Tokyo, 20 February, /AJMEDIA/
North Korea fires ballistic missile toward Sea of Japan: South Korea
TOKYO – North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on Monday, the South Korean military said, following a similar launch two days earlier.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also said that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile.
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Top U.S., China diplomats meet, but at odds over balloon incident
MUNICH – The top diplomats of the United States and China met Saturday, in the first face-to-face between high-ranking officials of the two countries since a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet two weeks ago.
But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign policy official, remained at odds over the incident when they met for about an hour on the sidelines of an international security conference in Munich, according to information provided by the two countries.
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Japan posts 1st trade deficit in electronics for half-year period
TOKYO – Japan posted a trade deficit of 81.2 billion yen ($605 million) in electronic equipment in the second half of 2022, government data showed, marking the first time on record imports have exceeded exports for a half-year period amid a decline in the competitiveness of Japanese products.
The deficit in the balance of trade in electronics also reflects a move by Japanese manufacturers to shift their production bases overseas.
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North Korea says it held “surprise” ICBM drill amid military threats
BEIJING – North Korea said Sunday it conducted the previous day a “surprise” drill of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on a lofted trajectory amid military threats from the United States and South Korea, according to state-run media.
The missile firing Saturday afternoon from Pyongyang International Airport proved the “sure reliability of our powerful physical nuclear deterrent,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.
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Japan, U.S. hold joint air drills after North Korea’s ICBM test
TOKYO/SEOUL – Japan and the United States held joint air drills on Sunday, a day after the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
U.S. forces also staged separate joint air exercises with South Korea the same day, South Korean military said.
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Fans flock to Tokyo zoo for panda’s last day before China return
TOKYO – Visitors flocked to Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Sunday to bid goodbye to a hugely popular female giant panda on her last day with the public before her return to China.
Xiang Xiang’s final appearance before she leaves Japan on Tuesday was subject to enormous demand, with many taking photos of her on the landmark day and some reduced to tears as their one-to-two minute time with the panda came to an end.
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Japan conveys concerns to China amid tensions over spy balloons
MUNICH – Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Saturday he conveyed his concern to China’s foreign policy chief Wang Yi that a flying object from any country entering Japan’s airspace without permission would constitute an intrusion, amid diplomatic tensions over suspected Chinese spy balloons.
Hayashi also told reporters after a 50-minute meeting with Wang in the southern German city of Munich that the two countries agreed to hold a security dialogue involving senior foreign affairs and defense officials next week, the first since February 2019.
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G-7 foreign ministers vow to support Ukraine ahead of war’s 1st anniv.
MUNICH – The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Saturday reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, ahead of marking one year since Russia invaded its neighbor.
During a meeting in Munich, southern Germany, the top diplomats also called for other countries to stop backing Russia and pledged to beef up their economic sanctions against Moscow, the ministry said in a release.
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2 in 3 Japanese remain interested in South Korea-held Takeshima islets
TOKYO – Roughly two in three Japanese remain interested in the territorial dispute over a pair of South Korea-controlled, Japan-claimed islets in the Sea of Japan, little changed from 2019, a recent government survey showed.
The remote islets, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean, drew interest from 63.6 percent in the survey conducted between November and December of last year, compared with 63.7 percent in the previous survey conducted between September and October of 2019.
