Tokyo, 20 July, /AJMEDIA/
Figure skating: Japanese icon Hanyu retires from competition
TOKYO – Japanese figure skating icon Yuzuru Hanyu announced he is retiring from competition Tuesday but will continue his bid to land the elusive quadruple axel as a professional exhibition skater.
After missing out on his third straight Olympic gold at the Beijing Games in February, the 27-year-old world champion from 2014 and 2017 left it unclear whether he would ever again compete on the ice.
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South Korea foreign minister says respecting 2015 comfort women deal
TOKYO – South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Tuesday he conveyed to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in their meeting Seoul’s intent to respect a 2015 bilateral agreement to settle the issue of Koreans forced to work as “comfort women” in Japan’s wartime military brothels.
Park’s remark following his courtesy call on Kishida earlier in the day came after the accord to “finally and irreversibly” settle the long-standing issue had been effectively scrapped under South Korea’s previous administration despite Tokyo urging Seoul to follow through on the deal.
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Japan to pick tech items from 20 fields to focus on economic security
TOKYO – Japan will narrow down advanced technology items to enhance development, procurement and leakage prevention from 20 sectors under its recently enacted economic security law, a draft of the basic guidelines showed Tuesday.
The 20 sectors include artificial intelligence, hypersonic transport, semiconductors, space, public health and cybersecurity, with the government planning to use a 500 billion yen ($3.6 billion) fund to be established to promote the development of cutting-edge technologies through public-private cooperation.
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U.S. intelligence shows Russia eyeing Ukrainian territory annexation
WASHINGTON – U.S. intelligence shows that Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory amid the ongoing war, a White House official said Tuesday, warning that such an attempt would be met with more sanctions from the United States along with its allies and partners.
“Russian government is reviewing detailed plans to purportedly annex a number of regions in Ukraine” including Kherson in southern Ukraine, which fell to Russia after the invasion began in late February, as well as the eastern parts of the country, John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, told a press conference.
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China’s Belt and Road’s “hidden cost” is forced labor: U.S. report
WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department highlighted the use of forced labor in China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project in its annual human trafficking report released Tuesday, while maintaining its assessment that Japan’s efforts to eliminate trafficking are not yet sufficient.
Calling forced labor the “hidden cost” of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the department said in the Trafficking in Persons Report, “All countries should be able to pursue development opportunities without sacrificing their respect for human rights.”
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Only praise, gratitude for Hanyu after retirement announcement
TOKYO – Former mentors, peers and others close to Yuzuru Hanyu had nothing but praise and gratitude for the 27-year-old Japanese figure skating icon after he announced Tuesday he was retiring from competitive skating.
Shoichiro Tsuzuki, 84, who coached the two-time Olympic and two-time world champion during his elementary school days, said he had “never met such a great athlete” and that Hanyu “raised the level of Japanese figure skating and set a great example for children.”
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Unification Church founder was close to Abe’s grandfather: ex-chair
SEOUL, NARA, Japan – The former chairman of the Unification Church said Tuesday that its founder had a close relationship with both the grandfather and the father of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, amid growing public scrutiny of the church over the murder of Abe and his assailant’s grudge against the religious group.
Kwak Chung Hwan held a press conference in Seoul, following media reports on the assailant’s motive that his mother’s donations to the church ruined his family’s finances and he believed Abe’s grandfather had invited the church to Japan from South Korea.
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Japan eyes state funeral for slain ex-PM Abe in late September
TOKYO – The Japanese government is planning to hold a state funeral in late September for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot earlier this month on the campaign trail, a government source said Tuesday.
The state funeral is expected to be held at Nippon Budokan in central Tokyo, the source said, adding that the Cabinet will make a decision on the matter soon.