with. . . . that seoul wants to get on board with. ., ., , , , that seoul wants to get on board withith. laura, the big issue is also china. it was interesting that. with. laura, the big issue is also i china. it was interesting that tony lincoln and lloyd austin wrote an op—edin lincoln and lloyd austin wrote an op—ed in the washington post in which they talked about human rights —— antony blinken. then they went on to say not all countries share this vision, pointing a finger at china. is anyone expecting their that the biden administration is going to be any softer on china than the trump administration? because this sounds pretty trump in. i administration? because this sounds pretty trump in— pretty trump in. i think what we're seeinr pretty trump in. i think what we're seeing here _ pretty trump in. i think what we're seeing here from _ pretty trump in. i think what we're seeing here from the _ pretty trump in. i think what we're seeing here from the biden - seeing here from the biden administration is an attempt to show their alliances. you seen the statement coming from india

officials are due to arrive in seoul on wednesday. all right let's get you more on this now we're joined by journalists and reuters correspondent josh smith who joins us from seoul a very good day to you josh i know 1st of all a warning from pyongyang to washington what do you what should we make of this statement. it does definitely seem timed to coincide with the arrival of those top american officials here in seoul tomorrow these military drills actually started here in south korea a week ago some most north korea observers have noted that if north korea would be the wanted to complain about the drills they probably would have done that a few days earlier so this timing does seem directly aimed at influencing or perhaps making sure that north korea is at the top of the agenda when secretary of state blinken and secretary of defense austin arrive here in seoul tomorrow and is it significant josh that this warning state when it's coming from the sister. of the north korean leader rather than from him directly what should we make of t

officials are due to arrive in seoul on wednesday. all right let's get you more on this now we're joined by journalist and reuters correspondent josh smith who joins us from seoul a very good day to you josh and i 1st of all a warning from pyongyang to washington what do you what should we make of this statement. it does definitely seem time to coincide with the arrival of those top american officials here in seoul tomorrow these military drills actually started here in south korea a week ago some most north korea observers have noted that if north korea would be the wanted to complain about the drills they probably would have done that a few days earlier so this timing does seem directly aimed at influencing or perhaps making sure that north korea is at the top of the agenda when secretary of state blinken and secretary of defense austin arrive here in seoul tomorrow and this is significant josh that this warning state when it's coming from the sister. of north korean leader rather than from him directly what should we make of that.

did you go to seoul or south? >> we went on into seoul. >> you went to seoul? >> yeah. >> ah. how was seoul? what did you see there? >> nothing. there wasn't nothing there. this is why one day in the doctor's office i was looking at some of the literature of south korea. it was unbelievable because all i ever seen while i was there, they had turned the tanks around, the guns around backwards and drived down through those buildings and just flattened them out. and the reason for doing that was because the enemy would go in there if you left any of them, but by doing that they would notify the civilians. so they'd get out and they just leveled the town. so when we left, there was nothing. there wouldn't be anything. >> you were skirmish around the seoul city when you entered in? >> very little. there was a few that were hanging around. but as far as a large group of them or anything, a lot of opposition. there just wasn't any. >> what division did you belong? >> seventh division, the 31st infantry. >> seventh division and 30 -- >> 31st. >> regimen? >> right. >> how did you feel

and we were able to see seoul, the outskirts of seoul. not downtown. but the outskirts of it.ticularly on this side here. while we were doing that, a message came over the radio with a set of coordinates and said, don't fly on these coordinates. after a day, i saw people going and coming back with cans of beer. and my men said, we got to have some beer, lieutenant. so i had five, five-gallon water cans, one for each observation post and one for the center that i had. i sent five, five-gallon water cans down to the brewery and brought back beer. and each piece had a five can full of beer and one there. after two days, i got a call from one of the o.p. leaders, and he said, lieutenant, you know, i've washed in beer, i've shaved of beer and i'm tired of beer. he said, can you please get some water? so i got some water. we all had water then. but those were two wonderful observation posts because we could see what was coming out of seoul. before our troops crossed the river and after we crossed it, we were in a good position to see. a number of targets, which we reported, and fina

did you look to seoul or the south? >> we went to seoul. >> you went to seoul?s. >> what did you see in seoul? >> that's why one day in the doctor's office i was looking at the literature on south korea and it was unbelievable. all i had ever seen while i was there was, they turned the tanks around, the guns backward and drive through the buildings and just flattened them out. and the reason for doing that was because the enemy would go in there if you left any of them. but by doing that they would notify the civilians so they would get out and they just want to tan. so when we left there was nothing. there wouldn't be anything. >> were any of you skirmish when you entered seoul city before you went in? >> there were a few that were hanging around. there's a large group of them, a lot of opposition. >> what's division to do belong to? >> seventh vision. 31st infantry. >> seventh division. >> 31st. >> regiment. >> how did you feel when you entered into sole? >> really, when you are a young man as i was at the time all of it was quite a new experience for me. and

frank thank you very much that was correspondent frank smith at the defense ministry in seoul. to annex footballer who's started a new chapter in his working life he's not just any footballer stefan leashed on a once played for top tier european clubs like eventis arsenal and lots now he's trying out other talents off the pitch in a tiny watchmaking shop in switzerland. you know he's made his millions now stefan link's diner is making time for himself after years of success on the football pitch leeks diner is learning how to be a watchmaker in a workspace that could fit into a football goal. for all my life i put a whole. new experience for me for. a very with him. for life to see new things to see how you do the watch and some simulation of the food because most of the. team is perfect. extend are only just called time on the world of international football and top flight european club competition he set records for the swiss national team and earned over 100 caps on the way. he enjoyed a glorious 7 year run with powerhouse eventis among other clubs finally ending his footbal

let's get more on this from our correspondent, laura bicker, in seoul.forth ahead of antony blinken's arrival in seoul. yes, he is currently in tokyo. in the last few minutes he has reaffirmed the us's commitment with its allies to denuclearise north korea. that is the language they are using, which will not please the north koreans. when it comes to this warning from pyongyang and more specifically from kim yo—jong, the sister of kim jong—un, i think there are two macrame targets with her words. first of all ivy military every year when the us and south korea get together for the military drills, north korea see it as a provocation, i rehearsalfor war. sometimes that reaction comes in the form of a missile launch or a missile test. in this case the so—called war games by being reacting to win a war of words from kim yo—jong. she is saying this is a march of crisis and a march have worked from south korea. she is also giving seoul a warning that if this continues they may pull out of certain agreements. she also takes aim at the us saying if they want a

pottery and so in the capital seoul it now includes all foreign workers in the city . here's some other stories making headlines around the world today the new shares government says gunman have killed at least 58 people near the border with mali the attacks car targeted a convoy returning from a market in a nearby village no group has claimed responsibility but several armed groups are active in the region linked to the so-called islamic state in al qaeda. at least 8 people have been killed in a shooting spree at several massage parlors in the u.s. city of at the atlanta a 21 year old male suspect was taken into custody most of the victims are reportedly of asian descent and polls a recent wave of attacks on asian americans. an american intelligence report just released says russian president vladimir putin authorized efforts to try to help donald trump win last november's presidential election but intelligence officials found no indication that foreign actors tampered with the votes themselves. well u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has landed in south korea on

not to interfere in the region as well as over to correspondent frank smith who's joining us from seoul frank what can we expect from this meeting well i was at the ministry of national defense here in south korea and there were a number of demonstrations taking place there one was in favor of a strong u.s. ally and other demonstrations were against it saying that the u.s. was causing a greater tension in the region in its efforts to contain china and and rein in north korea with pressure and sanctions. the u.s. secretary of defense lawyer to austin met with his counterpart so in seoul earlier today and they reaffirmed the alliance with the usual rhetoric there was never more important than the linchpin of of peace and security in east asia but there are some outstanding issues definitely between south korea and the united states. to outstanding issues with regard to china the interests of america and its asian allies fully aligned. well you know that is definite problem in relations between so korea and the united states china is so through its largest trading partner by far and previo

they moved us away over to north of seoul. it was north of seoul in a very mountainous area. there was a hill right in front of us called, we called it another name, but it was called marilyn monroe hill. it was shaped like a big breast, human breast. and, anyway, it was about 1,500 yards from where we were. we were the closest people to the enemy. we left there. and i came back from my r&r. there was an awful fight going on, and i got to see a pilot -- a plane had been shot down right between us and the enemy line. i couldn't see the plane, it was burning. but the train kept you from seeing the plane. but i saw the pilot coming down. and, anyway, they were shooting at him. he went in the parachute. then i saw him hit the ground, and we had some binoculars. i said he's still alive. they put together a patrol to go out and get him, and we kept with the machine gun kept the enemy away from him. they were trying to get to him to capture him. and we laid down the bank of the fire, they couldn't get to him. and we got him out of there. turned out he was only hit, a bullet grazed t

let's get more on this from our correspondent, laura bicker in seoul. south korean administration has tiptoed around issues like north korea's human rights violations and chinese aggression? i think it was interesting during the press conference when you listen to both sides. i'm a south korean perspective, they talked about very much trying to keep on track with regards to the alliance, but when it came to north korea, they did not mention the word denuclearisation or the phrase denuclearisation or the phrase denuclearisation of north korea. where is the secretary of state did. when it comes to that kind of policy, the reason we highlighted is because it does seem the united states right now, with the language they are using, is focusing on getting north korea to give up its nuclear weapons rather than looking at an overall arms control strategy. the policy review being made by the biden illustration is still under way and we will not know what the administration thanks for the next few weeks but when you look at what they are saying right now, they ar

state says all options are on the table to get north korea to abandon nuclear weapons speaking in seoul antony blinken added that china has a critical role to play. the u.s. has sanctioned an additional $24.00 chinese and hong kong officials over beijing's continuing crackdown on political freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory it made the announcement as the secretary of state was preparing to meet his chinese counterparts in alaska late on thursday this will be the 1st such discussion since the biden administration took office our diplomatic editor james phase has more from anchorage. this is clearly going to be a very important meeting between the 2 most powerful countries or the 1st high level meeting of the top foreign affairs officials taking place here in alaska where the u.s. secretary of state will be returning from asia the u.s. say that this is a meeting all their territory their terms both sides want to try and improve the relationship because there have been some living talking about the idea of a new cold war the u.n. secretary general warning of a great fracture betwee

also, with the observation posts, we saw some close to the south of seoul. and it was a pretty good distance from the south of seoul. and we got some coordinates on it. and send it back to our headquarters. and they said, we don't have any weapons like that. but would you wait just a minute, i think we can get some ammunition to you from that. so little bit later, they said we contacted the missouri, the battleship and they can hit. so, we gave them the coordinates, and they fired and we adjusted. and a fired again, they fired three salvo's. i don't know if the hitter not, but it was a c reading, and we don't see any flashes. but we did see the glow. but they sought firing, because we are firing into our troops there. so they start firing. so we felt good about that. >> going back to what was the reason that you are given this specialty. the survey, for flash and sound, did you have a background in that? >> no, i did not have a background in that, i had glitch training,. >> what did you study? >> but i had enough math i could do that. and the colonel of the

josh smith reporting from seoul thank you. next people in iceland are hoping that this volcano erupts soon because they want to see sleepless nights caused by tremors ending on tens of thousands of minor earthquakes have rattled homes experts are calling it an unprecedented seismic event a quakes are caused by molten rock trying to force its way to the surface. experts say it could happen at any minute. here on the wrecking as peninsula icelanders wait for an imminent eruption in the area surrounding mike. but among the few residents in this small fishing town the mood is not so much one of concern as it is exhaustion so a situation in green that it is quite uncomfortable right now everyone is sleep deprived because the earth is constantly moving all day on lights some with quakes of bigger than others randy. is a school teacher and lifelong resident here. experts say that an eruption from the brewing volcano will likely occur in an uninhabited zone and not pose a threat to the 10s residence what can be expected is a spectacul

our correspondent laura bicker is in seoul.rth korea likely means by the us causing a stink. it may be interpreted and a number of ways. first of all, it's clear pyongyang is watching. it may not have responded to the white house's recent attempts to try to get in touch. now, we do know from us officials that the biden administration has been trying to reach north korea through a number of channels — north korea has not responded. well, it has responded today in a way, but perhaps the united states and seoul doesn't quite like what it hears. in terms of interpretation, it may well be that north korea is hinting at further missile tests in the future. now, they have refrained from testing nuclear weapons and long—range missiles. we know that they have new missiles to test because they showed them off at a parade in october, so it may be hinting at something like that. but i think in terms of the statement, mike, it is worth pointing out this is not entirely unexpected. every year when these drills happen we expect some kind of r

the market opens in tokyo and seoul are next.loomberg. ♪ shery: welcome to "daybreak: asia." i am shery ahn. haidi: i am haidi stroud-watts. asia's major markets have just been portrayed. asian benchmarks are centered on taking cues from kiwi stocks. this is after jay powell maintained establishment. washington is setting talks with beijing and alaska. after banning more chinese telecom companies over security risk. morgan is for astrazeneca's vaccine after world health organization gives it shot there step of a brutal. japan is said to lift the state of emergency around tokyo this monday. shery: japan and korea getting online. let's get to sophie kamaruddin. sophie: japan, the government is closer to lifting the emergency despite the pickup we are seeing affections did the upside for tokyo stocks, nikkei225 adding .8 of 1% while the yen is holding below nine following the dumbest review on friday. -- seeing range bounds ahead of that. flipping the board, and south korea, the president is set to meet secretary of state antony bli

and we were -- the army was assigned to the east side of seoul. and the rifle companies, we took that area. after that was over, fortunately we had some wounded, but nobody was killed there that i'm aware of. but then we went by convoy through tegu and down to puson. we bivouacked there on the beach at puson, waiting for the invasion up in the iwan invasion. and we delayed in going, finally we did, we landed and there was no resistance. we went down to hamhung and we arrived in hamhung. i remember someone got into the korean -- north korea banks there, they had tons of money flying all over the place. >> what? >> and i got a fistful of it. the north koreans were selling us apples. we hadn't had fruit in -- >> north koreans were selling you apples? >> yes, the civilians. >> okay. >> we started heading up to the chosa reservoir, chosa was the japanese name for it, jangjin was the korean name, i believe. we proceeded up the chosa side of the reservoir. we hadn't ran into any resistance. the chinese were supposed to, you know, not enter the war, and t

lincoln has made it clear that he sees seoul is an important part of potentially building an alliance to counter china where as such the reaction has been more interested in not really coming down one side or the other on that debate and so those are the types of issues that are going to be tougher to hear. reporting from sell thank you. thank you. now icelanders are hoping a volcanic eruption will endure weeks of sleepless nights caused by tremors while tens of thousands of minor earthquakes have rattled homes in what experts are calling an unprecedented seismic event the quakes are caused by a multan rocket trying to force its way to the surface. experts say it could happen at any minute. here on the wreck in as peninsula icelanders wait for an imminent eruption in the area surrounding that caylee is but among the few residents in this small fishing town the mood is not so much one of concern as it is exhaustion so a situation a grim that it is quite uncomfortable right now everyone is sleep deprived because the earth is constantly moving all day on lights some with quakes of bigger

voters in seoul south korea white elected their 1st ever female mayor ample election is turning into a battle over women's rights what a difference a few months make after the $2820.00 suicide of mayor park one soon a man who had been accused of sexual harassment the current field has several women including a political veteran and a progressive chris satre vying against men for the city's top job and the election has the chance to make history. for it shocked at south koreans everywhere last july when the mayor of salt took his own life park one soon committed suicide just hours after his secretary had accused him of sexual harassment now voters are getting ready to choose an interim mayor to run the city for the next 14 months with women vying for the job some see change on the horizon. soon but force its own oh if a woman becomes the mayor of seoul it was as a foundation for gender equality in korea and around the world because women are no longer just baby making machines. it didn't was this narrow where women must be respected as human beings they are all because i mean this is

the negotiating table and for more we're joined now by joss smith a reuters correspondent based in seoul good to see you just tell us what are we to make of these missile launches are they a message to the new u.s. administration or something else. well north korea conducts these kinds of tests for multiple reasons not least because it provides them a good practical experience for improving their weapons and also giving same to their troops but it's impossible not to see this on context of the new administration and the review that divided ministration is conducting right now it also comes as you mentioned after north korea had rebuffed biden's ministrations attempts to reach out to them so in many ways this underscores what we heard from north korea in a statement last week which was that it's not interested in speaking to the united states but that if it does come back to the negotiating table it wants to do so on its own terms on course these missile launches raise alarm bells in the region what can you tell us about how south koreans are responding to this. south korean fischel is he

frank thank you very much that was correspondent frank smith at the defense ministry in seoul. now you may remember scenes from a month ago extreme winter weather conditions in the u.s. that left thousands of americans without heat and water for days one month on most residents in jackson mississippi are still waiting for clean tap water to be restored in the meantime a number of volunteers have jumped in to help emily gore done went to meet them. helping hands from all over jackson have come together to put aside their normal work and not becoming experts at handing out water. quality person day we're here at the city's water distribution site where they have received numerous donations for want for water over the past like week and soul organizations and while this is grassroots organizations are coalitions are coming here to pick up water to redistribute so residents across the city. their offer of bottled water attracts people desperate after months of water how to just some still have no water or told others cannot drink what they do have i mean they sound jacks then and w

pride and in that report from seoul and that's our show for this week but there's more for you online at al-jazeera dot com. that'll take you straight to this page or its entire episodes for you to catch up on. and that's it for this edition of counting the cost signed off on the whole team thanks for joining us the news on al-jazeera is next. al-jazeera has investigative unit take she won 4 months on the cover of course. you had actual victims who had survived the torture of detention and feigning this was the cause of my arrest revealing the illegal dealings of the surveillance industry here in france if you get all your. these are the nuclear weapons of the 21st century al-jazeera investigations. for afghans with ties to international organizations. this rate has never been greater . left exposed by the withdrawal of foreign troops. may be the path to 15. in the nation makes home feel ever further a. part of the viewfinder series on al-jazeera. and i'm daryn joined with the top stories on al-jazeera where reality is being kept on north korea as 2 of the most powerful politicians in

rob mcbride ending that report from seoul and that's our show for this week but there's more for you online at al-jazeera dot com slash intimacy and that'll take you straight to this page and surprise entire episodes for you to catch up on and that's it for this edition of counting the cost i'm definitely not against us in the whole team thanks for joining us the news on al-jazeera is next. and account 50 years old and children and. all. the. things likely to be a child and you. believe you see this if. you see. the us city of minneapolis agreed to a $27000000.00 settlement in the death of george floyd his death sparked global protests against racial injustice. we have to show george to our life matters but actions. this is out 0 life and also coming up titans kobe 1000 restrictions shutting down schools and restaurants.

robert bright ending that report from seoul and that's our show for this week but there's more for you online at al-jazeera dot com slash . that'll take you straight to this painter and entire episodes for you to catch up on. and that's it for this edition of counting the cost time to you know again after the whole team thanks for joining us the news on al-jazeera is next. for a goalkeeper for one is a. home rule cup was what dreams were made a. bit turned into one night matter of a rest and told jim on argentina's military jump. in the 1st of a new season footballing legend eric cantor down introduces cloud your tambourine one of the special few who showed up for their beliefs whatever the cost. of football rattle on algis even. the stage is set and it's time for a different approach so let's leave simplicity to the headlights join me as i take all the lies dismantle the misconceptions and debate the contradictions i'm marc lamont hill and it's time to get up front. tanzania's president john mica fully has died a man criticized for his denial of the coronavirus pandemic. i'm come all

of state anthony blinken with met with his south korean counterpart kark counterparts all young in seoul mr blinken said north korea is continuing systematic and widespread abuses against its own people and he accused china of acting aggressively america's top diplomat is traveling with secretary of defense lloyd austin on what is biden the biden administration's 1st cabinet level trip abroad. all right let's get you more on this correspondent frank smith joins us now from south korea's capital seoul a very good day to you frank now mr blinken and his south korean counterpart reiterated that their countries and i'm quoting are committed to their strategic alliance including their commitment to address and resolve issues with north korea how do they plan on doing that. well i was in front of the defense ministry today well finance ministers met inside in the answer to that question how to do that it depended on which sort of group of demonstrators you were you were observing one group suggested it was through a stronger alliance with the united states and more pressure on north korea and

cnn's paula hancocks is live in seoul for us. what did he say, paula?ine, these are pretty strong words from the secretary of state saying that china cannot act with impunity when it comes to the way that they are acting to those abroad. now, this was at a round table that was happening just before he got to seoul when he was still in japan saying that china was acting repress ifl at home, aggressively abroad, mentioning the south china sea, taiwan, also disputed islands saying that beijing is raising tensions not diminishing them. so this is an interesting time to be talking about this, clearly the fact that this very first trip for both of these vips is to northeast asia will not be lost on china and straight after secretary blinken leaves seoul he will be heading to alaska where he will meet with his chinese counterpart. he will also be joined by national security adviser jake sullivan and his counterpart and it will be really the first high-level meeting that the biden administration has had with beijing officials. so there will be a lot to look out

the dominance of 2 of the world's leading chip makers taiwan and south korea mcbride reports from seoul. between them south korea and taiwan have a near monopoly on the world's production of processing and memory chips it's a dominance in a strategic commodity that's been developing over years but now making itself felt as the world becomes increasingly technology driven but from here on out it's going to reorder considerably to 8 ships with everything in sight or. it's not. your electric vehicle in your cars it's going to have a retreat it's getting old like other car makers this general motors plant outside seoul has been experiencing delays because of a global shortage of chips it's been a wakeup call for many world leaders but the investment of time and money needed to become a chip maker means south korea and taiwan will maintain their lead for years to come it's a global shortage that's been made worse by the pandemic when car factories ramped up production again late last year it coincided with a surge in demand for consumer goods also needing chips and a move towards online acti

, but in seoul, tokyo, beijing and elsewhere.kyo, beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinkin: beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is _ beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is when _ beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is when it _ beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is when it comes - beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is when it comes to - beijing and elsewhere. do you think the thinking is when it comes to the biden administration, the new president has his hands full with the pandemic and everything else coming in, so is ita the pandemic and everything else coming in, so is it a snub orjust basically he's been pretty busy? t basically he's been pretty busy? i think it's very complicated. basically he's been pretty busy? t think it's very complicated. those of us who are watching the korean peninsula have been bracing for provocation because north korea does know that bad behaviour is the most effective method to getting on the us president's radar, and we ha

military drills with south korea were a barrier to renew diplomacy so let's talk to rob mcbride in seoul about that one before we look at japan i mean. just the timing is no coincidence of that statement and it shows what a big. gap there is to bridge. absolutely that will be definitely high on the agenda when the secretary's come here to south korea but the concern for the u.s. state department is that despite overtures from them the north koreans have remained conspicuously silent just about the possibility of any kinds of dialogue with the by the ministration they've said that over a period of months now they have been reaching out but so far have not had a response from north korea and there's been a lot of speculation about just what the north koreans thinking may well be it could point to the kind of dire situation that north korea is facing domestically at the moment because of course we've had more than a year of the country being cut off from the outside world by the effects of kobe had 19 that coming on top of the ongoing international sanctions the impact of storms last year o

also have to remember that this comes off the back of a few days of the us being in both tokyo and seoul and spending those 2 days criticizing china outright for being a bad international actor also behind the scenes we've had a flurry of actions by the u.s. against china back home for example they've cut the license of a chinese telecom company in the u.s. they've subpoenaed a number of chinese technology companies and this week they've also sanctioned or expanded sanctions on a number of chinese officials they say are responsible for curtailing freedoms in hong kong so it does seem that beijing has been sincerely caught off guard by these actions to the point that younger true china's top diplomat in that meeting in alaska actually asked anthony blinken if these actions were taken on purpose in the lead up to this meeting so there has been quite a lot of anger building on beijing's part in the lead up to this to this meeting and we have to keep in mind it's not only the u.s. who has an audience here china has its own audience 1400000000 citizens who are increasingly nationalistic and c

robert bright ending that report from seoul and that's our show for this week but there's more for you online at al-jazeera dot com slash . that'll take you straight to this page and surprise entire episodes for you to catch up on. and that's it for this edition of counting the cost time to you know what games are from the whole team thanks for joining us the news on al-jazeera is next. what should americans be thinking and doing right now it should be about ideas they don't care about their work is all they care about is making money in china is not going to be left out of the calling for the devoted defense budget to be high the bottom line on us politics and policies and they're affecting the world. in malaysia schooling is a luxury for children of writing a muslim refugees. every child deserves an opportunity for a faith and creativity the arms them with the skills to overcome any hurdle and seize the threat to his schools existence as a test of his faith. school of the heart of the viewfinder asia seems on al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera. clo this is a news hour on al-jazeera fully

that joint military drills with south korea are a barrier to renewed diplomacy let's go live now to seoul south korea's capital arches for providers there rob what are we to make of those comments. there is something of a stinging rebuke from kim jung jungle especially as it seems to be just about one of the 1st official statements aimed from north korea at the biden administration since coming into being kim jong saying that warning the americans not to make a stink in this part of the world they also had some very unfriendly words for south korea warning that they would be willing to rip up a military agreement so the north signed with the south a few years ago when relations were far better than they are now but in some ways as these remarks can be seen as being fairly tame stuff obviously the remarks are code to time to coincide with this mission to this part of the world but it's also timed with these military exercises the resumption of these joint exercises that were halted under the trumpet ministration they have been resumed they normally take place in the spring time but they ar

at least from south korea against china or right or wrong mcbride live in the south korean capital seoul rob thank you u.s. president joe biden has hit the road to promote his 1.9 trillion dollars covert relief bill promising more support was a big part of his election campaign but not everyone is clear on what they're now entitled to as our white house correspondent kimberly halkett reports from delaware county. like so many u.s. towns the covert pandemic has brought businesses in delaware county pennsylvania economic uncertainty and even collapse a lot of all small businesses are interdependent of each other so as one business sales we all feel that michael gibbons has been running a small automotive repair shop in delaware county that employs 7 people last year the government stimulus helped keep his business running. but he's less certain about president joe biden's promise of new age and what it means for him there's a lot of questions that americans need answers to you look at some of these big stimulus bills and there's a lot of what you'd call pork in them that's exactly why bide

rob mcbride ending that report from seoul and that's our show for this week but there's more for you online at al-jazeera dot com slash . that'll take you straight to this pain to an entire episodes for you to catch up on. and that's it for this edition of counting the cost signed off on the whole team thanks for joining us the news on al-jazeera is next. levanon is grappling with its worst economic crisis in generations. exasperated by the coronavirus pandemic and then this. one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history shone a light on a nation already in economic and political freefall people in power travels across the country to find out what's next for the trouble states lebannon the state to collapse on a just you know. what can be $100000000.00 toilets going to miss you and visit such a small place where everyone is always there for a while it's great easy to corrupt the system. we give back. britain so. it's a film that helped bring down the corrupt governments and led to the jailing of the former president. al jazeera investigates stealing paradise. laura. calls for

coercion and aggression in asia north korea's nuclear ambitions are expected to be the top issue in seoul and the influential sister of north korea's leader has warned the u.s. not to cause trouble in the region let's go live out of soul of the bride is for us what are we expecting particularly regarding defense issues today rob what does south korea want from these meetings. that's right these meetings are now underway and in fact lloyd austin the u.s. defense secretary is 1st with his meeting with his south korean counterpart a bit later then secretary blinken will hold his session this will be very much dominated by north korea we know that but it is also as it was in japan a chance to reconnect to reset relationships with traditional allies in this part of the world when it comes to defense and there are actually quite a few very important housekeeping issues to be gone through here in south korea in particularly the cost sharing agreement by which south korea contributes to the cost of hosting the u.s. forces some 28000 personnel here in south korea now for the past few years this ha

defense secretary of the nation the korean counterparts in seoul but again reaffirmed his commitment to pressing north korea and a new qantas element china has also been on the agenda. we also discussed china we are clear eyed about beijing's consistent failure to uphold its commitments and we spoke about how beijing's aggressive and authoritarian behavior are challenging the stability security and prosperity of the in a pacific region beijing's actions make forging a common approach among our allies all the more important at a time when we're seeing a rollback of democracy and human rights around the world including in burma where the military is attempting to overturn the results of a democratic election by brutally or pressing peaceful protesters it is more important than ever that we we stand together for the values for the interests that unite us well the 2 countries signed a joint statement saying that alliance has never been more important public pride has the details from saul. as expected it reconfirms the commitments to this alliance between south korea and the united state

not to cause trouble in the region let's go live that of seoul a bride is there the u.s. secretary of state rob secretary of defense rather says that the u.s. south korea alliance is more important than ever. absolutely this just as it was in japan is seen as offering a chance to reset if you like to resort to line says with traditional allies in this part of the world and the defense secretary lloyd austin making that point in his opening session with his south korean counterpart saying that the alliance between south korea and united states is as important as ever in facing off and he's put it the unprecedented challenges posed by both north korea and china now is the china part of that that actually poses a bit of a problem here in south korea because of course of the calling out of china as an adversary as they go again they did in japan it is far more complicated for south korea in their relationship with beijing which is far more nuanced south korea relies upon china far more for trade wants to avoid whenever possible ahead on clash with beijing so in his correspond

not to cause trouble in the region so let's preview this with ron mcbride who's in seoul for us i rub. it is it really just the north korean situation which will dominate everything. it will be very high on the agenda as blinken and austin arrive wednesday they have one on one talks with their counterparts here in seoul going through to a joint meeting and then a communique thursday during which of course north korea is likely to feature very prominently we know that this is the biden administration formulating its strategy when it comes to dealing with north korea this mission is very much a part of that we are likely to see some kind of return to this policy of strategic patience of basically just trying to constrain north korea the south koreans want to see a far more proactive position when it comes to dealing with north korea the president here moon jay and he has just over a year left in office now you recall that was largely at his instigation 3 years ago that we saw this incredible period of summit a diplomacy getting us away from talk of fire and fury so moon would definitely

by it is joining us now from seoul he is following that trip for us clearly a lot to discuss on this trip but i really emphasis on trilateral cooperation in the region despite the ongoing differences. that's right and we heard that from this joint session between the 2 u.s. secretaries and their south korean counterparts they produced a pretty wide ranging statement the end of it as expected it reconfirms the commitments to this alliance between south korea and the united states alliance which is the statement said it was forged in blood on the battlefield 70 years ago during the years of the korean war there was also emphasis on north korea as we expected both the united states and south korea committing themselves to the denuclearization of north korea but without going into too much details differences do remain between south korea and the u.s. on how exactly that could or should ever be achieved their words emphasis on also on restoring the relations with these 2 traditional allies in northeast asia both south korea and japan all of this mission has been about resetting the very

not to cause trouble in the region let's go live to seoul office of the bride is there rob the u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin said the u.s. south korea alliance is more important than ever. absolutely this these meetings get underway north korea will dominate discussions obviously but also it is a chance of for the united states to revive relationships with its traditional allies in this part of the world to reconnect with them as a way of saying this is america we are back on the world stage in these what is an increasingly important part of the world so those meetings are getting underway this wednesday evening continuing through into thursday it's also a chance when it comes to defense issues to get through a lot of very important housekeeping stuff here in south korea there is a deal to be side this is the cost sharing agreement for the hosting of u.s. troops here some $28000.00 on the south korean part of the peninsula south korea contributes a lot towards that but of course this was the subject of a bitter dispute with the trump of ministration going over a period of mont

to come up with the next step mcbride in seoul more from him in the coming hours. and still ahead on al-jazeera police charge a white gunman with killing 8 people in atlanta georgia 6 among them were women of asian descent and iraq is struggling to feed their families as politicians bickering over the national budget. it's time for the perfect. sponsored point qatar airways how i once again the weather set fair across japan and the cherry blossoms starting to come out nicely now it's going to stay fine and dry for the most part over the next diode say well so weather will be a little further south and west was so shocked by this band of cloud this stationary weather front juicing rain across central parts of china to run over towards shanghai as we go on into thursday japan stay fine enjoy 18 celsius not too bad but have an 18 in seoul as well cools off a little as we go on friday for turkey but it warms up a touch in so i'm going to say some rain sleet and snow moving towards beijing hopefully that will help to clean the air here after a recent sandstorm heavy sho

you go back now and they have modern skyscraper, subways and seoul was only one bridge across seoul. across the river, a big wide river, and now there's 12 bridges. you know, big four-lane, all kinds of traffic and -- it's a very modern compared to north korea. no comparison. they've done real well. in fact, they're pretty strong as far as industry in the whole world, south korea. they have done real good. you've probably heard of samsung and some of the things they've done. >> how does it feel to have been a part of that? >> real good. the second time i went over there, i went over there with the wife and -- oh, yeah, that was before i went over, yeah, his wife, too, gretchen, and the first time was with another 3rd division guy, he's gone now, but the second time -- the first time we were over there, it was on a korean welcoming. and i was really surprised to see that, too. nice, you know, but the 3rd division trip was the best one with the wives and all the things they did for us, you know, as far as sightseeing and things. we seen a lot of area we were in. i could see where we we

defense secretary have been meeting south korean leaders in seoul president joe biden is pushing to restore america's alliances in asia in the face of growing challenges from north korea and china and the u.s. and south korea have signed a joint statement saying their alliance has never been more important robert bright has a detail some soul. as expected it reconfirms the commitments to this alliance between south korea and the united states and alliance which is the statement said it was forged in blood on the battlefield 70 years ago during the years of the korean war there was also emphasis on north korea as we expected both the united states and south korea committing themselves to the denuclearization of north korea but without going into too much details differences do remain between south korea and the u.s. on how exactly that could or should ever be achieved their words emphasis on also on restoring the relations with these 2 traditional allies in northeast asia both south korea and japan all of this mission has been about resetting the very important relationships also doing some

more about china south korea wants to keep this just about north korea right to life for us there in seoul rob thank you now in the 10 years since syria was plans into chaos the country has been devastated the region destabilized and millions forced to flee many found their way to germany thanks to its so-called open door policy now one of them is hoping to become the 1st syrian to be elected to the german parliament dominic kane reports from berlin. more than a 1000000 syrians have made their way to germany in the last 10 years and while each has a story to tell of how they ended up here some operative cuba it has other cloth my name is tarik a louse i am 31 years old and i was born in syria and grew up in damascus i have lived in germany for 5 years i studied law and i am a human rights activist in the syria tarik left was a war where hundreds of thousands already been killed many millions more were homeless rival armed groups vied for control of cities and for many people the only option was to flee. first 3 turkey then on to greece and up the balkan peninsula into central europe. the g