they believe that will be a test site. a senior government official says north korean leaders will further isolate their country if they carry out another nuclear test. the official points out it will also make it harder for them to develop their failed economy. the north korean government made a rare public admission recently. state media reported an attempt to launch a satellite into space failed. many nations consider it a long range missile test. still, south korean officials say this admission could signify a change of political style under kim jong-un. a group of activists have released balloons carrying pamphlets and food across the border with north korea. they say the initiative is meant to denounce north korea s launch of a missile earlier this month. while the population continues to starve. nhk world reports. reporter: here near the north korean border, the members are now preparing for launching balloons with leaflets and chocolate to north korea. the ngo is
south korean government officials say the group entered via third country earlier this week. the officials say one of the asylum seekers is the daughter of a south korean soldier taken prisoner during the korean war. the others include her two children. the defectors sought asylum theatsouth korean embassay in my 2009, but the north had refused to let them leave. the decision to release them was likely spurred by mounting protests in south korea against china s policy of sending north korean defectors back. the south korean government raised the issue with china at a recent summit meeting as well as through diplomatic channels. but sources say there s been no change in china s position on defectors. its policy is still to send them back as illegal intruders. japan s defense minister naoki tanaka and u.s. defense secretary leon panetta have reaffirmed their countries will work closely together to respond to north korea s rocket launch. tanaka and panetta spoke over the phone
its leader, aung san suu kyi, is now set to take a seat in parliament. the interview took place in phnom penh where thein sein attended a summit. he leads the new government that was inaugurated last year, and took off after decades of autocratic rule after the country s military leaders. aung san suu kyi one a land slide victory in sunday s by-elections. the vote was closely watched by the international community, as myanmar s progress towards democracy. however, the number of seats won by the nld accounts for less than 10% of all the seats in parliament. after the elections, aung san suu kyi called on the ruling party to cooperate for more democraticization. the president responded to the call for the first time ever. the toughest challenge for myanmar is to boost its economy, one of the worst in southeast asia. and to do that it has to get economic sanctions lifted by western countries. the president expressed hope that the recent by-elections will help achieve that. kno
panetta went over the details of their joint action plan. tanaka and pennate spoke tuesday over the phone. they agreed the launch violate u.n. security council resolutions that demand north korea halt its missile development. tanaka updated panetta on how his ministry is preparing. he s ordered self-defense forces to intercept any part of the missile that could fall on to japanese territory. panetta stressed the need to show the japan/u.s. alliance is strong. they also agreed the self-defense forces and the u.s. military will share information on the upcoming launch. translator: we will watch how the diplomatic efforts work. however, i told secretary panetta if north korea does go ahead with the launch, japan will take appropriate measures. the secretary said he understands our stance. some details on the appropriate measures tanaka is referring to. self-defense force personnel are on the ground in the country s southern most pretectu urure okinawa. and they brought some
there are about 300 residents whose homes are in the no entry zone. they will be able to visit the area without permission from the central or local governments. work including radiation decontamination will begin ahead of their return. translator: we must return home as my child will start going to school next year. i hope the decontamination will make progress. this is temporary housing for people from tamura city. it will be reclassified as an area where residents can prepare to eventually return home. translator: this is a step forward for the recovery and rebuilding. i will work together with the residents to find ways to restore their area. the government has also decided to review the zoning of minami soma city, a part of which is inside the no entry zone. the city will likely be split into three areas including one where there will be long-term restrictions on people who want to move back to live. the mayor of the city welcomed the decision, but he also expres