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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The United States, Japan and South Korea warned Wednesday that a North Korean nuclear test would warrant an “unprecedentedly strong response”, vowing unity after a blitz of missile launches from the hermit state. Following talks in Tokyo, the three nations’ deputy foreign ministers said they would ramp up their deterrence in the region. “We agreed to further strengthen cooperation … so that North Korea can immediately stop its illegal activities and […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | by Natsuko FUKUE A Japanese minister resigned Monday following scrutiny over his links to a religious sect that is under pressure over ties with top politicians after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister for economic revitalisation, said his conduct had “caused trouble for the government” but did not name the Unification Church. The movement and its links to senior politicians have been in the […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | by Katie Forster The falling yen hit 150 per dollar for the first time since 1990 on Thursday, driven down by the contrast between Japanese monetary easing and aggressive US interest rate hikes. The currency has plunged from February levels of around 115 as the Bank of Japan sticks to its longstanding ultra-loose policies, designed to encourage sustainable growth in the world’s third-largest economy. At the same time the US […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | A corruption scandal surrounding the Tokyo Olympics widened on Wednesday as a former Games executive was re-arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from two firms, one of which reportedly sold official mascot toys. Prosecution documents seen by AFP accused former Tokyo 2020 board member Haruyuki Takahashi of accepting 54 million yen ($360,000) in bribes from a major advertising firm and a merchandise company. It was the fourth time the 78-year-old […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s space agency said it sent a self-destruct order to its Epsilon rocket after a failed launch on Wednesday because of a problem that meant the craft could not safely fly. The unmanned rocket, on its sixth mission, was taking satellites into orbit to demonstrate “innovative” technologies. “The rocket can’t continue a safe flight, because of the danger it would create if it falls on the […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Thursday, Seoul’s military said, as the UN Security Council met to discuss Pyongyang’s earlier, highly provocative launch of a missile over Japan. The launch is Pyongyang’s sixth in less than two weeks, and comes two days after it fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan, prompting Tokyo to issue a rare evacuation warning. South Korea’s military said it had […]
by Mathias CENA Agence France-Presse GINOWAN, Japan (AFP) — For decades, residents of Japan’s Okinawa have strongly opposed the US military bases that dot the region but a subtle shift is under way, driven by Chinese saber-rattling and economic challenges. The bases are often seen as a disproportionate burden for Japan’s sub-tropical southernmost region. Okinawa comprises 0.6 percent of the Japanese archipelago’s territory but contains 70 percent of the land used for US bases, and […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The South Korean and US militaries fired a volley of missiles into the sea in response to North Korea firing a ballistic missile over Japan, Seoul said Wednesday. Nuclear-armed North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years on Tuesday, prompting Tokyo to issue evacuation warnings for some residents. South Korea and the United States staged a drill of their own in response, […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years Tuesday, prompting Tokyo to activate its missile alert system and issue a rare warning for people to take shelter. The latest launch — which the United States branded “reckless and dangerous” — comes in a record year of sanctions-busting weapons tests by North Korea, which recently revised its laws to declare itself an “irreversible” nuclear […]
Seoul, South Korea (AFP) North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile Tuesday which flew over Japan, Seoul and Tokyo said, a significant escalation as Pyongyang ramps up its record-breaking weapons-testing blitz. The last time North Korea fired a missile over Japan was reportedly in 2017, at the height of a period of “fire and fury” when Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un traded insults with then-US president Donald Trump. South Korea’s military said it had “detected […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Business confidence fell among Japan’s largest manufacturers for the third straight quarter, a closely-watched survey showed Monday, defying analyst expectations for a rise in sentiment. The Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey shows major manufacturers are still much more upbeat than during the gloomiest days of the Covid-19 pandemic. But inflation, including higher energy prices fueled by the war in Ukraine, has weighed on business confidence this year, analysts say. The quarterly […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan’s media-savvy digital minister said Friday he’s ready to take an iron-fisted approach to speed up the nation’s slow embrace of online services at government offices and workplaces. Taro Kono — a political heavyweight who has been minister of defence, foreign affairs and Covid vaccines — has already declared war on fax machines, floppy disks and other obsolete technologies that are still common in the world’s third-largest economy. “I have no […]
