Tokyo, 14 February, /AJMEDIA/
Olympics: Miho Takagi wins silver in 500 as Kodaira’s defense falls short
BEIJING – Japan Olympic team captain Miho Takagi on Sunday claimed her second speed skating silver medal of the Beijing Winter Games, finishing just behind new champion Erin Jackson of the United States in the women’s 500 meters.
The 29-year-old Jackson rounded the track at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval in 37.04 seconds, 0.08 ahead of Takagi. The Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Golikova took bronze in 37.21.
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FOCUS: Lee more hardline on Japan than Yoon in South Korea presidential race
TOKYO – With South Korea’s presidential election drawing near, analysts are watching whether a new leader and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can put history behind them and move relations forward in the face of an increasingly assertive China and North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.
This is particularly the case when the United States is calling for closer coordination with the two allies to deter any attempt to destabilize East Asia such as Beijing’s ambition to seize Taiwan and Pyongyang’s threat to end its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear tests and long-range missile launches.
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Japan, South Korea remain apart over world heritage nomination
HONOLULU – The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers remained apart on Saturday over Tokyo’s selection of a former gold and silver mine as a UNESCO World Heritage candidate despite Seoul’s objection due to what it says was the mine’s use of wartime forced labor by Koreans.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, during the 40-minute talks in Hawaii with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui Yong, repeated his view that Seoul’s objection to the listing of the mine on Sado Island in the Sea of Japan is unacceptable, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
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Biden-Putin call fails to ease concerns over Ukraine invasion
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin failed to make a breakthrough in their talks on Saturday that took place amid heightened concerns over a possibly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. government official.
“There was no fundamental change in the dynamic that has been unfolding now for several weeks,” the official said following the phone call between the two leaders, referring to the tension over Russia’s military buildup on the borders of Ukraine.
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U.S., Japan, S. Korea hold door open to dialogue with Pyongyang
HONOLULU – The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea on Saturday held the door open to dialogue with North Korea, insisting they have “no hostile intent” toward the country as they affirmed their solidarity to address Pyongyang’s missile threat.
The trilateral talks in Honolulu came after Pyongyang conducted a series of missile tests since the start of the year and suggested it may restart nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
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FOCUS: Japan, South Korea hold mixed views on China hosting Beijing Olympics
BEIJING – Japanese and South Koreans living in Beijing have different perspectives on the Winter Olympics, which kicked off in the Chinese capital on Feb. 4.
With relations among the three countries essentially fragile over a number of issues including security, the games seem to be offering a chance for some Japanese to develop a sense of intimacy with Chinese, but it has apparently frustrated South Korea.
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Japan venture to build country’s first nuclear fusion power plant
TOKYO – A western Japan venture plans to build the first experimental plant in the country to generate power through nuclear fusion, the company said, as the technology is drawing attention as a new way of producing energy without emitting carbon dioxide.
Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd., a startup based in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, is aiming to start operation of the plant in the next five years, having already procured some of the funds and started designing the plant, CEO Taka Nagao told Kyodo News in a recent interview.
