Kyodo News Digest: Jan. 19, 2025


High school archery club members shoot flaming arrows to ignite a 100,000 square-meter turf-covered field during a fire festival on a cape facing the Pacific Ocean in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 18, 2025. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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South Korean President Yoon formally arrested over martial law declaration

SEOUL – Detained South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol became on Sunday the first sitting leader of the nation to be formally arrested after he incited an insurrection by declaring martial law in December.

An anti-corruption agency served an arrest warrant for Yoon, who has been in custody since Wednesday. Some Yoon supporters became violent in protest and vandalized the premises of the Seoul Western District Court after it issued the warrant in the early hours of Sunday.

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TikTok goes dark for U.S. users hours ahead of ban

WASHINGTON – TikTok went offline Saturday night in the United States hours before a new federal law banning the popular short-form video-sharing platform was set to take effect.

TikTok went dark after the Supreme Court on Friday decided to uphold the law requiring the social media app’s Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. to sell it by Sunday or face a nationwide ban, citing national security concerns.

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Ishiba says ruling block aims for upper house majority in election

TOKYO – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner must at least retain majority control of the upper house in the upcoming election, after the ruling bloc’s election underperformance last year forced it to form a minority government.

The upcoming House of Councillors election will be critical for the LDP and Komeito party to regain momentum after the ruling camp lost its majority in the House of Representatives election last October.

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PM Ishiba visits Osaka Expo venue to inspect progress of preparations

OSAKA – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visited the venue of the World Exposition in Osaka on Sunday to bring attention to the event that is experiencing slower advance ticket sales than organizers expected.

It is the first time since becoming Japan’s leader in October that Ishiba has visited the site on the artificial island of Yumeshima, where construction of pavilions and other preparations continue with fewer than three months left until the expo opens.

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Japan top diplomat leaves for U.S. to attend Trump’s inauguration

TOKYO – Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya embarked Sunday for the United States to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration the following day, aiming to hold talks with key figures in the incoming U.S. administration during his five-day trip.

During his stay in Washington, Iwaya is eying a meeting with Sen. Marco Rubio, the nominee for U.S. secretary of state awaiting Senate confirmation, to lay the groundwork for a summit between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

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Japan gov’t-backed lender to fund major German telecom’s 5G expansion

TOKYO – The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will provide up to 800 million euros ($822 million) in loans to a major German telecom company to support 5G development, in an apparent bid to help the European nation curb dependence on China.

The deal, signed late last month, comes as Germany has been seeking to phase out components from Chinese telecom giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. in its 5G network by 2029, aiming to address national security risks potentially posed by a single country.

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Japan-funded education centers in Russia may terminate as ties sour

MOSCOW – Japanese government-funded entities in Russia that offer language classes and are seen as a symbol of bilateral friendship could cease operations following an order to terminate the implementation of related bilateral agreements.

In an order dated Wednesday and posted on the Russian government’s website, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin suspended the implementation of memorandums signed in 2000 and 2003 with Japan stipulating the activities and other issues regarding “Japan Centers,” in another sign of soured bilateral ties following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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Luxury trains offering tourists a chance to visit Japan’s hidden gems

TOKYO – Japan’s struggling regional economies could receive a much-needed boost via the recent introduction of high-end train tours that offer travelers a chance to sample less-visited locations in luxury.

The development comes as local train lines and communities in graying Japan are under pressure from declining passenger numbers and a shrinking population, with governments and private companies searching for ways to encourage overseas tourists to find destinations off the beaten path.


Video: Fire festival on cape facing the Pacific Ocean in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture






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