Asia News

---

JAPAN:
In a report released last Friday, The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) revealed some surprising revelations about safety measures at their crippled nuclear power facility in Japan prior to last year’s earthquake/tsunami disaster.
The plant’s operator acknowledged that they had played down safety risks because of a fear it would be shut down. The report said that certain new safety measures were put in place at the plant in 2002, but other key measures were not implemented because of fears that those measures would spread concerns that there were problems with nuclear plant safety. They didn’t want to give any momentum to Japanese anti-nuclear groups.
KOREA:
A public apology was released by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin on Monday about security measures at their border with the North. This was in response to a defector from the North crossing the border undetected and appeared at the door of a South Korean barracks to ask for asylum. He had killed a fellow North Korean soldier in order to escape and traveled over 30 miles to reach the barracks.
Five South Korean senior military officials were also reprimanded for the incident.
CAMBODIA:
Former King Norodom Sihanouk died in Beijing on Monday. He was king of Cambodia for over 6 decades. The 89 year old former monarch’s body will be returned to Cambodia for a traditional funeral and burial. He had been treated for years by Chinese doctors for diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure.
Sihanouk was of royal lineage and was place on the throne of Cambodia by the then ruling French government in 1941.
He saw the country through its transition to independence and dissolved the county’s parliament in 1953 to facilitate the process. His later connections with the Khmer Rouge have put blight on his accomplishments.
PHILIPPINES:
A landmark peace agreement between the Philippine government and Muslim rebel leaders was reach on Monday in Manila. It includes a number of elements aimed at ending the continuing insurgency and allowing the Muslims in Mindanao to have autonomous control. President Benigno Aquino III expressed hopes that it would result in a lasting peace in Mindanao.
Negotiations had gone on for over 15 years even as rebel attacks had continued. The insurgency resulted in the death of 10s of thousands.