negotiations between north korea and the united states and south korea have been tense recently. that's one reason why north korea is eyeing improvement over tying with japan, i think. >> what can you done to ensure that high-level talks move smoothly. >> resolving the issue -- there remain a wide gap between two countries. the biggest outstanding problem, but the late kim jong-il insisted the issue had already been resolved. it's unknown whether his successor will aim for an overall resolution of the issue. whey anyone interesting are the moving that took place just as bilateral talks were to begin. first north korea allowed a group of families and journalists into the country and then proposed a joint investigation into look into the grave sites. the remains of the japanese is an important task that has to be resolved. once the investigation begins, a certainly amount of money will flow, it will help the economy and boost employment. i think north korea will put more private on the remains issue than the abductee issues. >>> meanwhile, a group of japanese civilians who evacuate

. >>> north korea has refused an offer of emergency relief supplies from south korea. much of the north was inundated this summer after torrential rains and a typhoon caused widespread flooding and damage. there was also loss of life. more than 500 people were killed or remain missing. north korea informed the south about the refusal on wednesday. south korea's unification ministry had offered emergency supplies worth about $9 million. they included 10,000 tons of wheat and 3 million packages of instant noodles. north korea said in a statement it does not need the assistance. it said it wasn't satisfied with the items. north korea refused an aid offer from the south after a similar disaster last year due to dissatisfaction with the offered items. south korea apparently hoped to use the aid to initiate dialogue with the north and improve relations, but there now seems to be no such prospect after the refusal by the north. >>> people in japan are working to find closure on an issue that dates back to world war ii. thousands of japanese died in what is now north korea. bu

south korea estimes a signifant drop in north korea's grain harvest this year. the forecast is raising fears the north could face a desperate food situation. south korea's unification ministry released its yearly prediction of the north's grain harvest. crop production will fall between 400,000 and 600,000 tons from the average year. a spring drought and recent widespread flooding are cited as the cause. the ministry expects with foreign aid north korea may face grain shortages of 800,000 to 1 million tons from november. the per kilogram price of rice traded in the north rose about 1.5 times between february and august. analysts point out the deteriorating food situation will hurt north korea's leadership. supreme leader kim jong-un has made a promise to improve the people's lives. >>> a south korean government panel has proposed measures to combat bullying in schools. the members say the education system should be reviewed because it puts too much importance on university entrance exams. a number of junior high school students in south korea have committed suic

in south korea.ut china's labor costs have been soaring. in addition, productivity did not rise as much as the firm had expected. in march, the company moved two of its 11 production lines back to south korea. it plans to pull out half of the remaining production lines from china, by next year. what has prompted them to decide on the u-turn, ftas, south korea concluded with the u.s. and eu. if they export their major products from china to the u.s. and eu it has to pay up to a 20% tariff. in contrast thanks to the fta there is no tariff on exports from south korea. >> we are gting offers from prominent overseas brands and buyers. we want to make, made in korea products more competitive. and better known in the global market. we are confident. >> the south korean government has been laying out various policies to increase the number of u-turn industries. this is one example. here companies are hoping to make the u-turn are receiving consultations. a consultation center provide a variety of information

he visited china and south korea during his tenure and tried to improve relations. his grandfather led japan in the 1950s to 1960. his father served as a foreign minister. abe has promised to use his experience to revise the constitution and to reform education. so abe has a lot of political know-how and a profile. sherry ann spoke with our senior commentator to find out what his return as lpd leader means for voters. >> could abe once again be prime minister? >> that's possible. ruled most of the time since world war ii. voters got tired and fed up. then they kicked the ldp out of power. the democrats took over. but then the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster last year set the government back. latest polls suggest many japanese feel that the democrats have shown little leadership and that the ldp will win the most seats in the next general election. so the new party leader, abe, could well become japan's next prime minister. >> so now as party leader what will abe be pushing for? >> abe has said that the democrats have undermined japan's diplomacy and securit

other countries, including south korea, do not accept the code's binding authority. gemba asked that more countries recognize that the court has compulsory jurisdiction. his comment is seen as a veiled criticism against south korea which has refused to refer the dispute over takeshima to the court. in a separate move, japan's foreign ministry has taken action against an attempt by china to revise official maritime maps. the ministry filed an objection with the u.n. after china submitted a maritime chart with a territorial baseline extended beyond the senkaku islands. the foreign ministry document states that the senkakus historically and legally belong to japan. it says the japanese government cannot accept china's claim to the islands. gemba hopes his address before the u.n. general assembly will help japan win the support of other nations in its territorial disputes. jun oikawa, nhk world, new york. >>> south korea's foreign minister took a veiled shot at japan in his own speech at the general assembly. kim sung-hwan implicitly criticized his neighbor's decision to

north korea officials worked out our schedule and route beforehand. we had to follow the instructions. so while our crew had more freedom than usual, we still faced tight restrictions. >> do you think kim jong-un's regime will open up north korea? >> i will say the country's has changed little by little since kim took power last december. there's the possibility north korean leaders are trying to show they are making reforms, but as far as i can tell, they are not breaking from their basic political policy. they are still putting the military first, and they continue to ask people to praise their leader. so it will likely be some time before we will see real change in north korea. >>> cambodia is still living with the legacy of the brutal khmer rouge regime. the process of bringing its leaders to justice is difficult as they are growing old. now one has been declared unfit to stand trial. patchari raksawong at our bureau in bangkok has the details. >>> a tribunal jointly established by the united nations and the cambodia government has ordered the rel

the political risk in korea is much lower than in january when north korea has power shift. south korea's export driven economy has been hurt by slowing global growth. the south korean government and international monetary fund, both recently cut their forecast for the country's gdp for this year. >> why are the rating agencies confident about south korea's capacity to repay its sovereign debt. >> i think the main point ills the fiscal consolidation. as a result, in 2011. the government debt -- is only 34%. and the government fiscal deficit is only 1.1% of total gdp. which is just about 1/3 of averages. and i think this is why this credit rating agencies are so confident about the capacity of a korean economy to repay its sovereign debt. better debt ratings could make korean bonds look like a safe haven investment, encouraging in flow from overseas, and causing the yuan to appreciate. we asked how all this affects south korea's economy? we are expecting capital inflows and falling appreciation in the near future which may hurt some exporting farms in korea. but i don't think

japan is also hoping to have a meeting with south korea in new york. but many observers say even if the two ministers meet they are likely to only reiterate their positions without making any progress on the territorial dispute. >>> the chinese foreign ministry issued a statement criticizing noda. it said japan is infringing on other nation's sovereignty ignoring history and international law. the chinese foreign minister did not show up for noda's speech and will speak at the u.n. on friday. he is expected to reiterate the chinese claims and pressure japanese leaders into accepting that the territorial issues exist between them. the south korean foreign minister did not show up either. he has rejected japan's proposal to bring their dispute to the international court of justice. south korean officials believe no dispute exists over the islands since they control them. >> awe officials from japan, china and south korea are pushing ahead with talks on a free trade agreement in this climate. leaders tlihe three countries reached agreement on a trade deal

south korea has extended an olive branch to north korea in the hopes of opening up dialogue. the country's unification minister says he has opened talks to discuss relief aid for flood damage in the north. he told parliament that officials from the south korean red cross asked north korea to hold working level red cross talks. north korea's state-run media reports that about 500 people died or remain missing as a result of floods caused by heavy rains in june and july. the media also reports that a typhoon last month destroyed about 45,000 hectares of farm land. north korea has recently been increasing its criticism of south korean president lee myung-bak. analysts in seoul say they hope to resume talks through the aid talks. north korea has not yet responded to the request. >>> the latest exercise by south korean security forces is expected to further inflame a diplomatic dispute with japan. soldiers and police are taking part in a drill around takeshima islands in the south china sea. the japanese government claims sovereignty over the islands. south korean military personn

he was perhaps south korea's best known president. he was a military leader who took power and is credited with extorting the country's miracle of economic growth and with trembling -- with quick starting -- with kickstarting the country's miracle of economic growth and with trembling the human rights of the people -- trampleing the human rights of the people. >> people are well aware of how difficult it is for koreans to judge their parents and point out their errors. as long as i am standing as the country's presidential candidate, i should be objective and empathize with people. >> park geun-hye has been battling her father's image since the beginning of her campaign. the question is whether this apology will lay that history to rest. bbc news, seoul. >> tonight, a man is being treated in a london hospital for a new and potentially fatal virus similar to sars. sars killed hundreds of people in asia. the patient from qatar apparently contracted the infection in the middle east. so far, there are only two confirmed cases. it does not

well it's not all against china it's certainly there's the dispute between south korea and japan and japan and russia so there are a number of issues and yeah the reasons for really are all of the there is the longstanding territorial disputes it's flavored with historic animosities given japanese actions in the last century there's also rising nationalism particularly in china and we're also seeing it in japan and korea and then also what makes this different from the similar incidents in two thousand and five two thousand and six is that beijing's much more willing to assert itself in the past and that's what led secretary panetta to express concern that particularly the issue between japan and china could get out of hand even inadvertent clashes which always have the danger of escalating further markets if the united states reluctantly being dragged into this or is it happy that it has proxies to contain china. you know well. what's the sequence of events that we're looking at here we're looking at a multiple series of events one is the obama administration signaling a greater uni

thousands of japanese died in what is now north korea. more than half of their remains have not been repatriated. so a crew has been flown to inspect burial sites in an effort to move things forward. >> reporter: this man is 83. he's leading a civilian group of japanese expatriots from the korenian peninsula. i'm in a corn field and it's a five-hour drive. last year the north korean authorities discovered some remains of japanese people who di died in world war ii. an excavation covered the remains of one person. a coinated 1941 was also unearthed. masaki is convinced that there are more japanese remains here. >> translator: i waited for this opportunity for a long time. my wish has finally been fulfilled. we will remember the victims and offer prayers for them. i pray that you all may rest in peace. japanese -- could hardly take anything with them. about 20,000 are believed to still be buried in north korea. some japanese families want to visit the site and repatriate the remains of their relatives. yashushi is 80 now, he and his family

seeds this means we're not just talking about it china japan dispute we're also talking about a japan korea dispute over duck though we're talking about japan ongoing disputes with russia over the northern islands as the japanese call them we're talking about disputes in the south china seas between china vietnam the philippines and others so something is going on very large and significant around territorial issues in in the asia pacific and i'm going to come back to talk about why this is and why now but secondly we're talking about the. the rise of nationalism as a response to these issues nationalism that's driven by competing territorial claims yes but is also driven by historical memory issues centering on war and colonialism this is why the issues are so fraught in both trying to argue i could jump in here and i said earlier if i go to brian a piece and i go to brian it sounds like china has a lot of problems with its neighbors if we just going to consider what mark just said go ahead. oh yes china has problems with its neighbors it also has problems with the united states which just

south korea repeated its refusal. the u.s.-led exercise is held every year and aim is to stop trafficking in weapons. south korea's refusal may receive fle reflect anti-japan sentiment could increase. strained by the country's repeated claims to the islands. >>> the international envoy for syria is crafting a new plan to bring peace to the country. brahimi briefed the security council about the situation. brahimi took over as enjoy from former u.n. secretary general kofi annan. he met earlier this month with syrian president bashar al assad and members of opposition groups. brahimi told members after meeting with the security council that there's no prospect of a quick end to the violence but has a few ideas about how to bring the sides together. >> i think we will find an opening in the not too distant future. >> brahimi noted there are some signs that the divided syrian opposition may be moving toward unity. he's calling for the opposition groups to get together to negotiate a truce with the assad government. >>> iran's pres

reason behind the ecuadorian president's decision to grant jolene assigns a cylon well i think that korea probably thinks that julian assange is persecuted and so he's motivated on that score but i also think that rafael correa has his own internal political reasons for wanting to grant asylum to julian assange ecuador holds presidential elections in february of two thousand and thirteen and i think rafael correa seems to be holding a pretty solid margin of a pretty positive margin but i think that he might want to shore up some support and and i think that this issue plays to national sentiment in ecuador and wounded a sense of wounded pride because ecuador is a small country it's pretty impoverished and the united states says intervened on many in over the years in ecuador and on many occasions and in the political sphere in the military sphere and even the cia has launched destabilization in ecuador going back to the early sixty's and so i think korea is playing on this nationalist sentiment because ecuador and still like to be bullied they don't like to be pushed around. what does ecu

it's like it's like a pawn in this wider geo political game so it's not going to necessarily help korea and it may actually give the oil industry and these other industries an excuse to slap on. trade restriction ecuador's neighbors in latin america have strongly condemned threats coming from the u.k. on the issue of at what door granting julian assange to political asylum how strong do you believe their support is on this and how much weight will it carry when it comes to the standoff possibly escalating. well i think that the different countries in the region have different agendas and one interesting facet of the story is the falkland islands believe it or not because argentina has been locked in this diplomatic battle with britain over the falklands for some time and cristina fernandez de kitchener as been whipping up diplomatic support for her claims and she's been quite effective in in rounding up support in her corner. argentina want to explore for oil lucrative oil and gas in the falklands and so argentina sees this as an opportunity to whip up support against britain so i don't

surround north korea it's about surrounding china and controlling china as it will. most importantly of all you have access to resources to fuel economy this is the way that washington invasions that it's going to be able to control china's economy long term is by controlling its access to oil and other resources that it needs for its economy so this military expansion is part of that this military expansion means it lady needs more bases and so places like j.j. while out in south korea fishing in farming community of gang john four hundred fifty year old community is being torn apart so that a navy base can be built there for these u.s. warships that are going to be part of surrounding china have the same time home could now in guam or soon the expansion of us bases and even the philippines and vietnam united states is now negotiating to go back into those countries to have its navy porting again or that again there are places like can't run bay and also subic in the philippines so clearly this is a part of u.s. expansion into the region just cannot just a war isn't

japan is also hoping to have a foreign minister meeting with south korea in new york. but many observers say if the two ministers meet they are likely only to reiterate their positions without making any progress on the territorial dispute. so it appears little will be the result for the time being and the noda administration is expected to face further difficulty in deali with china and south katrina. >>> the chinese foreign ministry said that japan is infringing on other nations' sovereign city, ignoring history and international law. chinese foreign minister didn't show up for the speech. he's scheduled to speak at the u.n. on friday. he is expected to reiterate chinese claims and pressure japanese leaders into accepting that a territorial issue exists between them. south korean foreign minister didn't show up either. he has rejected japan's proposal to bring the dispute to the international court of justice. south korean officials believe that no dispute exists over those islands since they control them. >>> hundreds of chinese have protested in front of the u.n. h

there is possibility north korea leaders are trying to show they are making reforms. but as far as i can tell, they are not breaking from their basic political policy. they are still putting the military first and they continue to urge people to praise their leader. so, it will likely be sometime before we will see a leader change in north korea. >>> japan's bullet trains are famous for being fast and punctual and rightly so. the average delay last year was 30 seconds on the shinkansen line. that time keeping requires more than just the latest technology. here's a look at what's going on in the driver's cabin. >> reporter: for some people, punctuality is a virtue. for takanori usui, it's a driving passion. >> translator: my goal today is to be within one second of the schedule when passing stations and five seconds for station stops. >> reporter: he has been driving bullet trains for ten years. today, he is departing from osaka station. his destination is tokyo, a journey of 2 hour, 36 minutes. the automatic control system sets a maximum speed. depending on the spacin

some military contacts with north korea persist.er reforms are required to strengthen the rule of law, increase transparency, address constitutional challenges. >> u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton there speaking about myanmar, or burma, as it's known by some. there have been many reforms in recent months. she's saying there there needs to be more done by the regime in the capital of myanmar, the parliament meeting there, they've had elections, there have been prisoner releases, 500 or so prisoners released this week in are positive signs. freed from 15 years of house arrest back in 2010 and this is now the start of what is going to be an 18-day trip to the united states. she is going to be busy. almost 100 events while here, speaking with refugees from her own country. >>> let's get back to the war in afghanistan now. nato troops today being ordered to stop some joint operations with afghan army and police forces. this move prompted by that spike in deadly attacks by the troops afghan counterparts as well as of course the rec

they want to counter possible missile threats from north korea. a foreign ministry official urging the u.s. to ensure that the installation will not harm the interest of other snanation. russian leaders have criticized the u.s. for expanding miskisil in europe. >>> the civil war in syria is starting to affect people in the golan heights. syrian residents were united in their support for the government of assad but divisions have begun to emerge. >> reporter: arabs are determined to keep their identity as syrians under israeli occupation. they refuse to adopt israeli nationality. many hope that the government will w back control of golan heights from israel. he's a firm supporter of assad. he blames other countries for the fighting in syria. >> translator: what's happening in syria is the result of the united states written in gulf nations. syria is a united nation before they planned the split. >> reporter: a massive rally was held to express with the assad government. he repeated his call for strong support for the government. >> translator: so m

galaxy note 2 in south korea. this comes amid more intense competition worldwide, especially from its main rival apple. the new model comes with a stylus, it lets users write letters and draw pictures on its 5 1/2 inch screen. the hand set is also expected to be released in 128 other countries including japan. samsung had initially planned to begin sales of the galaxy note 2 in early october. but it launched the handset ahead of schedule, apparently after apple launched its iphone 5 last week. samsung is reportedly aiming to gain an edge over apple by adding more new models to its smartphone lineup. >>> south career's leader these -- he spoke and an armed forces ceremony wednesday in the south province. he said that differents of opinions in territorial claims. another issue is a row between japan and china over the islands. the south korean leader called for building stronger armed forces. the leaders of japan and columbia are pushing for stronger economic times. they gave the green light for starting nuclear lev

when other people in these other countries don't try to buy all these foreign goods i don't south korea they when. it was a park was the dictator who took over in the in the sixty's and at that time the annual income. the aneurism per capita income was like around six hundred dollars a year and their major exports were fish and human air and he just said he said we're going to we're going to start manufacturing an export in like crazy and people who were smoking foreign cigarettes were singled out on the streets for being shamed you know the news programs and things like this so there was this sense this is very rapid very and very quickly south korea you know industrialized doing that but. is that is that the city that does best demand right i think it yeah because there was demand for domestically made products. and also what happens is that shields you from foreign competition because if people want to buy a japanese car in your japan they won't be seen dead driving an american car for example you have to worry about pricing yourself against american cars because they're going you kn

four years ago, the island became the only place in south korea that accepts chinese tourists without a visa. the number of chinese visitors has tripled over the past three years. shopping is the highlight of their trip. they buy all kinds of brand name goods from watches to bags. >> translator: i bought souvenirs. >> reporter: chinese businesses are making end roads too. the president of a real estate development firm, it's parent company is located in eastern cho china. his firm will be the first among chinese businesses to build a large resort on the island. getting prov for proje like this usually takes about two years, but thanks to special consideration from the local government, his company received a go ahead in just ten months. it plans to invest $250 million into the project. construction of a hotel and other facilities is slated to begin in autumn. >> translator: large chinese companies are watching us closely to see how our project will turn out. of course, we are confident it will be a success. >> reporter: chinese businesses and people are now becoming an important part

the event was held in tokyo on sunday to mark ten years since north korea admitted to the abductions. >> translator: we have spent the last ten years waiting for our loved ones to return home. this year can be crucial. i hope we can make the best of this opportunity. >> the leader of the family's group asked the government to drop a strategy to deal with the north and make progress on the issue. about 2,000 people took part in the rally. yoshihiko noda gave a speech. >> translator: we will seek every possible way to illicit reactions on north korea so all the abductees can return home safely. >> the group asked more than 9 million people to sign a petition. the members handed a list of the names to noda. former abductee says time is running out. she says she hopes the others can be reunited with their families soon. she is one of the five japanese who returned home shortly after the north admitted to the abductions. yokota says she will not die until she's reunited with her daughter megumi. she was abducted in 1977 at the age of 13. north korea admitted in september 2002 that some of

narrator: the geographic region of east asia encompasses three subregions: japan; north and south koreaand china, mongolia and taiwan. the late 1900s saw the reemergence of east asia as a world political, economic and cultural force. nearly 1.3 billion people reside in the region's largest country, china. the province of guangdong is on china's southern coast. this area has sustained extraordinary growth in recent decades, thriving as a base of manufacture for a global economy. advancements in communication and transportation facilitate globalization. containerized shipping is a cost-effective means of transporting a variety of goods. guangdong's relative location to hong kong's ports and financial infrastructure is key to determining its position at the epicenter of chinese economic development. through guangdong, we see the forces of globalization at work in the pearl river delta and beyond. many observers argue the costs and benefits, but few dispute that globalization is the most profound reorganization of the world since the industrial revolution. the driving force of globalization

korea's technically remain out you. but the russian set itself may be feeling the pinch of the downturn that's according to the international monetary fund the organization's latest outlook has a lower growth targets and the higher estimates for russia's inflation consumer prices have jumped to more than the annual target of six percent and growth remains pretty sluggish but local economists believe russia's central bank was right last week when a boosted interest rates while a regulator's old over the world did just the opposite outta no bank is going to open the direction of a increase in their interest rate which is unusual because all other great writers in degrees in the part of the hour and you play should pull this because for our country will be different problems we have are less problems with unemployment there are more problems with. credit policy even money which was used for void for structure and you know them as it used to be said all the different ways. let's not check out the equity markets will start o

dead it sounds intriguing it's actually north korea. very intriguing it has signed the papers today writing off ninety percent of the eleven billion dollars that most of which back to the soviet times in return moscow would be able to invest in the north korean projects in the energy and educational sectors also russia showed interest in building a gas pipeline to south korea via the north but it's not clear how this multibillion dollar project is going to be executed considering that more from south korea's officially remaining out war. but russia itself may be feeling the pinch of the downturn. and that's according to the monetary fund of the organization's latest outlook has a lower growth targets and a higher estimate of inflation consumer prices have jumped more than the annual target of around six percent and growth remains pretty sluggish the local economists actually believe despite all of this that russia's central bank was right and boosting the interest rates last week even as the regulators all with the world did just the op

north korea it's about super. in china clearly the united states is intending to jack up the arms race and at the same time it must be said the u.s. is also doing the same thing to russia expanding missile defense throughout the in europe and into into central asia and clearly the u.s. is looking for trouble now. it's good to have you with us here on r.t. today coming up in just a few minutes full of steam. on occupy wall street. with massive action in new york nearly two hundred arrests to attract more attention to the activists call . and as the rise of voice their anger ahead of the u.s. presidential election we'll look at which candidate will listen and analysis still to come. wealthy british style it's time to. market. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines in two cars a report. from feinstein. starts on t.v. dot com. thanks for joining us here on r t today huge naval war games are underway in the persian

check out the video that someone got from a high rise in south korea.ee the rough seas, the pier and the water getting dangerously close to the road. >> the person who captured this video said that's video one. check out video two, a little while later. >> wow. wow. it's washed over the barrier, it's washed across the street and now it is swamping this car. so far one person in south korea has died as a result of typhoon sanba. but thousands are without power in japan. then it moved into north korea and tens of thousands there are without power. some people have been left homeless because of this, and 300-plus flights were canceled as well as ferry service because of this typhoon. >>> there's a reason why this video is called kitty eats with fork. look at that, there's a cat eating with a fork. >> this cat is named nyla. she seems to be enjoying this plate of mashed potatoes or egg salad. >> it turns out there's quite a few of these videos on the internet of cats eating with forks. >> but i don't think this cat is one of those, because we're not seeing

north korea surround north korea it's about china clearly. the united states is intending to jack up the arms race and the same type of must be said the u.s. is also doing the same thing to russia expanding missile defense throughout the throughout europe and into central asia and clearly the u.s. is looking for trouble now so. it's good to have a company today this is coming up in just a few minutes full of steam one year on occupy wall street markets anniversary with massive action in new york hundreds of arrests serving to attract more attention to the activists of course. now a huge naval war games are underway in the persian gulf though the water is on flying middle eastern flags but those of britain the u.s. and their allies the drill is happening right near the strait of hormuz softer coast of iran as reports pour in that israel is preparing a military strike against it. further explains today that seems likely. britain is one of twenty five countries taking part in a twelve day exercise in the strait of hormuz and the largest wargames