north korean authorities later declared the issue resolved. but that wasn't good enough for the japanese government. over the years it pressed for a fresh investigation and posed sanctions as it waited. these included blocking north korean citizens ships and flights from entering japan adding new checks on money transfers to the north and banning all imports and exports between the nations. as a result, the north's shipments of marine products and mushrooms to japan went from $150 million to zero. and japan's exports of electric appliances and secondhand vehicles to the north fell from roughly $70 million to zero. representatives of both countries continued to negotiate behind closed doors. but they made little progress. prime minister shinzo abe gave the discussions a push in part because relatives of the abductees were getting older. he stressed the outcome would represent the first step toward normalizing relations. north korean negotiators promised a thorough re-investigation. in return, japanese officials agreed to allow north korean ship

korean speaking population. this professor believes an agreement will also have an important strategic value. >> translator: if there is progress toward a free trade agreement between china and south korea, it will strengthen the ftas china has with asean countries. this will be an asset in the future, as a counterbalance to the trans-pacific partnership between the u.s. and japan. >> and people in japan are feeling the effects of a recent tax hike. ron madison joins me with the results of the latest survey. ron? >> officials have been watching very closely for any negative impact from that higher tax and now it seems more people in japan feel their livelihoods have gotten worse. bank of japan researchers say this reflects the impact of higher prices after the consumption tax hike in april. every three months the central bank researchers ask 4,000 people about how they feel about their lives. in the latest survey, the diffusion index on how respondents responded stood at minus 10, down 3.6 points from a month ag

when panama rolled up the largest of the north korean conventional weapons in july last year, korean freighter trying to go through the panama canal that was indicated that the rest of the world gets the message. ..orean freighter trying to go through the panama canal that was an indicator the rest of the world gets the message. when 80 countries condemn north korea's decision to test a nuclear device at the beginning of last year and took action to join with the sanctions regime internationally to impose costs on north korea, that's what we're talking about here. no, we're not talking about an attempt to convince through a high school debating society. we're talking about reduce their running room, prevent them from selling their weapon systems that they need to sell in order to get inputs for their weapons program. but we're also talking about keeping a hand open to north korea if they have this change of mind. that's the diplomacy part of them. i was engaged with them at the beginning of 2012. we cut a modest dale with them to give them a chance back which is security guarantees.

they want to know how far the north koreans are prepared to go. representatives of the national defense commission and the secret police will sit on the panel. investigators will be divided into four groups, each of which will cover a different area. they'll examine the fate of the abductees, other missing people, those left behind during world war ii, and spouses of north koreans. and finally the remains of those who died around the end of the war. some analysts fear those looking into the abductions will have difficulty investigating the agents who carried out the kidnappings. they say it's hard to dig up information on secret missions. the families of the abductees will meet later on friday with prime minister abe. they fear the north koreans will not carry out a thorough investigation and they don't want abe to back down. izuka leads the group. his sister went missing in 1978. he and megumi disappeared in 1977. they're expected to ask abe to proceed carefully and to determine what north korean authorities are trying to do. leaders in pyongyang

-south korean military exercises. and our allies in japan, even as they attempt to promote diplomatic dialogue with north korea on resolving the abductions of japanese citizens, the kree nan people's army launched short-range missiles into the sea of japan in late june. these type of provocative actions towards our allies are deeply concerning. the u.s.-china relationship, along with our bilateral relations with south korea and japan is crucial in solving the interkorean conflict. we have to take a regional approach and we have to work together with our partners in the region. the conflict has multi-lateral implications, and therefore is not only a u.s. interest. as the world's greatest democracy, we must take a tougher stance with the international community on north korea's threatening antics. north korea must view our partnership as a regional effort to support a peaceful and stable pacific region. we have to put the pressure on the north korean government with stricter sanctions so we can engage in diplomatic dial

korean airlines flight 007. that flight, again, had strayed into the soviet union, but honestly, that flight was only seconds away from international airspace when a soviet fighter jet hit it with two missiles. that was 1983. one of the passengers onboard that plane that was shot down was a u.s. congressman named lawrence mcdonald. congressman from georgia. >> i'm roger mud. nbc news, washington. the united states today accused the soviet union of shooting down a korean airline jumbo jet carrying 269 including congressman larry mcdonald of georgia and perhaps 30 other americans. there are not thought to be any survivors. the airliner which originated in new york was on a flight from anchorage, alaska, to seoul, south korea. the u.s. claimed that soviet fighters tracked the korean 747 for more than 2 hours as it swerved off course and wandered in and out of soviet airspace. >> the president was first informed the korean plane was missing last night but not until this morning he was told the soviets shot it down.

korean airlines flight 007. that flight, again, had strayed into the soviet union, but honestly, that flight was only seconds away from international airspace when a soviet fighter jet hit it with two missiles. that was 1983. one of the passengers onboard that plane that was shot down was a u.s. congressman named lawrence mcdonald. congressman from georgia. >> i'm roger mud. nbc news, washington. the united states today accused the soviet union of shooting down a korean airline jumbo jet carrying 269 including congressman larry mcdonald of georgia and perhaps 30 other americans. there are not thought to be any survivors. the airliner which originated in new york was on a flight from anchorage, alaska, to seoul, south korea. the u.s. claimed that soviet fighters tracked the korean 747 for more than 2 hours as it swerved off course and wandered in and out of soviet airspace. >> the president was first informed the korean plane was missing last night but not until this morning he was told the soviets shot it down.

. >> i'm south korean, and having a south korean background is not exactly a blessing becausey.ot3a is as we know, technically still at war. so -- but a creative organization, so there's this group that i get in. so first time i went in with the pro north korea group. it was fascinating. i got to see -- wasn't going in there as a tourist. i went there as a youth delegate. i guess posing as a youth delegate there to honor the great leader, and then i ended up writing a long feature for the new york review of books and then when the philharmonic went in 2008, to pyongyang, i went in as a journalist. so, i was -- i've been looking for a time to actually really see north korea, because it's impossible to see. i have covered the factors which you can cover from china or south korea. and that is one part of the story because these are the people who left. what about the people who are living in there? so, finally, i found out about this pool being set up by christian missionaries in the suburb of pyongyang, and i applied for a job there, and i actually got this job for -- in 2011, which happ

. >>> soeoul, the south korean capital.t's a support center for unwed single mothers in the northwest of the city. it's run by a christian organization. unwed single mothers without an income can stay at the center for free. they receive child birth expenses and other essential support including baby milk and diapers. the center receives some assistance from the government but it also relies on private donations to make up its budget. 16 unwed single mothers and pregnant women currently live at the center. they range in age from 16 to 28. 22-year-old park hyi ju gave birth one month after arriving at the center. her 2-month-old daughter is in good health and doing very well. hyi ju's former boyfriend is oerld than her. at first he agreed to raising the child together but as her pregnancy progressed, he changed his mind and left. her parents scolded her constantly and did show her any understanding for her situation. the center also offers psychological counselling as anxiety and motherhood can have a negative influence on t

south korean officials have requested it. in a statement, the council president criticized the north. >> the members of the security council condemn these launches as violations of security council resolutions and urged the dprk to fully comply with the relevant security council resolution. >> the council issued a similar statement in march after north korea conducted other ballistic missile launches. >>> to the latest in business now. housing prices are coming down in more chinese cities. prices fell at nearly 80% of major cities in june. that fueled concern that the decline could pose downside risks to the country's economy. china's national bureau of statistics says new home prices rose only in 8 of the 70 cities surveyed. that's down from 15 in may. in contrast, 55 cities reported declines compared with 35 in the previous month. that was the biggest number since comparable data became available in 2011. cities showing falling prices out-numbered those with increases for two straight months. prices in the southern city of

south korean government officials believe the north koreans are trying to develop guide missiles with an extended range. they fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea of japan. the latest launches come a day before the chinese president, xi jinping is scheduled to visit south korea to meet with park geun-hye. the latest launches appear to be an attempt to pressure china's leaders. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the hour. >>> good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. tonight, first a conversation with ron capps director of the veterans writing project about his memoir serious li not lrt fooy not all right five wars in 10 years which takes a look at how the trauma of war continues to plague our soldiers. a veteran of afghanistan. >>> then we will talk to arturo sandoval, from north america and we're pleased he will join our studios and a performance from arturo sandoval coming up right now. ♪ ♪

government officials say the ship was hit by a north korean torpedo. leaders in pyongyang have proposed an easing of tensions on the korean peninsula. for example, they've announced they will send a cheering squad in september to the asian games in south korea. unification ministry officials say the aid is based on a plan president park unveiled in march for unification. and government officials are looking for ways to reopen dialogue. >>> leaders from tokyo and pang -- pyongyang have agreed to try to close an issue that has been in the way since the end of world war ii. they're in discussions of how to handle the remains of japanese who died on the korean peninsula about 70 years ago. and now relatives of the deceased are asking their government to take more responsibility for the issue. the two countries agreed in may to talk about the retu of the remains of some 20,000 japanese still in north korea. this was part of a larger agreement on an investigation into the fate of missing japanese, including those abducted by north korea. a group of bereaved

the it makes south korean goods more expensive overseas. we'll keep a cross that and talk about it on "gmt" coming up in an hour's time. how about this retail giant. the french giant is pulling out of india closing five stores. it's operated since 2010. india's retail market is difficult for foreign retailers to crack into even though the government made it easier back in late 2012. >>> how about this pot going to pot. the start of legal marijuana sales begins in washington state today. both washington and colorado states voted in 2012 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21 and create state license systems for growing, selling, taxation. it means the public can buy marijuana legally without a doctor's note. it's expected to be pricey because of a limited supply from growers. it's heavily taxed 25%. 25% at wholesale and retail. additional sales taxes on top of that. we're going to cover this story on "gmt" in over an hour's type. lots going on. tweet me at @bbc aaron. there's been studies in uk for legalizing marijuana. if they taxed it, t

they want to know if panel members will be able to investigate every north korean government agency. probes involving the country's intelligence agencies usually require special permission from leader kim jong-un. japanese police have collected dna samples of family members of more than 600 people they suspect were abducted by north korean agents. police will test those samples if north korea submits dna from the missing people. now past tests have revealed discrepancies. japanese scientists analyzed dna from a set of remains the north koreans said were from megumi koyota, one of the abductees, but the tests showed it came from a different person. >>> to the latest in business now. managers at companies across japan are feeling less positive about the state of the economy. they responded to the bank of japan's latest takan survey of business sentiment. their answers reflected a change in mood after the consumption tax increase in april. bank officials measured the percentage of respondents who are optimistic. first those who are pessimistic. for the first time in six quarters they fo

firms could invest in the choir raw materials and some of these countries the the koreans can provide technical advice and develop some soft security relationships which would be very good to balance their preoccupation with north korea and japan and we're seeing that now with the upcoming visit of presidency jinping to seoul for a state visit and we're going to have in the fall a visit in september by the others were put into japan and so there's a kind of. reaching out to their neighbors in the region which suggests a liveliness to diplomacy we haven't seen for decades and that despite all the talk of merican talk of isolating russia now speaking about south korean efforts what i found particularly interesting was that there's additional roads and railways that president park was talking about will have to pass through north korea which creates well at least the potential for the normalization of ties between the two koreas there's also a parallel project a proposal. of building a gas pipeline linking russia and south korea and reach again would bypass or pass through rather north k

russia and china than on the united states isn't that perhaps a sign of rebalancing in the south korean foreign policy well i'm not sure i would use that term i think certainly i am very comfortable with president park's efforts to reach out to russia china central asian korea has for obvious historical reasons then pre-op. pride with its own peninsula and its relationship with japan for decades and for people like myself we've always hope that the koreans would lift their gaze a little farther and see where they have opportunities to play a role in all they did participate in the vietnam war sending troops there and exchange for american troops protecting them from north korea during the seventy's but i'm talking about something very different about economic and gauge with korean firms can invest can acquire raw materials in some of these countries the the koreans can provide technical advice and develop some soft security relationships which would be very good to balance their preoccupation with north korea and japan and we're seeing that now with the upcoming visit of presidency jinp

back towards the east and korean peninsula 30 degrees for your high. don't expect rain showers but another form of severe weather, the haze. anybody with breathing issues you want to watch out for this. it is not just the pm 2.5. temperatures are still hot and humid. 33 actually expected into tokyo on tuesday. let's look towards europe where while the jet stream continues to meander towards the north and dips towards the south. on the base of this we have been seeing a series of low pressure systems. video out of switzerland where you have been seeing flooding and a landslide covering up railroad tracks. also, a woman was killed and several houses and basements flooded. as we take a look ahead the threat of the storm systems still there. continuing to track towards the east following another low that brought two reports of tornadoes. so you don't need more severe weather. this is something we will continue to watch. now, moving towards the americas, continuing on the topic of severe weather. take a look at cloud cover. that is a line of severe weather

the touch stone everybody keeps going back to is korean airlines in 1983. we're going to talk about that a little later on in show. i think there is something of interest there, but that really was heart of the cold war in terms of the way that the soviet union decided that wasn't their problem, it was actually a heroic action that day took. the rest of the world may have thought it was a civilian airliner, but they knew it was a spy plane. since then, in the post-cold war russian era, are there other things we should be looking to in modern russian history that might predict the way russia is going to act or might explain how they'll treat this? >> i think actually '83 downing of korean airline actually is a very good example of this because it was the height of the cold war, but also almost the end of the cold war. because the height of the cold war leader already was dead in 1982. so russia was sort of scrambling to -- it was already a rotten empire, soviet rotten empire to no end, so it's '83. so it actually rot to the ground two years later and gorbach

everything is multiple choice -- math, korean, english, physics.nts are quizzed about everything they've learned since kindergarten. it's also a tough time for parents. for weeks, thousands of mothers have been praying at the jogyesa temple in seoul for their children. 3,000 times with their forehead on the ground. it's meant to bring luck. it certainly means painful knees. to have a child at an elite university raises the social standing of the whole family. even shi-hwan's parents, practicing christians, seek divine help at their church. >> our son has given his best. but it's only a fraction of what can be achieved. so, in any case, we need the help of god. >> so, did all the prayer, hoping, and blueberry juice help? in the afternoon, the family waits in front of the school gates, both tense and relieved that the exam is over. shi-hwan emerges completely exhausted. "how was it?" his mother asks. "i just want to relax," he answers. shi-hwan wants to spend a few days on south korea's east coast to wind down. but he won't have much time. if everyth

that was totally news to the south koreans when he did it. they knew he was coming to visit but had no idea when he was there he was going to do the whole thing with the whole show of returning the black boxes. the president of south korea at the time said this incredible surprise gesture showed that sincerity was building up between their two countries. sincerity. basically saying, you know, listen, he surprised us with this incredibly sincere gesture. this is a very meaningful thing to us as a nation. something we thought would never happen. we are building trust and sincere regard between our two nations. or maybe not. it quickly emerged that boris yeltsin's big show in south korea about handing over the black boxes was just a show. he did hand over the containers. the black boxes. he turned them over at the big spectacular press event, but they were empty. there was nothing on the recorders. handed over the recorders, but not the tapes, the actual data. oops. it was very embarrassing for everybody involved. russia ultimately had to admit

south korean officials had requested it. in a statement the council president criticized the north. >> the members of the security council condemn these launches as violations of security council resolutions and urged the dprk to fully comply with the relevant security council resolution. >> the council issued a similar statement in march after north korea conducted other ba missile launches. >>> meanwhile, north korea is scheduled to join a sports tournament in south korea later this year. but pyongyang officials appear to be having second thoughts. officials of the two countries met on thursday at the border village of panmunjom to discuss the asian games scheduled for september in inchon. the north korean delegates said they would send 700 athletes and cheerleaders. that would have made it the largest delegation from the country ever to join an international tournament. but the talks broke down when the north's delegates walked out in protest. north korea's official korean central news agency reports that south's delegate

the chinese president starts his tour of the korean peninsula of seoul in the south.ore israeli air strikes against gaza as palestinians prepare for the funeral of a dead teenager in east jerusalem. a study for centuries, and providing new insight. we look at the findings from cambodia. >> i'll have all the latest sports new, including he's the poster boy for the world cup. why is neymar crying. we'll look at how brazil is coping with the pressure as hopes. >>> the president of iraq's kurdish region is set to deliver what is described as an historic speech to its parliament amid tensions about kurdish ambitions. let's break this down. different groups have a stake in iraq politics. it's not just internally. let's look in the north, where the kurdish parliament is now discussing holding a research um on independent, it's a move supported by turkey. in the shia dominated south there's disagreement about the future of president nouri al-maliki himself. a shi'a, iran, does have influence here. the iranian leadership is not united on this issue as well. by far the biggest

the panel is re-opening cases of japanese citizens abducted decades ago by north korean agents. they will look into cases of missing japanese. the japanese government responded by formally deciding to lift some sanctions on north korea. japanese seizing three sanctions on north korea that have been in place since 2006. they cover restrictions on travel, money transfers and port calls by ships. prime minister shinzo abe and his ministers determined the panel's investigation will be effective. they noted a senior official at the north's top state organization has been named the committee's head. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga told recorders easing the sanctions were meant to urge north korea to change its attitude. >> translator: our ministers will work together to get north korea to take concrete and proactive action to resolve the abduction, nuclear test and missile launch issues. we'll keep some of our sanctions in place as well as those based on u.n. security council resolutions. resolving the abduction issue is of the highest importance for the abe administration. we'

-south korean military exercise scheduled for next month. it says the more such drills take place, the more rockets north korea will launch and the more nuclear armaments it will stockpile. >>> some real estate agents in china are seeing a once red-hot market cool off. they're dealing with new data that shows housing prices in many major cities are falling. and they've now begun to look at new ways to attract home buyers to view their listings. nhk world's daisuke azuma reports. >> reporter: at a housing company in beijing, the employees have gathered for their morning meeting. despite the enthusiasm, the future does not look bright for them. this two-bedroom condominium was put up for sale three months ago. even thoug pre-owned, it was priced at $.5 million because of its location in central beijing. however, since then, the realtor has had to cut the price. >> translator: ne has bought it, so we cut the price several times. now it's 10% lower than the original price. >> reporter: on wednesday, china's national bureau of statistics released

the visit is seen as a snub to china north korean a allies. it's the first time the chinese leader visited seoul before going. the two nations work towards a free trade agreement. >> lucy williamson said the two leaders appear to have a strong friendship. >> reporter: when park went to obey -- to beijing last year she was welcomed. she speaks chinese and gave an address to an audience that went down well. these leaders have met four times already. they've been in power a fifth year each. when you trust the relationship with ping's relationship with the north korean leader king jong-un , he has not been to china yet in power and she hasn't been as president either. it's a striking contrast. we shouldn't read too much politically into that. >> security is to be tightened for airline passengers heading to the u.s. this in response to warnings of a credible threat from al qaeda. now the measures which haven't been disclosed are likely to affect passengers taking direct flights to the u.s. all this amid fears a bomb is being developed by al qaeda w

the korean central news agency says kim gave orders to fire. the report says the drill took place in what it refers to as the western front. it didn't specify when it was held. analysts believe the images were taken on wednesday when the north koreans fired two short range ballistic missiles into the sea of japan. the devices took off from the western province of hwanghae. officials say they were the first launches from the area in more than a decade. last week the north koreans set off devices from a location in the east. the military officials say authorities in pyongyang are trying to prove they can fire missiles anywhere at anytime. the u.s. state department spokesperson says the north koreans are antagonizing their neighbors. >> such provocative actions unilaterally heighten tensions in the region and will not provide north korea with the prosperity and security it claims to seek. >> authorities in pyongyang have staged four launches in under two weeks. >>> let's turn to the latest business stories with ron madison. >> well, managers at co

that's exactly what happened with that korean airliner. you know, korean airline flight 7 when the recordings came out. first transcripts then recordings. you know, you have the sense of what happened in the moments when the pilots knew that things were unlikely to turn out well. an emotional angle and by the way in terms of who is to blame, there is little doubt that whoever shot the missile is to blame. there are questions about should the aircraft have been flying where it was. it would be useful to know if, in fact, there was any chatter in the cockpit about that as well. just in terms of, you know, is the airline -- certainly not primarily at fault, but at least partly to blame for flying in a place some airlines were avoiding. >> that's a question people are asking. on the issue of flight 007, the korean air flight 30 years ago, you say this is an interesting bit of history about the search for the black box there illustrating the international tensions that spill into these things. >> it was incredible. the soviets knew you wouldn't

i think your network has already played the clip of ronald reagan's reaction when south korean airliner was shot down. this is just what we used to call in the military awol. >> senator, you said there will be hell to pay if in fact russia shot down this plane. and you also further went onto say that you urged the president to make putin pay a heavy price if in fact russia is involved. all the evidence suggests tonight that in fact it probably was. what should the response be if in fact it is? >> well, first of all, recognize vladimir putin for the kgb that he is. by the way, you might have heard his statement that responsibility is with ukraine. the same guy that said it was uniforms bought at stores and when they went into crimea. first recognizing from where he is. second, it's just been cowardly. it's a cowardly administration that we failed to give the ukrainians weapons with which to defend themselves. these separatists may not even have occupied and had access to these weapons which apparently they got at an airfield. by the way, it takes weeks of training to make someone able to

we move into the cold war and in this case one aspect of the cold war is the korean war. some people call it the forgotten war, because unfortunately it's not featured a lot in the media. but it was an undeclared war of police action as it was described at the time by some politicians. but it was a full-on war. and as in many other times in united states army history the soldiers deployed to the war, weren't always given the right equipment, and it got very very cold during the winters and very hot in the summer. but the soldiers soldiered on, so to speak, and held off the chinese in the north korean invasion over time. we have some great artifacts from the collection. of course the cold weather is really one of the big aspects of the war itself. and in in case you can see a field cap from the time and also what was called mickey mouse boots. they were a long time coming to some of the southerns, they had to wait a while before they got these, but they were able to keep a soldier's feet warm and prevent frostbite. but they were difficult to wear, they cause your feet to s

and the kim regime is not taking the interest of the north korean people at stake here. so they are the ones that clearly are suffering. so we have a limited tool box here. just thinking those various jones, your opening testimony was touched upon where china is north korea's last remaining patron. what would happen if china joined us in the sanctions if we're just thinking through and really did cut north korea off? how would north korea respond? >> well, china has said that they support fully united nations sanctions and i talked about some of the signs that the chinese are beginning to take unprecedented action in that direction, signalling to north korea they will pay a price if they don't come around in particular on the nuclear issue. this is why when we talk to the chinese we try to talk about how we can work in concert to bring pressure on tnorth korea in a surgical way. we're going to keep at that because we think increasingly the core chinese interests in stability on the korean peninsula and our core interest in security that these are converging concerns. and

now across japan in the korean peninsula, rain is popping up in many parts of japan, but most of the rain is daytime thundershowers. across the korean peninsula yesterday heavy rain fell and numerous lightning as well, but conditions will be gradually easing today, and cold air actually located here that will be moving into japan as we go into tomorrow. so daytime thundershowers could be popping up once again in most of japan tomorrow. due to the rainfall, temperatures will be down to the 20s in tokyo bu 35 in beijing as well as chongqing. here is your extended forecast. >> that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us. >>> vote counting could take weeks, but indonesia's economy needs urgent attention. opportunity knocks in china. western leaders are lining up to talk business. >>> and hong kong homebuyers are looking for something affordable, and they're looking in tokyo. hello. you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuco fukushima. indonesians went to the polls. the winner will take charge of southeast asia's most populous country and its largest economy. electi

i think your network has already played the clip of ronald reagan's reaction when south korean airliner was shot down. this is just what we used to call in the military awol. >> senator, you said there will be hell to pay if in fact russia shot down this plane. and you also further went onto say that you urged the president to make putin pay a heavy price if in fact russia is involved. all the evidence suggests tonight that in fact it probably was. what should the response be if in fact it is? >> well, first of all, recognize vladimir putin for the kgb that he is. by the way, you might have heard his statement that responsibility is with ukraine. the same guy that said it was uniforms bought at stores and when they went into crimea. first recognizing from where he is. second, it's just been cowardly. it's a cowardly administration that we failed to give the ukrainians weapons with which to defend themselves. these separatists may not even have occupied and had access to these weapons which apparently they got at an airfield. by the way, it takes weeks of training to make someone able to

she has decided to visit the south kore south kore south korean peninsula, what is the message?> it's a showing of it's content. a state that is propping up for decades, blow the north-eastern border. the idea that a chinese sitting president would come to south korea before going to visit the leader of north korea is unprecedented since normalization of diplomatic relations between south korea and china. it is a public snub. it's an expression of a deepening relationship between south korea and china. south korea relies on china, it's a huge market for south korea, the trade between the two countries is $230 billion. it's an important relationship and one that is becoming, i think, more friendly since the two people, suin pink and park geun-hye became to the top. park geun-hye speaks chinese, they get on well, perhaps there's a deepening relationship on a personal level. >> you mentioned economy and trade. security is on the agenda, isn't it? >> in all sorts of shapes and forms. the key security problem is the neighbour to the north, and that will be key on the agenda between p

. >> i'm coming to you tonight about the korean airline massacre.he attack by the soviet union against 269 innocent men, women and children, aboard an unarmed korean passenger plane. >> reporter: korean airlines flight 007 was supposed to fly from new york city to seoul, stopping over in anchorage, alaska. but it drifted offcourse and headed towards soviet air space. soviet jets fired warning shots that were ignored. the target is destroyed. everyone onboard was killed. a tragedy that further enflamed tensions between the u.s. and the ussr. >> we can see no excuse whatsoever for this appalling act. >> reporter: when a plane is shot out of the sky, there are rarely survivors. bob hager covered the news for three decades. >> when they recovered the plane's recorders from previous incidents, you hear the noise of the missile hitting a plane. milliseconds of a bam and nothing. >> we are following developments in the persian gulf, where there's been a major tragedy. >> reporter: in 1988, it was the united states that made the mistake. a surface-to-air mi

government has already imposed sanctions on north korean banks. it blames them for assisting in the north's missile development. >>> let's now get the latest business stories from ron madison. >> thank you, shery. the top executive of mcdonald's holding japan has apologized for a food safety scandal. a chinese food processing firm was found to have supplied expired chicken meat to her company. >> i would like to extend my sincere apology to our valued customers. given the willful did session with a few individuals in one plant, mcdonald's is re-evaluating our protocols to strengthen them to ensure this doesn't happen again. >> casanova set the incident dealt a blow to mcdonald's. she said what the chinese firm reportedly did is unforgivable. mcdonald's japan has stopped using chinese chicken meat in its products and switched to thai suppliers. company officials say they will conduct thorough inspections on other chinese meat processors as well as thai chicken suppliers to make sure their products are safe. mcdonald's japan says its daily sales hav

the first time i went in 2002 was by joining the pro-north korean group and then i went and were kim jong-il celebration in 2002. .. for the chance to see north korea because it is impossible but you can cover from china. it's set up by the christian missionaries and i actually got this job in 20011 which happened to be the last. >> and you got a job doing what? >> teaching english. >> how control plus your life lacks >> north korea is the most controlled state and that is the gravity and the violation that is unparalleled to any state in the contemporary world. so from the minute that you go and you will be followed every second. you give up your phone and passport and all that. >> you have absolutely nothing on that can connect you to anyone. and then a reminder would be with you every time. you are not going to see as a pakistani were anywhere even a package to or you can go off but you go from site to site to site to cover north korea in any meaningful way that would reveal that. so we are always getting the soundbites that what is going on there in north korea. so that was 20 fo

officials say the north koreans conducted the launch near the southwestern province of hwanghae. the missiles flew about 500 kilometers toward the northeast. they believe both were scuds. officials in seoul say that north koreans want to demonstrate their capability to fire missiles at any time and from any place. over the last few months, authority in pyongyang have staged a series of launches. japanese parens minister onodera says he plans to raise the issue with u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel. >> translator: i think it's difficult to understand pyongyang's actions as japan and north korea are trying to resolve the abduction issues and open the door for dialogue. >> chief cabinet secretary suga said his government has launched a protest. suga said the launches are against u.n. security council resolutions. >>> israel is stepping up its offensive against the islamic fundamentalist group hamas. israel's military launched a massive air raid on the gaza strip. at least 23 people have died and more than 100 have been wounded. israeli troops bombed about 150 targets in response t

. >> reporter: a south korean company has been able to address such concerns. its strategy is to put priority on building good relations with local community. the company started to generate solar power from a 42,000 square meter field. in one year, $1 million. the company entrusted the power station's management to a local organization. the company has signed a new lease in the area. it invited local representatives to its groundbreaking ceremony >> translator: as a member of this community, we hope to be of help to you. we think we know the way of thinking of our business partners in japan to some extent. but the most important thing is to narrow the perception gap more. >> reporter: market player need to come up with smart strategies and well planned efforts. that's because japan has a limited supply of suitable land, while more and more businesses are entering the solar power business. keiko aso, nhk world, tokushima. >>> okay, that is going to do it for business hour. let's get you a check of the markets. >>> every morning, investors turn their attention t