its nuclear deterrent if i have a bit of sacred war ever did break out there could that happen and which nations are likely to be drawn into the conflict. the north could use its deterrent you never know what's going to happen when there's a game of brinksmanship being played as the south koreans obviously are i don't believe the south koreans want to bring this to an open state of conflict and i don't believe they actually want the north koreans to retaliate but when you play this kind of dangerous game anything can happen i believe the vice chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff had mentioned that it's very important that the united states control this escalation so that it

. >>> south korea is staying on alert in case of further attacks by north korea. it put on another show of military might on thursday, a month after the north shelled its yeonpyeong island. the large-scale live-fire drills happened in the northeastern city of pocheon, which is 25 kilometers from the military border with north korea. 800 south korean army and navy personnel took part in the 40-minute exercise. they used 36 canine howitzers with a range of 40 kilometers to shell ground targets. they also ran an aerial attack exercise with two f-15 fighters. rocket launchers capable of firing 12 rounds continuously were used for the first time. it was south korea's largest live fire drill for this time of year. the exercises were held on the assumption the country would strongly respond to any provocative attacks by north korea. in an unusual step, the south korean military invited about 2,000 people, including citizens and community officials, to watch. >>> south korean president lee myung bak traveled to the front lines to visit soldiers who are stationed there. th

was korea that you ordered from the russian capital. now a group of influential iranian m.p.'s have voted for to round to break all diplomatic ties with the u.k. after its ambassador criticized the country's human rights record the move comes on the back of iran's claim that britain's intelligence service was involved in the assassination of a top frances. was killed during a bomb attack in the reigning capital last month to round base a political commentator can the party says the threats to break off ties is a warning that iran will not stand for britain's meddling iran doesn't seem to have a problem with britain and the us for as long as. i could i mix and scientists are not assassinated in broad daylight in tehran very little happens here when things like this happen when bombs go off it is almost always from overseas seems to still be you know. person. type of. and it feels that it speak out against the domestic affairs of other nations it will whereas iranian lawmakers quite clearly disagree but this is to send a strong warning we

south korea and the u.s. went ahead with these military exercises on its way here naughty tangled in a web the reports whole and free zones playing victim to agreements sensationalism . and want your grown ones to come to its ties with you take it down to just. moscow has warned lawmakers in washington that any change to a new nuclear arms reduction deal could destroy the percs foreign minister in the role of said that for russia the start treaty is not up for renegotiation meanwhile the u.s. senate rejected all amendments from republicans seeking to do that either ratification to january when they hear a majority in congress democrats hope that from three will have enough support required for passage the us president urged the senate to ratify the document this week describing this datsun treaty as a national priority to see cities in the job ruben from the national security network says despite the republicans amendments the treaty will eventually be signed. many of these amendments are designed to make a p

by north korea by china by russia until now the u.s. has only been talking with south korea and japan two countries that it occupies and has occupied for sixty five years so they really have no political military independence in a situation like this so the very fact that the u.n. security council meeting took place was an important step yet nevertheless the danger increases as long as all of the ships aircraft carriers troops are in the region and continue these very dangerous military maneuvers again and again every one of them is a provocation any one of them really could lead to a wider war. i think everyone has at this point the announcement from north korea saying that they would not respond to these provocations is an important important step but the real step is to push south korea and the u.s. japan to stop these military maneuvers when some of that is our country which is that involved in this situation which is all they are willing for this is russia it's calling for calm in the region how important would you say the country'

by south korea near the border with north korea for the first time in seven years. the north has called the move a provocative act. ♪ the lighting ceremony took place on tuesday evening amid heavy security, attended by around 400 people. the ceremony was an annual event since the 1950s. it was suspended in 2004 under an interkorean agreement to end border propaganda activity. the south korean military's decision to resume the yearly ritual followed last month's shelling of yeonpyeong island by north korea and the sinking of a south korean warship in march. north korea said this is part of the south's psychological warfare and such an irrational provocative act could trigger a new armed conflict. >>> subway authorities in washington have begun random checks of passengers' bags as the u.s. capital steps up security measures for the holiday season. the metro transit system launched the inspections on tuesday. screeners swabbed some passengers' bags and ran the swabs through a device that detects gunpowder. last year on christmas day, an airline passenger arriving from

secretary general sends to envoys to both south korea and north korea that could help make sure that tensions don't escalate and of course the united states has been playing somewhat of a different game we have to remember that the u.s. has as many as twenty soldiers involved in the military exercises with south korea and the u.s. of course has been read a rating over and over again that what's and what's more important is to condemn the actions of north korea and this of course is something that has been causing a diplomatic deadlock throughout the weekend here but for now security council sessions have somewhat die down and die. the members have taken a break to wait and see this because now north korea has said that they're not going to react to the military exercises. sara flounders from the think tank the international action center says south korea's military drills are disturbing the precarious balance on the peninsula this is a fourth direct provocation of u.s. south korean military exercises in less than a month we're really talking about many many ships in the area fifty to

attack according to north korea in the time from south korea so the tensions are still high on the peninsula the two ministers definitely have a lot to talk about and the meeting of course comes at a very crucial time here is you just told us a lot of people are hoping for a calming of tension a lot of interest involved here. absolutely this these tensions have been continuing for decades and now with this latest rise which is that biggest in over a decade everybody is hoping for. the tensions and the violence to stop but. there's a huge amount of factors decisive factors in this whole situation here and i'm not even talking about the ideological factors or barriers between north and south korea pyongyang is really intimidated by the south koreans alliance strong alliance with the united states due to constantly hold military drills in the region in fact right after north korea's attack on that on the islands in the south of south korea in the united states another military exercise also in the region and the government in south korea has now totally changed most of the officials or wants yo

on north korea at the north korea for its part has that that it's not going to welcome i.a.e.a. inspectors to come and examine its nuclear facilities at the moment russia and china certainly made it clear that there are pacing any actions that can be seen to inflame the tensions there are existing at the event. well some more reaction to this your guitar ryan from the russian academy of sciences says the probability of war between the two koreas is now at its highest point for decades first time i've been watching north korea close of this for the last thirty five years i would say that the danger war is now is now real and it can start unpredictably you know have been saying it's ready for talks for several months already. it has been said to the chinese it has been said publicly. so parrot is ready for dialogue for dialogue both on the issues of nuclear nuclear program and the broader issues of security in the korean peninsula fortunately the u.s. and south korea while not waiting for the dialogue. gives us another suspicion that the real goal of more exercise is. a refusal to

. >>> north korea warns it will attack south korea if the country resumes scheduled live fire drills on yeonpyeong island in the yellow sea. south korea suspended the drills in the wake of north korea's shelling of the island on november 23rd, that killed four people. south korea plans to resume the drills between saturday and next tuesday depending on weather conditions.

and south korea next year on its nuclear development. >>> north korea's move to accept u.n. inspectors is being taken as an indication that the north is preparing to take a softer stance on the nuclear issue. but they also say the u.s. and the south will possibly reject the north's call for discussion if they find its measures abandon its nuclear program insufficient. north korea could then possibly conduct a third nuclear test or test launch a long distance ballistic missile. on economic matters, north korea wants to be what it calls an economic power. analysts say the north will have to intensify its efforts to reconstruct its economy next year in order to help strengthen the authority of kim jong-un who has been appointed as the successor to his father, kim jong-il. >>> south korea raised its foot and mouth disease alert to the highest level to deal with an outbreak spreading across livestock in the country. the virus was confirmed in late november in pigs on a farm in the southern city of andong. the south korean government set up a task force on wednesday to handle the

relations with north korea no concessions no cooperation or talks to south korea expects north korea to change north korea does not want to change north korea's prepared is doing everything possible to avoid this change because it simply cannot sustain any economic or political change so resides on the four north korean regime it's a survival south korea's doing everything possible to destabilize the situation either militarily or using to provide the traditional usual for the sunshine policy south korea is a security ally of the united states and united states is presence in the region and states really wants to influence its control over the group when you throw united states aspasia station in the southern part of the korean peninsula china's next door from the korean peninsula and of course if the united states loses control or influence over korea korean peninsula north korea if so unified korea becomes a new dependent state well the certain interests of the united states' national interests might be jeopardized. let's not check some world news and brief the president of the mar

but first north korea says it will not retaliate against south korea's war games close to a disputed maritime zone calling them a reckless military provocation russia has called on seoul to cancel the exercise warning it could further destabilize the already volatile korean peninsula artists are first reports. korea has now responded to these military drills to the carried out this morning by south korea despite previous threats that they said that they would respond that she was taken they've said that the no it's going to retaliate the reason that they cited this was the south korea actually changed its firing say and say the shells that came from that military drill actually landed further away from north korean territory i know from previous military drills are being carried out there are unconfirmed reports so the shelter phone north korean territory i must possibly what provoked the attack we saw the last time this military drill was carried out this also comes off the talks last night at a u.n. security council meeting this is held russia's request but we had the russian ambas

north korea talks a great game. the real issue is what will they do if they are agreeable to returning inspectors to their country they need to tell the iaea that. if they are willing to participate in mechanisms that reduce tensions with south korea, we certainly would favor any step that reduces tensions and improve communications in the region. we will await a full report from gov. richard send. >> do you accept this -- from gov. richardson. >> until you see it specifically from the north koreans themselves? are these ideas -- whether they are going to implement them or not, are these ideas you would see as positive? >> if implemented. we have seen a string of broken promises by north korea going back many years. we will be guided by what north korea does and not what they say they might do. we want to see north korea live up to its obligations. if north korea wants to engage with the iaea and reintroduce inspectors into facilities, that will be a positive step. the key is following through and implementing that

military drills in the region in fact even after north korea's attack on that island south korea and the united states hold a new set of military exercises south korea's has also recently held the new moreland which is calling for even closer ties with washington and this is definitely an intimidating factor for north korea and such close ties with the united states at this point where this moment may make the tensions even higher so the two foreign ministers are definitely have a lot to talk about here in moscow all right we're going to scare now live from the foreign ministry let's keep the conversation going we're joined now to talk about the situation on the korean peninsula by going to tell the riaa who's the director of korean studies at the russian academy of sciences thank you for being with us why do you think these talks are being kept behind closed doors. well that's a normal practice them that talks between foreign ministers are held between hold closed doors and only after them the mayor says may or may not and the cost of the press or the journalists so there's nothing

attack on that island south korea and the united states held a new set of military exercises south korea's has also recently held the new mormons which is calling for even closer ties with washington and this is definitely an intimidating factor for north korea such close ties with the united states at this moment may make the attentions even higher. saudi lips are echoed by the director of korean studies at the russian academy of sciences who told us he believes the talks stole between the two koreas because of washington and seoul's counterproductive demands. can hear all of these fellows were critical towards the six party talks has now agreed to take part in this talks and now it's the itself parade united states who don't want to return to the talks they say they want to talk to the north korea before. this of conditions it is counterproductive for doesn't solve anything i think that. russia along with china should. press its partners in the united states and the south korea to get back to the talks. go be told where their director of korean studies at the russian academy of science t

>>> kor >>> korea on edge. a disputed island on the border is racked by south korean artillery fire despite dire warnings from the north. >>> west coast washout. heavy rain threatens flash floods, dangerous mud slides and causes dozens of traffic accidents. >>> and without a trace. a las vegas show girl vanishes into thin air. this is the "cbs morning news" for monday, december 20th, 2010. good morning, everybody. good to see you on this monday. i'm terrell brown for betty nguyen. we begin with breaking news out of britain, 12 men arrested on terrorism charges. a police spokesman says they were picked up in early morning raids in london car death and stoke on trent. they're suspected of preparing to set off explosives in multiple locations. it is not clear yet where the alleged plot would be carried out. >>> this morning korea is on edge, a 60-year border war threatens to boil over again. south korean artillery bombarded test targets for 90 minutes during a scheduled military drill on the same disputed island a

well despite the threats of war by north korea we stain the military drills carried out by south korea today and now this comes after they were delayed at the weekend. and that gave time third emergency meetings the u.n. security council held an eight hours of last night to try and calm the situation down now but this week at that meeting with discussing a russian drawl statement that was cooling the north and south korea to avoid doing anything that would escalate this conflict we can now from the russian u.n. envoy talking about this. there may be going to vision of tension. serious conflict for that matter so in the big chamber when they have this private meeting which was also of course asked for by the russian federation. we reiterate at the cool or. on both parties in the no uncertain terms we. asked the republic of korea to refrain from conducting the six the size of this at this point in time but there are certain political circumstances would try to deal with the situation unfortunately so far the security council has not been entirely successful. so one of the key issues. fro

the sea border with north korea. the north has warned that they will attack if the exercise it goes ahead. north korea shelled the island last month. that has brought a surge of new recruits to the south korean armed forces, many women among them. this has renewed a debate about who and who should not play a part. >> here, like anywhere, the military is -- but this shows how things are changing in south korea, these are the newest recruits. they are the first female students allowed onto a military training program. this is part of the military's plan to double the number of women in their ranks. this is probably the first time anyone war eyeliner at the enrollment ceremony. since north korea attacked the southern island last month, the reality of what they're signing up to has become much more apparent. >> before the attack, i always thought of them as our brothers. after the shelling, i have become a lot more alert about the threat. as a woman and now as a member of the military, i need to be more vigilant. >> the

in south korea. president lee is oftentimes seen as a puppet of the united states and the area around his office is called by many south koreans the news united states of south korea south korea certainly seized on any opportunity it can to escalate tensions there is the sinking of the south korean corvette chain on then which was immediately blamed on north korea over north korea and denials and there are many in south korea who do not believe the official inquiry then we have the artillery exchange that happened on november twenty third which has been blamed on north korea however the exchange was triggered by south korea and marine garrison on an island that lies very close to the north korean coast you consider that you consider president leaves hostility toward north korea . it's his policy of confrontation deescalating war games and it's hard not to conclude that south korea is trying to precipitate a fight to to pick a fight and trying to provoke its northern neighbor washington based investig

ambassador to seoul that north korea had already collapsed economically. chun also reportedly said china has less influence over the country than is widely believed. another u.s. document shows that a chinese foreign ministry official in april last year told a u.s. diplomat that north korea was acting like a spoiled child to achieve its demand of bilateral talks with the united states. another leaked cable dated in june of last year shows that a chinese official criticized japan's stance on the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. the official reportedly told a u.s. diplomat that japan's obsession with the abduction issue reminded him of a chinese proverb about an individual who's too weak to make something work but strong enough to interfere. >>> meanwhile, one of the latest pieces of information shows china opposed japan's bid to become a permanent member of the u.n. security couns. embassy in logged the document in april of last year. it reveals that a senior chinese foreign ministry official told a u.s. diplomat the u.n. security council s

. >>> north korea warns it will attack south korea if the country resumes scheduled live fire drills on yeonpyeong island in the yellow sea. south korea suspended the drills in the wake of north korea's shelling of the island on november 23rd, that killed four people. south korea plans to resume the drills between saturday and next tuesday depending on weather conditions. the south says, artillery shells will be fired at sea in the opposite direction to a u.n. designated maritime border. but the north does not recognize this border and claims that the waters around the island are its territory. the north's official korean central news agency reported on friday evening that the military had requested in writing earlier in the day as south korea immediately canceled the drills. >> a south korean military official acknowledged they had received the request, but said they do not have to give into the north's threat. >>> u.s. joint chiefs of staff vice chairman james cartwright has expressed concern that tensions could escalate on the korean peninsula. >> if that is misunderstood or if it

and its goal is to end north korea. the united states' policy for the last sixty years has been to seek the collapse of the north korean state and its absorption into the south. the lead government is more closely aligned with u.s. foreign policy goals on the korean peninsula than say the governments of presidents rohan presidents kim. in south korea president lee is often times seen as a puppet of the united states and the area around his office is called by many south koreans the news united states of south korea south korea certainly seized on any opportunity it can to escalate tensions there is the sinking of the south korean corvette chain on the hand which was immediately blamed on north korea over north korean denials and there are many in south korea who do not believe the official inquiry then we have the artillery exchange that happened on november twenty third which has been blamed on north korea however the exchange was triggered by south korea and marine garrison on an island that lies very close to the nor

and south korea situation. south korea quickly said, oh, my goodness, for the first time in 60 years, we're under attack. two people died, dozens wounded, when north korea decides to open up on some island. your reaction? >> i have two reactions. first of all, south korea isn't even signing a trade pact with us. they make hundreds of billions of dollars of let's call it profit on the united states. the president goes over there recently and they embarrass him by saying we want more. you wouldn't believe me. this deal that we're making is so bad and they won't even sign it. then they get bomb and we send -- i say two things. why aren't they paying us? they make a fortune. why aren't they paying us for security? why are we doing this for nothing? we are the dumbest people. i see that they embarrass us by not signing the trade pact, then i see the boats sailing, these magnificent destroyers, most incredible thing i've ever seen, and they're all going over, i mean, what's wrong with us? why aren't they paying? by t

later at the iaea meeting japan, the united states, and south korea criticized north korea, saying the country is promoting its nuclear program in violation of u.n. security council resolution. but china called for restraint. >>> in biz news the european central bank has kept its interest -- key interest rate, that is, unchanged and a record low for a 19th straight month. the move is aimed at easing credit concerns over the region's debt problem. the central bank decided on thursday to maintain the rate at 1%. it made the decision for the 16-nation you're o'zoen at a board meeting at its headquarters in frankfurt, germany. the bank also opted to continue offering unlimited three-month funds to financial institutions. the move comes after the eu decide last month to bail out ireland, which has excess debts. the eu and imf will inject a combined 85 billion euros, or about 110 billion u.s. dollars. but that wasn't enough to stamp mounting concerns that credit woes may spread to other eurozone economies with huge fiscal deficits. >> down side risks will lead to tensions in some segments of

we have this report from seoul, korea. >> it was not just the liberal threats from north korea. south korea counted down for its live fire exercises. they blamed the u.s. for being a bigger threat on the peninsula and north korea and called for the drills to stop. but despite such concerns of other voices of restraint in the region, south korea went ahead with eli fire drills on schedule. on the island, villagers and journalists were moved to bunkers and the exercise went on for about 60 minutes, and then they asked why north korea has to carry out these at such a sensitive time. some believe it was that they wanted to prove a point. the government here is try not to be prescriptive about when and where military drills can take place. >> the ongoing live fire exercise on yeonpyeong island is a standard and legitimate defense exercise. the exercise is a matter of national sovereignty. >> earlier, the north had warned that if the exercises went ahead, it would attack the south more strongly and on a larger scale than before. rocket launch vehicles had been reported near the border