north korea state run television is talking about the letter. the document calls on the south to offer an apology for not spending a mission to north korea expressing the condolences of the death of kim jong-il. the drill is scheduled to start at the end of this month. now as we mentioned, the letter contains questions for the south. the north wants the neighbor to stop criticizing it for the sinking of the war ship in 2010. the south korean government has shown a more flexible attitude on the dialogue. it wants the north to apologize for recent incidents. it dropped that demand as a pre-condition for talks. the open letter is aimed at increasing pressure on south korea president bak before general elections in april. south korea' unification ministry said the government won't respond every time the north tries to push through demands through sensitive times for korean relations. >>> kim jong-un is showing interest in high-tech gadgets. he ordered an ipad 2 when the tablet became a hit. he spent several teenage years in switzerland is wants to modernize the country. the ipad 2

and he said, well, when it happened here in south korea, you had scenes where south koreans were liningp to actually sell their gold for the national good to raise the money. he described it as a sort of a sentimental approach to it, but it was more like everybody pulling in the same direction. so he was saying, instead of greeks lining up to protest against the government, against the bailout package, they should be lining up to pull together to do things like selling their gold to help. certainly quite a radically different perspective from south korea. >> i would say that china will have a soft landing because they have a lot of policy moves. so so far china's policy is mainly focused on export oriented. nowadays, there's some differences of the development with coastal area and the inland area. so i think the chinese politicians recognize this, and to overcome the global recession, or global slowdown, they will boost domestic demand, especially in the inland area. so in other words, they will put a lot of money in infrastructure investment, and they may have some very strong measure

his regime sent an open letter to south korea, urging the country to respond to nine questions. north korea's state run media is reporting on the national defense commission's letter. it calls on the south to offer apology for not sending an official mission to the north to express condolences over the death of jim jong un's father. it presses the south to can sell upcoming exercises with the united states. it is scheduled to start the end of the month. the north promises to stop criticizing for the sinking of a south korean war ship and shelling of the island in 2010. the south korean government has gun showing a more flexible attitude to inter korean dialogue. it is no longer making apology from the north for recent controversial incidents, a precondition for dialogue. the letter is apparently aimed at increasing pressure on the administration of the south korean president before general elections in april. south korea's unification ministry says the government won't respond every time the north tries to push through demands at a critical phase of inter core ian ties. kim jong-

and south korea also plan to carry out joint marine landing exercises. they are based on the scenario of the north's invading islands in the south. the drills will be the first in 23 years. the u.s. military leaders claim the exercises are purely defensive, but some analysts see this as an opportunity for the north to boost the authority of kim jong un but launching some formal provocation. >> north korea warns no one can predict what will happen. the state run news agency called south korea and the united states warmongers. our report by an independent panel in japan confirms the government was preparing for the worst in the wake of an accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the cabinet members have considered evacuating tokyo following the disaster last march. six experts sit on the panel. they interviewed 300 people including japanese and u.s. government officials. they'll issue their report tuesday. but nhk obtained in advance details. the document says the chief of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident the c

a representative for north korea claimed the south is trying to use the issue for propaganda. south korea's government will see how much international support it can gather before deciding its next move. in south korea, families of north korean defectors and human rights groups staged rallies over the issue. they called on china not to return the defectors to the north because they could face execution. >>> a leading credit rating agency downgraded greek debt. ai uchida from the biz desk with more of these details. why the ratings cut? >> it's highly doubtful of the credit swap which is part of the greek bailout. u.s. credit ratings agency standard & poor's downgraded the rating of greek debt to selective default on monday. this is the first time that a major ratings firm has made such a decision on greece. the greek government is now asking private sector investors to take a voluntary writedown on their greek debt holdings of about 50%. s&p says it cut the country's rating because the procedure could be forced. however, the downgrade will not likely have any great impact on t

a lot more of sort of their core of the united states than the united states it was and because south korea of our ministration rejected the deal and they sort of allowed a lot more a sort of american automobiles into south korean market so what happened was the auto dealers started pouring tons and tons of money into congress to get the deal passed and the two thousand and ten election cycle they put six hundred ninety six thousand dollars just from this one group that you mentioned the call they fit pac they put six hundred ninety six thousand dollars and more than two hundred members campaigns and all but three of the people they donated to ended up supporting the deal you know i think that's a fantastic sort of example of how one interesting that was totally self interested into its own profits into how the deal was being shaped donate tons of money and successfully actually push congress to sort of take its position my question to you i know these deals were in the works for a very long time a few of them and they kind of had been on the backburner to be passed for a while so how do we

state department... >> woodruff: with south korea? >> that is correct, improving relations between north korea and south korea. now the state department has said that that was included in the dialogue with... in beijing with the north koreans and that the u.s. position has not changed on that. however, i'm not certain how much of a priority that is and that concerns me a great deal. >> woodruff: ambassador gregg, what do you look for next to give you a sense of whether this agreement may bear fruit eventually? >> well, i think it's important for the united states to maintain very good relations with south korea and it's interesting to me that the south koreans have approved this agreement. i also look for reactions from within north korea to what has been agreed to because we've all been saying can kim jong-un really make it as a new leader? he's less than 30 years old. but the information of this agreement... the implementation of this agreement will validate his leadership in north korea if it brings food to mothers and small childre

south korea and the u.s. have begun joint military naval drills despite north korea's threats of possible retaliation. call the action a sign declaration of war but its neighbor states the twelve day military games are purely defensive when i get more perspective on this. ruediger frank who's an expert on north korea and east asia at the university joins us now live it's not the first time south korea has held such drills is it and the north routinely declares it a threat to its security is there in your opinion any reason to believe these exercises are a danger to the north. well to begin with that's not the first time but these are definitely the longest lasting such exercises ever used they used to be around one week or ten days in two thousand and three and twenty eleven last year they were expanded to one month and now in twenty twelfth's the first time that we see it two months the period for the key resolve and fully legal exercises and i'm wondering what type of signal does this supposed to be sending

those fronts, but japan's prime minister noda is trying to push that forward, especially since south korea set up its own bilateral deal separately last year with the u.s. as well as europe, and that has helped or is likely to help boost auto and electronics sectors, which japan competes heavily with with south korea. we'll check on that. the focus on toyota earnings today and guidance and outlook. back to you, ai. >> thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. and let's also look at other markets that are open this hour. >> and that's the latest from business. >>> workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to cool the plant's number two reactor. they are injecting water into the facility but the temperature remains high. spokes persons maintain it is in a state of cold shutdown. tokyo electric power company issues say a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor monday read above 73 degrees celsius. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokespersons say two other thermometers stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons

those fronts, but japan's prime minister noda is trying to push that forward, especially since south korea set up its own bilateral deal separately last year with the u.s. as well as europe, and that has helped or is likely to help boost auto and electronics sectors, which japan competes heavily with with south korea. we'll check that. e focus o toyota earnings today and guidance and outlook. back to you, ai. >> thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. and let's also look at other markets that are open this hour. >> and that's the latest from business. >>> workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to cool the plant's number two reactor. they are injecting water into the facility but the temperature remains high. spokes persons maintain it is in a state of cold shutdown. tokyo electric power company issues say a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor monday read above 73 degrees celsius. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokespersons say two other thermometers stayed at44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of wate

perhaps twenty third a treaty to finally end the korean war but here we have an election year in south korea and hoover we have live military exercises in not only disputed waters but waters that really under international law belong to north korea it would be quite easy to sit down and do. some talking i mean it's not rocket science to dialogue with people we have a profound difference with to use president obama's words so what we look for our bilateral talks other talks the north koreans have been pretty consistent according to president carter former president carter the united states that they would give up any nuclear program in exchange for peace and normalized relations with the united states and i really look for countries like russia who's in a perfect position to really step forward and demand finally a peace treaty take place between south korea the and north korea but more importantly as well between the united states and north korea so that we can have an ease of tensions in the area taking a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe ali abdullah saleh he

this professor of law in south korea. >> they were treated like criminals, especially a terrorist. they were prosecuted based on the crime of north korea. this video reportedly shows the execution of north korea creations. christians. >> [ foreign speaking ]. >> do you think your father is alive today? >> no. everyone knows what happens when government agents arrest christians in north korea, they never make it out alive. i know my father is in heaven. and he is praying for north korea and my family. >> kim's mother, grandmother and siblings managed to escape that day to the mountains. in 2005 with the help of a chinese pastor, she crossed the river and defected to china. >> it was a difficult decision. my family defected because we were being persecuted in north korea for her faith. >> today she is married and has a baby boy. >> i am proud of what she did. she is a hero in my eyes. >> kim gives honor to the man that laid down his life. >> i grew up in a land where they said there was no god. my father told me otherwise, he loved christ, for that he died. >> she has a dream to one d

south korea and the united states have begun large scale joint naval drills despite north korea's threats to attack if provoked for gang the exercises involving hundreds of thousands of troops or a silent declaration of war in twenty ten the north responded to drills from its neighbor not tell area tech they killed four people at the time and raised fears of a wider conflict to get franks an expert on north korea in east asia use it in a university he tells he thinks it will take much to like the feel. of korea has issued such statements in the past and lucky louie these purchased statements but you never know till you can play with fire safely for a while and until you create some kind of a big blast and you don't want to i'm really concerned because we have a new leader in north korea kim jong il with whom we have no experience whatsoever with whom we have a chance to actually open some new avenues for cooperation and for resolving all those pressing issues that we have on the table you have about two hundred thousand south korean troops about thirty thousand american troops in this one

but first south korea and the u.s. have started a large scale joint naval drills despite north korea's threats to attack if provoked for pyongyang the exercises involving hundreds of thousands of troops are a silent declaration of war in two thousand and ten the north responded to drills from its neighbor with an artillery strike that killed four people and raised fears of a wider conflict rigor frock an expert on north korea and east asia at vienna university things it won't take much to light the touch paper. north korea has issued to state such statements in the postes and look at these for just statements but you never know till you can play with fire safely for a while and the until you create some kind of a big blast sunday school you don't want to i'm really concerned because we have a new leader in north korea kim jong il with whom we have no experience whatsoever with whom we have a chance to actually open some new avenues for cooperation and for resolving all those pressing issues that we have on the table of

in south korea you mentioned 20,000 soldiers in south korea. there are substantial and this is obviously dod military construction programs going on. i think -- i believe it might be -- some of it might be suspended in terms of bringing dependents over. at a time when south korea is spending 2.7% of their gdp, you know, so we're looking at closing bases down in the united states and yet retaining overseas permanent military bases for allies that are spending much less on defense than we are. we need to get them to do more. so, i mean i leave it open to you on those points. direction of these cuts and i think they compromise capability where i don't think we need. >> first of all and i'll try to go as quickly as we can. we agree with you on general officers and that was an initiative general gates had thd elimination of four star we downgraded the number of four star to three star u.s. europe on and on. >> i would love to see what ratio you would come up with between flag officers and soldiers at the end of that. i'm sorry that we're time. if yo

in south korea, you mentioned 20,000 soldiers in south korea. there are some substantial, and this is obviously dod, military construction programs going on. i think -- i believe some of it might be suspended in terms of looking in bringing dependents over. but at a time when south korea is spending 2.7% of their gdp. so we're looking at closing bases down in the united states and yet retaining overseas permanent military bases for our allies that are spending much less on defense than we are. we need to get them to do more. and so let me leave it open to you on those points. but i'm disappointed in the direction of these cuts and i think they compromise capability where i don't think we need to. >> first of all, and i'll try to go as quickly as we can. we agree with you on general officers. in fact, that was an initiative that secretary gates had already gone. general odierno can speak eloquently of closing down of a cocom and jifcom. we downgraded the four star to a three star army europe and on and on. pay increases. >> i would love to see wh

that is very hard for the west and south korea and japan to bring that back. clearly, north korea would like nuclear energy. from a strategic point of view, they would like to have a better relationship with the united states to counterbalance china. they are not looking for the u.s. to compare with china but they don't want to be totally dependent on china and they are looking beyond the status quo to do things that would allow them to have a better relationship with the united states. >> thank you very much for coming in. there is a move to end a fight which has driven a major wedge between egypt and the united states. it is reported that a travel ban has been lifted on a series of american citizens to work for pro-democracy groups in egypt. the americans have been charged with receiving illegal funding for their organization to stir up unrest. >> at a chaotic hearing, the egyptian authorities pressed a legal case that has cost the biggest rift between egypt and the west for years. in the dark our democracy and human rights activists accused of receiving ille

take a look at video of the last time south korea conducted live fire drills.ch of 2010. that country conducted the drills despite threats from the north and said it was prepared for any retaliation. north korean officials said these drills will lead to a complete collapse of any ties between the two koreas. >>> right now, nuclear inspectors from the united nations are in iran. inspectiors want proof that ira does not plan to use its nuclear program to develop a weapon. israel has said military action could be needed to prevent that from happening. the united states and britain are urging israel to be patient to allow international sanctions to work. >>> in response to those sanctions, iran is stopping all exports to britain and france because of the production stoppage, europe will lose around 350,000 barrels of oil a day from iran. iran warns that any sanctions will raise international and possibly domestic crude oil prices. >>> experts say that higher oil prices are the main reason for the record high at the gasoline pump. gasoline prices are the highest eve

handfuls of americans serving as occupation troops in japan were flown into south korea in a rapid show of strength aimed at showing greater resources than actually were at hand. the strategy worked. the north koreans ran in to resistance, bogged down waiting for more troops and artillery, while reinforcements poured into south korea to turn the tide of battle. during the ensuing months, general macarthur guided the war as commander in chief of united nations forces in korea. again, he studied the fighting at close range, a man in his 70s visiting battlefields as dauntlessly as he had many years before when a young officer in france. then came the daring amphibious attack, behind the enemy's lines on a shore that others had declared too risky, the landing was a complete surprise and success. the north korean army was tee moralized. the victory has become recognized as a masterpiece of strategy. so it will return to its rightful inhabitants. there had been a long line of cities and towns returned under macarthur's leadership. it was at this time that president truman cited macarthur for

. >>> parts of south korea this morning remain frozen. this is thanks to mow mayture -- mother nature. >> how winter weather brought life to a standstill and they are not done. >>> also, one local hospital cutting staff. how it could affect patient care. coming up, we will explain. >>> and heading to tbliek go ahead. -- heading to break. >> gay head that's vegas. >> mitt romney headed there but there's the famous sign for people going or leaving vegas. thanks for watching "good morning maryland" we will be right back. >>> now "good morning maryland." >>> 9 minutes after 5. thanks for joining us. record are breaking when it comes to snowfall in south korea. largest swept through the area on tuesday anywhere from 5 to 9 centimeters and it's expected in the area that the snowfall led to problem as you can imagine resulting in about 2000 officers being deployed to help. meteorologist say temperatures will remain below zero for the next few days. >>> i can't convert that. >> i was thinking about it. >> english but not math. >>> no snow in the

companies from china, south korea, and japan are competing fiercely for orders. the japanese energy consortium is led by corporation. while engineering and building led construction. but that's not the end of the story. the consortium will also run the plant maintaining steady business other many years. that's the japanese group's unique selling point. >> translator: i think if we perform at a high level, we'll get another level. good results lead to more business. >> translator: we hope to gain momentum in responding to demand for building infrastructure overseas. . >> reporter: instead of just selling a product, these companies try to offer everything from funding to operations. the japanese government is strengthening its support for infrastructure exports like this as part of its growth strategy. nhk world, indonesia. >> and that wraps up our bulletin. i'm raksawong in bangkok. >>> pushing with russia until it returns four islands claimed by japan. >> translator: russian president dimitry medvedev and i recall the need to restore the issue last year. we also

many power plants are being built, but japanese firms have lost bids by south korea firms for past projects. a recap of the latest market figures. >> that's the latest in business. back to you. >> thanks, ai. >>> a japanese wholesaler will not renew with iran. it is after they asked to reduce the oil import from japan. jx nippon oil has several contracts. the one in question is about 10% of the company's impacts and expires in april. jx is considering making up the oil from saudi arabia. it is believed that jx is preparing in case of a agreement between the u.s. and japan. they are talking about reducing imports from iran. this is likely to influence others. >>> a group of army deserters is increasing fighting in homs. the deserters began their monda. the troops loyal to bashar al-assad are using rockets to attack the rebel forces. forces have pulled out of some areas of homs. fighting is intensifying in the southern city of daara. the activist group says more than 300 people were killed over the weekend. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post-march 11th. we ha

probably would be one way to do that so in effect are we seeing south korea sizing up this new leadership in north korea. no not at all i think that these exercises have been going on for as long as i can remember. i don't think that the south korean leadership want to shoulder. it is weak it is preparing for the man's out of north korea that. you know are sure to come when we see any change in the relationship at all between north and south as a result of the new leader now in the korea. i doubt very much deal only think that can bring change if and when the west realizes that the policy is there is of in north korea have failed in my opinion so what should the west policies be then. the west does. number of the deal with north korea they're essentially. the north korea regime to stay in part by providing you with a system. where many billions of dollars in return for disarmament did not happen they have already made the same deal twice so you probably didn't also coriander hold a hope to make it for a third time and it would be a fairly stupid thing to do again if i could maybe somethin

japan then tried to replace south korea and finalize a similar deal. but the talks were suspended following the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi power plantd in march of last year. some fisheries still can't sha off the effects of earthquake and tsunami last spring. first the disaster damaged their plants stopping production. now, they've run into a hitch that prevents them from restarting operations. this is slowing recovery in the region where the long-term economy depends on the seafood industry. >> reporter: the disaster last spring left its mark on this town. it took the lives of nearly 3,300 residents and left the city in ruins. factories that process seafood were so badly damaged they couldn't operate. now the industry is trying to get back on its feet, but it's proving difficult. this man owns a seafood processing company. he's building a new plant where the old one stood. he expects to get production rolling again in august. he offered jobs to his former employees, but many turned him down. a lot of them had found other jobs. some new

companies from china, south korea and japan are competing fiercely for orders. the japanese energy concert yum is led by a corporation. but that's not the end of the story, the consortium will run the plant maintaining steady business over ma years. that's the japanese group's unique selling point. >> translator: i think if we perform at a high level we'll get another order. good results lead to more business. we hope to gain momentum in responding to demand for building infrastructure overseas. >> reporter: instead of just selling a product, these companies try to offer everything from funding to operations. the japanese government is strengthening its support for infrastructure exports like this as part of the growth strategy. >> and that wraps up our bulletin. >> japanese and u.s. officials have held work level talks on the realignment of u.s. forces. the two sides appeared to have reached agreement on moving u.s. marines from okinawa to guam even as they leave the relocation of a disputed air base unresolved. foreign affairs and defense officials from the tw

. >>> south korea just opened, let's get a check on those levels. >>> that is the latest in business for this hour. it's back to catherine now. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> next we go to vietnam for a first in a series of special reports about the rapid economic development of central vietnam. >> reporter: international media often refer to vietnam as a country with a vibrant economy, but in reality, economic development has taken off primarily in the north around the capitol hanoi, where i am now, and down in the south around ho chi minh. until recently, they had been left behind the race for prosperity, but that picture is starting to change. over the next three days, we take a closer look at how vietnam is trying to bring the central provinces up to speed. now, hanoi is at the forefront of the nation's economic development. earlier, i went to take a look at how things in the capitol are changing. hanoi is experiencing a construction boom. high-rise buildings are popping up across the city. you can also see many huge shopping malls all over hanoi. now this is the newest shopping ma

the three ministers agreed to make use of a currency swap program between the two countries, south korea, and ten members of the association of southeast asian nations. japan and china call for introduction of preventive loans before any members of the initiative fall into a financial crisis. japan hopes to persuade other members to agree on the preventive loan program at a meeting scheduled for may. the ministers also confirm they'll cooperate over a request by the international monetary fund to provide more money to deal with the european debt problems. the ministers said their countries are ready to support the imf, but the european union should make further efforts to stabilize its economy. >> translator: ensuring a stable monetary supply is essential for asian countries to achieve economic growth and prevent the european crisis from spreading to asia. the chinese vice premier and i agreed on the need for asian countries to help each other. >>> and now, let's look at what's on the global business calendar this week. first up on monday, eurozone finance ministers are getting together

measures include reforming the labor market and health insurance system. >>> the south korea kospi is also openity level. let's check those levels. and that is the latest in business. >>> almost a year after the accident, the situation at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant remains serious. earlier this week, journalists were allowed in the plant first time since it was brought to a state of cold shut down. in today's "nuclear watch," we bring updates from the site. >> reporter: journalists were given a one-hour tour of the plant. the bus drove on a road parallel to the coastline. on the right are the turbine buildings for reactors 1 through 4. the radiation level was 300 micro seefrts per hour. then 300 near the number three building. here, reporters were allowed to get off the bus. >> translator: i'm standing on a hill 300 meters south of the number four reactor building. radiation level here is 50 microsieverts per hour. workers in the plant are exposed to higher levels of radiation. some workers were clearing debris on the roof of the number four reactor building that was da

. >>> a border war brewing between north and south korea. the north is warning the south live fire drills near the disputed border in the yellow sea could mean war. south korea says the drills are routine and necessary for national security. north korea says if the drills continue they will be to a complete collapse of ties between two countries. >>> this morning the u.s. urging israel not to attack iran's nuclear program, as international concern grows that the israelis are ready to strike. this, as iran says it's shutting off officer supplies to france and great britain. nbc's stephanie gosk has the latest from tel aviv. >> reporter: mixed messages continue to come out of tehran. the iaea is on the ground in tehran today, resuming discussions about iran's nuclear program. but at the same time the government says it will now ban all shipments of oil to france and britain. this is the kind of preemptive strike after europe's decision to ban imports from iran starting july 1st. there's new pressure put on israel not to attack iran's nuclear fa

here in south korea, business cards and rubber stamps are essential daily needs. ironic, because when he's not validating other people, mr. kim gets paid for being someone else, the former north korean leader, kim jong il. take much to pull off the former dictator, he says, the permed hair, distinctive jumpsuit and maybe a bit of clapping. having the former north korean leader as a guest on your tv chat shows or a prop for your music video is surprisingly popular here in the south. but now that kim jong il is dead, will impersonators like mr. kim switch to mimicking his son? he says, there's not much similarity between kim jong il, his son. i'd need to get a different haircut. he'd probably need to do more than that. kim jong un has a very different style to his father, much more, well, matey, more tactile, more hands-on. north korean state media has shown him testing soldier's equipment, tasting their food, sitting on their beds. even the anchor who carries news of his exploits has been replaced by a younger, softer looking model. the new chummy style has generat

we learned yesterday from andrew in seoul, south korea yesterday.hat's happening globally certainly is reflected in concerns here in south korea. so we saw some of that. the main aussie benchmark was largely flat amid a political showdown in the labor party with prime minister gillard calling for a leadership ballot on monday. charles? >>> lingering questions about the greek bailout had u.s. investors playing it safe on wednesday with news from the housing market also mixed. investors didn't have too much reason to be buying. u.s. stocks ended wednesday lower, not dramatically. nasdaq off by about half a percent. the dow off by about .2%. perhaps some of the optimists might have hoped the s&p broader market strung out by the two off by about .33%. >>> charles, we're going to peel back the layers of a saga going on in asia. the dice are about to roll for a japanese gambling billionaire. later today in macau, the board of wynn resorts will voeft on whether to oust one of its directors and biggest shareholder following accusations of bribery. ramy inoc

he was the first chinese referee to take part in the world cup in 2002 when it was held in south korea, in japan. so great national pride to china. now he's been found to have taken more than 100,000 pounds in order to fix the results of seven particular matches. reputation is in at that timers. the chinese football association will be hoping this verdict and others which will probably follow over the next few days, will restore the reputation of football here in china. >> it's going to take a long time, because as you say, not act ago lone. what is it, nine of them? >> well, in this particular case, there was nine people, and this trial took place in the northeast of china. there is another case of pending nearby that includes other officials, and there's some more very senior officials from the chinese football association who haven't even gone on trial yet, and they're expected to receive, if found guilty, even harsher sentences. as i say, the chinese football association and football clubs generally have invested a lot of money over the last year or so to try to get more interest i

south korea reported no immediate action by the north. the military drills ended after about two hours. experts for the international atomic energy agency have arrived in iran's capital, tehran, hoping to get officials to talk about its nuclear weapons program, something iran has always denied. over the weekend, western diplomats told journalists that iran appeared to be expanding an underground facility near the city of homs. daniel griffiths has the latest. >> heading for iran, iaea inspectors making their second journey to tehran in less than a month. looking for answers to growing international concerns about iran's nuclear program. >> we hope to have a certain date in tehran. certainly the spirit with which we are going there. important to have some concrete results after this threat, and the highest priority remains, of course, the possible military, so iran's nuclear program. >> but it's not clear whether they'll have access to iran's nuclear facilities. two days is hardly enough time to get answers about tehran's nuclear ambitions

speaking of our trade agreements with colombia, panama and south korea, the president stated, "american automakers, farmers, ranchers aand manufacturers including many small businesses will be able to compete and win in new markets." we need to build on this success and explore new opportunities to help workers thrive in the global economy. i'm hopeful job training reform is an area in which we can work together to strengthen the competitiveness of the workforce. for the long term unemployed, seven months without work can feel like a lifetime. effective job training support can help workers get back on their feet and back to work. the need for a leaner, more efficient workforce system has never been more urgent. i was pleased to hear the president call for reform in his state of the union address and we stand ready to take action. already my colleagues have introduced three proposals that lay the foundation for a 21st century job training system. a key component of our effort is the consolidation of dozens of federal workforce programs and four flexible funding streams. streamlining the

south korea and the u.s. have started joint military naval drills despite north korea's threats of possible retaliation pyongyang threatened to launch a strike against seoul of provoked though the south states the military games are purely defensive ruediger frank an expert on north korea and east asia at vienna university thinks the conflict could conceivably turn into a full scale standoff. well korea has issued to state such statements in the past and look at these versus the statements but you never know you can play with fire safely for a while and until you create some kind of big blast and that's what you don't want i'm really concerned because we have a new leader in north korea kim jong il with whom we have no experience whatsoever with whom we have a chance to actually open some new avenues for cooperation and for resolving all those pressing issues that we have on the table you have about two hundred thousand south korean troops involved in two thousand american troops in this one exercise alone on

an exchange student in south korea, against hispanic couple months and tennessee.his report, check penny edits to the show ring. >> experiencing tennessee culture and tennessee agriculture. jim lee is pretty much like any 15 -year-old who just happens to be 7000 miles and 14 time zones from home. he's an exchange student from korea and getting it introduces introduction to southern farm life. >> i think at the very good experience for me. >> he is now up full-fledged tennessee for each person and taking part in livestock shows like this one help him. >> i work with, pigs and sheep. maybe i will show the cows also. >> he has owned papers are actually pretty smart and don't require as much hands-on care as sheep and horses, but all animals need attention. >> when i come here i can learn about a lot of things like, how to feed the animals and cleaning. i like it. >> he is an urban kid, he's from so, one of the world's largest cities with more than 25 million people in its metro region. just come into overall area was an adjustment. one thing he has noticed about tenne