Tokyo, 17 June, /AJMEDIA/
U.S. to launch multilateral initiative to engage with Pacific islands
WASHINGTON – The United States plans to launch an initiative next week to step up engagement with the Pacific islands by working with like-minded countries, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said Thursday, amid growing concerns over China’s increasing clout in the region.
The initiative is intended to ensure that the United States, along with other countries including Australia, Britain, France, Japan and New Zealand, can push for the Pacific environment to remain “open” and “free from coercion,” he told an online event hosted by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank.
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S. Korea’s outgoing ambassador at last meets Japan’s foreign minister
TOKYO – The outgoing South Korean ambassador to Japan on Thursday met for the first time with the host nation’s foreign minister, as ties frayed over wartime and territorial issues had prevented them from meeting, sources familiar with bilateral relations said.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kang Chang Il finally met with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi just before leaving the post he assumed in January last year. Kang had never held talks with any Japanese foreign minister or prime minister during his year-and-a-half tenure.
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Boundary changes advised for 140 Japan lower house constituencies
TOKYO – A Japanese government panel advised Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday that boundaries in a record 140 constituencies in 25 prefectures for House of Representatives elections should be revised to address vote weight disparities.
The changes would be the fourth since single-seat constituencies were introduced in 1994, affecting almost half of the country’s 289 districts, and would reduce the vote weight disparity in lower house elections from a potentially unconstitutional 2.096-fold difference to a 1.999-fold one.
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Toyota to further halt Japan production due to chip shortage
NAGOYA – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will suspend operations at more production lines at its factories in Japan for up to 11 days between this month and July due to difficulty in procuring semiconductors and a COVID-19 outbreak at one of its suppliers in Shanghai.
Toyota said the halt will take place on 11 lines at seven factories from Friday until July 8. According to the automaker, it now produce about 750,000 vehicles globally for June, down from its previous production target of 800,000.
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Operator of major Japan restaurant review site ordered to pay damages
TOKYO – A Japanese court on Thursday ordered the operator of Tabelog, a popular restaurant review website, to pay about 38.4 million yen ($286,000) in damages to a Korean barbeque chain, judging that its rating algorithm is unfairly designed for chain outlets.
The Tokyo District Court found that the site operator Kakaku.com Inc. violated the antimonopoly law, saying its algorithm, which uniformly lowered scores of chain restaurants, is considered an “abuse of dominant bargaining position.”
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Japan ruling party vows to boost nation’s defense in election pledges
TOKYO – Japan’s ruling party pledged Thursday ahead of a House of Councillors election to “fundamentally” reinforce the country’s defense capability and increase relevant spending in the next five years, as Russia’s war against Ukraine has raised calls for a more robust posture.
The Liberal Democratic Party has in mind a target of roughly doubling the country’s defense spending to 2 percent or more of gross domestic product, in line with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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North Korea reports outbreak of another infectious disease amid COVID-19
BEIJING – North Korea on Thursday reported an outbreak of another infectious disease at home, while the country has been struggling to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed officials to implement measures including quarantine, medical treatment and sterilization in a bid to contain an “acute enteric epidemic,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
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G-7 ministers to meet next week with focus on food crisis
TOKYO – The Group of Seven major developed nations are arranging a ministerial meeting in Germany late next week to discuss food shortages in regions such as Africa highly reliant on Ukrainian grain imports, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The envisaged meeting will lay the groundwork for a three-day G-7 summit to be held from June 26 in Schloss Elmau in southern Germany, where the food crisis is also expected to be on the agenda, according to the sources.