TMCnet News
Kyodo news summary -6-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 30_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Hijacked JAL plane pilot intentionally landed in S. Korea: documents SEOUL - The pilot of a Japan Airlines passenger plane hijacked by Japanese Red Army faction members who demanded the plane be flown to North Korea in 1970 "intentionally" landed the plane at a South Korean airport to fool the hijackers, documents declassified Thursday by the South Korean government say. In the documents, the South Korean government had concluded that the landing of the jetliner "Yodo" at Gimpo International Airport was planned by Shinji Ishida, whom the documents describe as an "experienced" pilot. ---------- Muslim leaders quiz Blair on Hamas, Iraq JAKARTA - Islamic leaders in Indonesia demanded Thursday that visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair withdraw troops from Iraq and change British foreign policies toward the Islamic world. "We ask not only Britain but also the United States to withdraw immediately their troops from Iraq. Because the sending of the troops was a unilateral action and ignoring the role of the United Nations," said Din Syamsuddin, head of 30-million-strong Indonesian Muslim organization Muhammadiah. ---------- SESC seeks indictment of 2 accountants over Livedoor case TOKYO - The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed a criminal complaint on Thursday with prosecutors against two accountants who certified a Livedoor Co. financial report that was allegedly falsified. Following the SESC action, a special investigative squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is expected to charge the accountants probably Friday without arresting them. ---------- China hopes U.N. statement on Iran ups chance of IAEA-led solution BEIJING - China said Thursday it hopes the U.N. Security Council's statement on Iran's nuclear problem would give political backing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, repeating its position that the nuclear watchdog should lead efforts to find a solution to the issue. "China hopes the adoption of the statement will help bolster the IAEA's authority," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing. ---------- S. Korea, Japan efforts in 1975 to politically resolve Kim abduction SEOUL - Documents declassified by the South Korean government on Thursday reveal how Japan and South Korea tried for a second time in 1975 to politically resolve the abduction of Kim Dae Jung, an opposition politician who later became South Korea's president, from a Tokyo hotel in 1973, after having failed in their first attempt in 1973. The documents show that Tokyo told Seoul in talks in early 1975 that it would drop its investigation of Kim Dong Woon, the first secretary of the South Korean Embassy whose fingerprints were found by Japanese police in Kim Dae Jung's hotel room, raising suspicion of involvement by the then Korean Central Intelligence Agency. ---------- Japan hopes China visit by friendship groups to strengthen ties TOKYO - Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki expressed hope Thursday that a visit to China by a delegation from seven Japan-China friendship associations could pave the way for repairing bilateral ties strained over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine. "I believe it is important to continue strengthening exchanges at different levels. I take it that the other side also thinks this way which is why they invited the groups at this time," Shiozaki said in a news conference. ---------- Another Tokyo condo found defective, pushing total to 98 TOKYO - Another condominium in Tokyo has been found to be defective because its quake-resistance data were fabricated by a now-disqualified architect, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday. This brought the number of buildings whose quake-resistance data were fabricated by the former architect, Hidetsugu Aneha, at 98 in 18 prefectures. Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures are among the 18, besides Tokyo. ---------- Machine maker Kubota faces charge over excessive overtime hours TOKYO - The Tokyo Labor Bureau sent papers to prosecutors on Kubota Corp., a major farm machinery maker, and an official of the firm on Thursday on suspicion of having made a male employee work excessive overtime, bureau officials said. The worker, 39, collapsed and was hospitalized following a stroke after Kubota allegedly made him work 160 hours in overtime from Feb. 1 to Feb. 26 last year as a foreman for agricultural machinery installment, the bureau said. |