nhk world's kim chan-ju reports from seoul. >> the trial opened on monday in seoul.the daughter of the airline's chairman, delayed one of its flights at an airport in new york on december 5th. she'd been outraged when a cabin attendant offered her nuts in a bag rather than on a plate. the plane was taxiing for takeoff, but she demanded that it return to the gate. she also ordered the cabin service chief off the flight. south korean prosecutors indicted her this month for forcibly changing a flight plan in violation of aviation safety regulations. about six weeks since the in-flight outburst, the so-called nut rage incident continues to rock south korean society. scores of local and foreign journalists have gathered at a district court in seoul to cover the first session of her trial. in the hearing, cho's lawyer said she's very sorry for what she did. but they added that since the plane was only 17 meters away from an apron when it returned, the action did not violate regulations. the case has drawn a storm of criticism in south korea. people say cho acted the way sh

one, codenamed max thunder - took place in november at the kunsan air force base 150 miles south of seoul... >> this type of exercise takes place every year but for the north korean government they consider this a provocation and a threat. >> north korea is still a flash point. we're still at a state of war with north korea. this is 1953 armistice. >> if there was someday heaven forbid a real war here we would need to work very closely. we are always practicing together always working together >> thankfully we have helped stabilize and ensure the security of the peninsula for the last 61 years, but in spite of that long time we have to be ready to fight tonight and that really is our mantra. >> north korea is under new leadership. >> kim jong-un looks funny he is overweight and sometimes does strange things. but he is smart. when his father died 7 top officials, 4 generals and 3 civilian bureaucrats, walked next to the coffin of his father in december 2011. in two years time, none of them was alive and in a high level position. >> when it comes to international relations, kim jong-un's ru

leaders in seoul proposed talks three days ago. they want to speak mainly about reuniting families separated by the war. they urged officials to take steps toward a peaceful reunion of nations. >>> a new year's celebration in shanghai ended in disaster. more than 30 people died in a stampede. people gathered in a popular tourist spot by the river to watch a light show on nearby buildings. so many packed into the streets, they brought traffic to a stand still. then the crowd surged. roiters reports at least 36 people died. city officials say 50 others got taken to the hospital. they're trying to figure out what caused the accident. >> translator: when i was climbing up the stairs people coming down pushed us and we all fell. >> the shanghai hospital is treating the victims. they're swamped with people worried about their loved ones. some frustrated with the lack of information vented anger on the security staff. >>> chinese president xi emphasized china declared september 3rd the day of victory in the day of resistance against japan

leaders in seoul proposed talks three days ago. they want to speak mainly about reuniting familyies separated by the korean war. they've urged officials in the north to take steps toward a peaceful reunion of their nations. >>> taiwanese president began the year with a message of reconciliation. he said he'll keep pushing for peace with china and promised to tackle the causes of dissatisfaction among the young. >> translator: the young have lofty ideals and a strong sense of justice. they resent unfairness. if the government acts inappropriate ly inappropriately, it will invite misunderstandings and criticism. >> ma mentioned the opccupation of taiwan's assembly building last mortgage by students who opposed an economic pact with china. he said the government will listen to the public and promised to solve young people's challenges, such as a shortage of jobs and gap between the rich and poor. ma resigned as chairman of the nationalists party last month to take responsibility for its crushing defeat in local elections. he still has

many low-income people live in this area of northern seoul. today, about 70 volunteers participated in the delivery program. >> translator: it's cold and my face gets black. it's tough, but i participate every year with my friends from work. >> reporter: one person leads this project. he says coal briquettes reminds people of the old days. >> translator: when the country was poor most people used coal briquettes to get through the cold winter. >> reporter: won launched this project for coal briquette for neighborhoods in 2004. it started as a local program with about 400 participants in a district on seoul's outskirts. the media and websites reported on the project. eventually it grew into a nationwide program. operation costs are covered by donation from the general public. one man was motivated by an experience he had in his 30s. he was a labor consultant on issues involving coal miners. he said some are freezing and almost dying from the cold. they were really happy when he gave them coal briquettes. >> translator: the program is now so lar

we've been getting a bit more on this from the bbc's kevin kim in seoul. >> reporter: for kim jong-un, the new year's day speech has become somewhat an annual ritual, and here in seoul, officials do keep a close watch about what is said. this is his third new year's speech since he took power after his father's death. in the first speech he gave two years ago, the main topic was trying to improve the economy. last year after the purge of his uncle, he spent a lot of time emphasizing stability and the importance in the role of the worker's party. today, the focus was clearly on improved relations with the south. today, kim jong-un said through increased dialogue and exchanges with the south, a great transformation and reform would take place this year. he said, if conditions were met, a summit meeting with the south korean president could also be considered. >> kevin kim in seoul there. still to come on the program, it's 2015 everywhere in the world now. we'll be having a look at some of the wonderful scenes of celebration ringing in the new year. you pay your auto insurance premium ev

here in seoul, officials do keep a close watch about what is said. this is his third new year's speech since he took power after his father's death. in the first speech he gave two years ago, the main topic was trying to improve the economy. last year after the purge of his uncle, he spent a lot of time emphasizing stability and the importance in the role of the worker's party. today the focus was clearly on improved relations with the south. today, kim jong-un said through increased dialogue and exchanges with the south, a great transformation and reform would take place this year in ties with its neighbor. he said if conditions were met, a summit meeting with the south korean president could also be considered. >> kevin kim in seoul. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." a lot more still to bring you, including -- well it's 2015 everywhere now on this planet of ours. we'll have a look at some of the wonderful celebrations you've been enjoying. shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even pi

>> guest: this was during one of our weeks of interviews in seoul and 2009. c-span: how tall are you in how tall is he? >> guest: i am six-foot one inch and he is about 5 feet 6 inches. maybe 5 feet 5 inches. he is wanted for malnutrition and disarms her bowed from childhood labor. most of the male population of north korea suffers from malnutrition. when males come to south korea and now they're about 30,000 of them they are on average now according to the south korean government more than 5 inches shorter than their south korean contemporaries. that's an amazing statement about the nutrition and south korea. c-span: where is the two-day? >> guest: today he's in washington because we are promoting the book but he had moved six or seven months ago from the united states back to seoul where he is doing web broadcasting with young human rights friends and he brought other defectors on to talk about north korea. c-span: so the translation was it expensive? >> guest: no it wasn't that expensive. a lot of people cared about shin dong-hyuk and they cared about hist

japan's deputy foreign minister met with his south korean counterpart in seoul.hey confirmed officials from both sides will work on energy ventures in other countries and they agreed to do more to boost tourism going both ways. he called for an end to south korea's embargo on seafood from fukushima and seven other prefectures. officials introduced the restriction on concerns over contamination in 2011. ann called on japanese officials to cooperate with a second round of surveys next week. he said people in south korea need assurances that the seafood is safe to eat. >>> the people who run one of japan's bigs discount store chains want to woo more customers from aboard. executives say they'll make it easier for tourists from china to spend money at their outlets. the executives held a conference in beijing to explain. they say they'll accept payments with china union pay cards at all of their 262 outlets across japan. they plan to expand the service before the chinese new year holidays in february. they're also preparing an online reservation option to foods and o

but seoul, indonesia and sydney trading lower. >>> now market participants around the world are payingse attention to the u.s. central bank's monetary policy. as the country continues its economic recovery. in our ongoing series of major economies in the world i did speak with professor takatoshi ito of columbia university for his views. >> takatoshi ito is an expert on finance. he has also taught at harvard. ito said the u.s. economy will remain firm this year. >> i think last year's third quarter growth rate was 5.0%. and this momentum will continue. so gradually, that employment situation will become better and housing still so-so but we'll gradually turn better. and consumption has been very strong. so i expect that to continue. so i think 2015 will be a good year, another good year. >> reporter: the u.s. is shifting its policy toward tightening. while japan and the eurozone promote large-kale monetary easing measures. market participants expect officials at the u.s. federal reserve to end the near zero interest rate policy this year. what is your view on the timing of an interest

seoul, minus 2. hanging on to the double-digits here in tokyo on our wednesday. i'll leave you with the extended forecast. >>> we have one more story to share with you before we go. tokyo firefighters held a drill in preparation for a possible major earthquake at their annual new year event. the massive quake that hit kobe and western japan nearly 20 years ago serves as a safety reminder. more than 2,700 firefighters and fire corps volunteers took part in the drill on tuesday. >> translator: this year marks the 20th anniversary of the great hanshan earthquake. we've been working to upgrade earthquake preparedness by cooperation with regional groups. >> the drill was staged on the scenario that a powerful quake hit central tokyo, toppling buildings and leaving many injured. rescue workers from south korea took part in the event for the first time this year. they joined the tokyo fire department's hyper rescue team. the drill ended with fire boats spraying water tinted with the five colors of the olympic rings in anticipation of the 2020 tokyo games. >>> that's all

harry few set, al jazerra seoul seoul. >>> there have been two more more attacks in nigeria yeah, a campusown explosives were hiding in a bag and two bomb exploded. >>> the israel i prime minister benjamin netanyahu has won the support of his party in primary elections and will lead the right wing party in to general elections in march. the israel i liters reported netanyahu has an overwhelming lead over his challenger. >>> the united states is criticized the palestinian authority's bid to join the international criminal court as counter productive. the decision came a day after the u.n. security council rejected a resolution put forward by the palestinian leadership. in it, it was demanded that israel end its occupation by 20 stephen. from the occupied west bank a report. >> reporter: if you agree, raise your hand. that's what palestinian president mahmoud abbas said before signing the rome statute and nearly 20 other international conventions. >> translator: the first thing is for the i.c.c. we want to complain we are being assaulted and our lands are being attacked to every day. who do

seoul, though, chilly at 2 for your friday.leave you now for your extended forecast. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us. >>> good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with nas on the 20th anniversary of the release of his groundbreaking album "illmatic." the innovative c.d. which captured the rawness of his life in new york in the 1958 80s is also the subject of "time is illnatic" debuting at the prestigious tribecca film festival. we're glad you've joined us. a conversation with nas coming up right now. ♪

negative 2 for the high in seoul. and 4 is also we're going to see as we go through wednesday in beijing. a little bit warmer down toward the south into manila and bangkok. chilly weather also a big part of the story in north america. we have high pressure in central portion of the united states. already, temperatures way below freezing in canada. this cold air is going to continue to move down toward the south, some snow is expected in the mid-atlantic states as we go through tuesday and the deep south, be ready by the time we go into wednesday, you're going to start seeing temperatures plummet into the single digits for highs and overnight lows will be in to the below freezing categories. look at this negative 19 for the high in winnipeg on tuesday. negative 9 in chicago. negative 7 in toronto. and snow again for new york and also as far south as d.c. with a high of only 2. now, we are also talking about a couple areas of some major snowfall taking place in europe. we have a low coming in from the north and west so

high of 4 in seoul on saturday. 10 in tokyo. 9 in beijing. 20s down toward manila.cold temperatures also continuing for a good portion of the united states, as high pressure is driving down that chilly air from canada. we are looking at some wintry precipitation, some snow for the northeastern portions of the united states into southeastern canada. so toronto, new york, d.c. you will see some snowfall as we go through friday and again into chicago we're looking at temperatures at negative 14 with a windchill factor down into negative 20s. we're wrapping things up with a look at australia because the asian cup has started and it's going to continue as we go into saturday. but notice a lot of cloud cover from the southeastern portions of australia, canberra and sydney, wet weather with a high of 30 degrees on saturday as day two of the asian cup continues. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. e north of the capital. the kouachi brothers, suspects in the attack on "charlie

. >> reporter: outside any office building in seoul at just about any time of day you'll see them.able groups, mainly men on one of many daily cigarette breaks, south korea has the highest male smoking right rate of any developed nation at about power fukudome four purchase%, a quarter of all adults male and female smoke but they are having to get used to an 80% action tries from would .50 to 4.50 a pack. >> it would have been better if the price had been increased gradually like 5 to 10% but without any warning the government announced a couple of months ago that the price would be nearly doubling. it led to panic buying, in the run up to the new year shops were lil' he hadding customers to one pack per person, they carry warnings but they are text base and the language is relatively mild something anti-smoking campaigners say if the government wanted to do more than simply raise extra tax revenue what they would be doing is putting picture on his boxes like this. such a move is under consider, a campaigners prices will not cut the sky high smoking rates. >> if people can seat imp

the reaction from seoul. >> for the second year rubbing kim john-un used his new years streak to strikert a conciliatory tone. >> the atmosphere and environment is there there is no reason not to hold the highest level summit. we will make every effort to advance dialog, and cooperation. >> but he also said such talks couldn't take place while south korea carries out military drills with the u.s. and reaffirms his nuclear weapons policy. >> we proved clearly how right it is that we support the values of late leaders strengthen our national defense based mainly on the nuclear deterrence and safe defiances the life of the country strongly. >> he followed a briefing monday by the ministry, sullagessing initial talks this month, and the south korean president own new year message in which he promised to lead towards trust and change, and eventually unification. >> they have consistently said that she would be willing to meet kim john-un, but only if such a meeting would off the prospect of real progress, no talks for talks sake. that said, this year would carry extra symbolism, if the 70th

harry fossett has the reaction from seoul. >> reporter: the second year running kim jong-un used his new year's speech to raise the stakes with a possible summit with the south korean government. >> translator: if the atmosphere and environment is there, there is no reason not to hold the highest level summit. we'll make every effort to advance dialogue and cooperation. >> reporter: he also said such talks couldn't take place while south korea carried out military drills with the u.s. a twice yearly event, and re-affirmed his country's nuclear weapon policy. >> translator: we proved clearly how we support the values of leaders that strengthen our national defense based mainly on the nuclear deterrents and save the finances, the life of the country is strong. >> reporter: kim's offer following a brief on monday by the south unification ministry suggesting initial talks this month, and the south korean president's new year's message in which she promised to lead pyongyang towards trust and change and eventual reunification. park has said she would be willing to meet kim jong-un but onl

there's rumors of spies, north korean spies in seoul and just makes it difficult. yeah, the other difficulty is doing it on such a specialist basis, we rely on our users to provide us the bulk of our revenue and we operate on a very shoestring budget as i know a lot of the other specialist providers in south korea. that's an issue for the media long term again. if we can't pay quality journalists reasonable salaries they will drift to other subjects. and, again, that's going to be a problem for maintaining high quality journalists in this field in the long term. >> we have covered north korean news, and every day we are doing news on north korea. i have to confess in this podium, i made a lot of error as editor and as reporter -- we can't help make some mistake. everybody talking about the access issue. there are limitations from north korea, the person mentioned about the difficulty of north korea. if we think about north korea and then closed nature of north korea it's very difficult to make a mistake to cover the north korea news. be the important thing is the c

our correspondent steve evans reports from the court in seoul. her case is being considered there. >> reporter: in this court here is aviation law, and that is designed to go for people who hijack aircraft or disrupt flights seriously in the air. and on those charges, the maximum penalty is ten years. now, it's probable that she won't get there, but she's certainly going through the mill. she's had her head down most of the time. she's got this technique of using her hair as almost like a mask to shield herself. she's apologized profusely for the millionth time but she did it so quietly, that it was pretty well inaudible in the court. so she's eating humble pie, big time. she's charged, also with assault, and that's assault on a member of the cabin staff, who says that she pushed her. and the assailant and the alleged victim sort of met each other in court, in that the cabin crew member gave evidence and said that mrs. cho started off pretty calm was by the end of it all, was called a mega tantrum. and the plane, which was about 20 meters being p

golden gate bridge ride the volume and things are little sources they put those to analyzers at the seoulhe southbound direction and for the richmond bridge there is the backup for the westbound ride which is not the starting to slow the trip coming across interstate 580 before you hit the toll plaza on and for the east shore free ride the glass that was reported in the lanes just as demand has slowed the ride the drive times not horrible but this was two minutes which is fairly typical it is generally dampen backed up this early for that portion of the trip. >>george: was bought 580 was good between livermore and dublin south 680 even without incident this morning already backed up between seoul and dublin again that appears to be the normal and we're still looking at the incident for ride for the south bank recall having we are getting on 85 already was when saratoga and cupertino getting on to 85 northbound for 280 of 21 amid realize that was turned on last week. >>george: our access activated during commute hours this morning. >>darya: he is still not in new york the strategize sfo wh

seoul. 29-year-old min cheol sik lives alone in this tiny cramped room barely getting by on what he canas a day laborer. he says he was once attracted to a particular woman. after dropping out of koe indicational school he couldn't only find short term contracts but says he wadismisd for lack of skill and cheerns. reportedly one in five young people is employed on a contract of less than a year. now a day laborer, he works around ten days a month and earns between 400 and $600. his room is just over three square meters. his monthly rent is around $180. in the communal kitchen he prepares some insignificant noodles for lunch. he lives as frugally as he can. .tignifican.gnificant gnificanhc icant icao ani h.esugs .n foh. lly c kne he feels stuck and finds it hard to take any initiative. he says love and marriage will remain an unfulfilled dream. television appearances by female north korean defectors are all the rage in south korea these days. more and more men are seeking such women as potential partners. this show helps transformed the negative image of north korean women. the guests do

harry faucet, al jazeera seoul. >> a funeral has been held in indonesia for one of the victims of their asia crash. emergency crews are working to recover the rest of the bodies in the joba sea, but only nine have been retrieve sod far. where relatives are having to endure a painful wait. more than 24 hours after bodies were found floating they fail to spot more victims, improved weather conditions have finally allowed helicopters to fly over the area, where serj teams suspect the plane may be. meanwhile relatives are starting to become frustrating. yeah, my son is going there. with his friends. five of his friends to celebrate the new years over there. and then my other son is in singapore, so they are going to meet over there. joseph and his wife have come from their hometown in the east of indonesian to put up the pressure. of course, i am feeling frustrated. it is a painful white while the airline company tries to support them as much as possible, they are now growing impatient, they want to see news about their loves ones as soon as possible. despite earlier reports saying a shad

medal of honor that he just received this past summer for helping to plan the invasion that recaptured seoul in the korean war among other great efforts he made in the korean war. >> general would you say that was the highlight of your military career? >> well, one of the highlights. i think probably the highlight was when president reagan cited me as one of the chief architects of peace through. i thought that that was the highlight of my career. another highlight was introducing our helicopters into vietnam, a very controversial item. and we finally got armament on our helicopters which change the way -- ever since that time. so it made a great difference in vietnam and in the gulf wars and in society and military ever since, to have helicopters and particularly armed helicopters. >> prior to that helicopters had primarily been used for transport and for command and control. so it did change the nature of warfare as we know it. and one of his class mates, as a matter of fact oversaw the development of a little something called the blackhawk. so it was really an exceptional class involved i

seoul. >> here on al jazeera, how liberia is changing the way it deals with the dead as it fights toontain the ebola outbreak. plus after the floods in malaysia, villagers try to salvage the little that's left of their homes. that's coming up. ♪ >>> hello there. welcome back. our top stories: a retrial has been ordered for three al jazeera journalists jailed in egypt for more than a year. the court of casation accepted an appeal. it's unclear when they will be back in according to. >>> a tragic start to the new year in china where at least 35 people have been killed in a stam he'd in shanghai. it happened during new year's sell brays along with the city's waterfront. afghanistan's president thanked afghan troops for their sacrifices as they take over from nato forces. hours earlier, a stray rocket killed 26 women and children in helmut province. >>> let's get more now on the retrial ordered for our three journalists jailed in egypt good to have you on the program. for us, this retrial was the first positive sign we have had in a long time it means that the judges have accepted that t

harry fawcett, al jazerra seoul. >>> still to think come.nian president mahmoud abbas moves to joint international criminal court. plus welcoming the new year in style. russia puts on a brave face as western sanctions and a sliding ruble continue to batter the economy. only on al jazeera america >> on techknow >> we should not be having earthquakes in texas >> the true cost of energy hits home... >> my yard is gone... >> are we destroying our way of life? >> contaminated water from the fracking activities come here >> they stick it to the core of the earth >> but this cutting edge technology could be the answer >> the future of fracking is about the water >> protecting the planet saving lives... >> how do you convince a big oil company to use this? techknow only on al jazeera america ♪ >>> hello again, let's have a look at the top stories here at al jazerra. a court hearing to review the case of three al jazerra journalists jailed in egypt has just begun. the court of ca saying may uphold the convictions and jail terms or order a retrial. re

she appeared in seoul in a green prison uniform. she spent three weeks in a prison cell.t on december the 30th over what's now known very commonly here as the nut rage incident. she was an executive with korean air. the daughter of the top person. she's resigned all those posts. she's apologized very very publicly, with great humility, with her head bowed. if she's found guilty of these charges on aviation safety, she could be sent to prison for ten years. the charge is basically, that she had an aircraft diverted for no good reason. and that would be a serious offense. now, on top of that the airline finds itself in a lot of trouble, too. some of its employees have been accused of tampering with evidence trying to persuade witnesses to change stories from the truth. it faces a ban on some routes, for example, and a potential very high fine. so for the airline and for mrs. cho, a row is turning out to be far from peanuts in terms of cost. >> steve evans there reporting from seoul. >>> now, let's get to the polls in zambia's presidential elections on tuesday, following the

seoul looking at that arctic chill at minus 1 degree for your why on tuesday. of knews line. thank very much for joining us. >> hello, and thanks for tuning in to the show. we have a festive start to the program today so let's find out what is on the way. la fete de lumieres lights up lyon. leap of faith. the daredevil stunts of scottish trials biker danny macaskill. ancient world -- we visit the roman town ruins of herculaneum. the 8th of december marks a french, lyonnaise tradition that has become known as the festival of lights. back in the 17th century, when the city was struck by the plague, residents promised to pay tribute to mary, the mother of jesus, if the town was spared. and so, for centuries, locals held an annual candlelit procession in her honor which in

i visualized such a center when i visited seoul, korea that they have a fantastic center like this with panels and obviously they are bigger than we are but with all this data gathering and realtime situation where traffic issues were. just last week i sat down with chief gregsuhr and when she called me and tells me about the incredible traffic she faced on citizens who constantly knocked on my door or complaints about traffic congestion, this is a city that is a growing city, a city under a lot of construction these days. we are a city where actors and actresses in their vehicles and delivery trucks and seem to think that double parking is helpful to themselves and don't understand the impact or blocking the blocks the intersections thinking they can get across at not thinking clearly about the congestion it causes. i want to say to everyone that i'm getting the complaints constantly about traffic congestion. i want you to know we are thinking short-term and long-term. in the short-term, the chief, the solos. the motor traffic department and the parking control officers are engaged dir

our south korean correspondent heir has the reaction from seoul. >> reporter: kim jung un used his newr's speech to strike in part a conciliatory tone. this time raising the stakes of possible summit with the south korean leader. >> translator: the atmosphere and environment is there, there is no reason not to hold the highest level summit. >> reporter: but he also said such talks couldn't take place while south korea carried out military drills with the u.s. and reaffirmed his country's nuclear weapon's policy. >> translator: we proved clearly that we strengthened our national defense based merely on the nuclear deterrence and saved the finances the life of the country strongly. >> reporter: kim's briefing suggested initial talks this month. and the south korean leader's own message was she promised to lead to charn and event yulely reunification. she said she would be willing to meet kim jong un but only if it offered the prospect of real progress. it's the 70th of anniversary of the end of the second world war, which means the end of japanese colonial rule, and the beginning of the

seoul going to see temperatures above freezing as we go to friday with partly cloudy skies. beijing 7 degrees. we are talking about snowy conditions as we go to europe. we have a low pressure system coming on shore. this is going to produce windy conditions wintery conditions. we are also talking about a lot more snowfall and cold weather down toward the southeast portions of europe. we are going to see this system that brought snowfall to turkey and lebanon. that will continue thursday friday saturday. you'll see snowfall possible in beirut going into the weekend. notice in ankara highs negative 15 and negative 17 as we go to thursday, friday. we'll see snowfall on saturday. we will see wet weather from stockholm to paris throughout thursday. cold temperatures as we go to north america for the eastern side of the united states. this jet stream dips down and high pressure whips around the cold air from canada. wind chills down around negative 10 for the southern portion of the united states. down to negative 30 in some areas closer to great lakes. we will see the cold weathe

. >> reporter: outside any office building in seoul you will see them. groups many men on one of many daily cigarette breaks. they have the high est smoking rate of any developed nation. they now have to get used to an 80% tax rise. >> translator: it would have been better if the prize had been increased gradually like 5 to 10%, but without any warning the government just announced that the price would be nearly doubling. >> reporter: the announcement in september lead to panic buying among those what wanted to stock up. shops were limiting customers to one pack per person. cigarette packets in south korea do carry warnings but the language is relatively mild. some anti-smoking campaigners said the government should put pictures on boxes like this. such a move in under consideration. campaigners apprize rises aren't enough to cut korea's sky high smoking rate. >> translator: if people can see the impact of smoking on health causing various diseases i think it could reduce smoking by 20 to 30%. >> reporter: smoking in restaurants and cafes is now illegal,

steven evans, bbc news, seoul. >>> now we've decided to get a little bit cosmic here in the "gmt" studio the first time ever astronomers have been able to accurately tell the age of a star from how fast it's spinning. it was already established that stars slow down over time but until recently there was little data to support exact calculations. the u.s. team has been able to measure the spin speed of stars more than a billion years old, and their research will allow astronomers to estimate a star's age to within 10%. >>> now to a part of the world that really knows a beautiful night sky. the u.s. state of wyoming and a story which defines diversity. writer nina mcconigley was born in singapore to an indian mother and irish father but she relocated to wyoming. it's a mainly white rural state in the u.s. it's known for its outstanding natural beauty its night skies as well. it was the background for nina's short stories, "cowboys and east indians." here she gives us a glimpse into her personal journey. >> if having a bad day, i can be out here in minutes. it's really nice. you can just se

one, codenamed max thunder - took place in november at the kunsan air force base 150 miles south of seoul... >> this type of exercise takes place every year but for the north korean government they consider this a