THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 INTERNATIONAL Two S Korean soldiers die during training

SEOUL: Two young soldiers in South during a mock training exercise on how drill, soldiers had to spend an hour kneel- widespread public fury over a series of arrested for manslaughter after an initial Korea’s special warfare unit died during to survive when captured by enemies, ing down with their heads wrapped in deaths and suicides of young conscripts investigation showed Yoon had been training, the military said yesterday, fol- said a spokesman of the Special Warfare cloth and hands bound behind the back, caused by barrack-room bullying. repeatedly bullied. lowing a series of incidents and suicides Command (SWC). military officials said. “This is the first South Korea’s army chief of staff Kwon The case-revealed by rights activists that have unleashed public fury over bul- “They had breathing problems during time that we adopted the programme, Oh-Seong resigned last month to take in July-came on the back of two separate lying in the army. the mock captivity training when their which has been used by special warfare responsibility for the death in April of a suicides by army privates also in July, The two staff sergeants in their early heads were wrapped in cloth, and died units in the US, Britain and Australia,” it bullied soldier. and a deadly shooting spree in June in 20s, surnamed Lee and Cho, died after after being sent to hospital,” the quoted one official at the SWC. The 23-year-old private, surnamed which a sergeant shot dead five com- collapsing during training on Tuesday spokesman Lee Hong-Joo said. “There must have been some sloppi- Yoon, died of asphyxiation after being rades for taunting him. Conscripts, most night, a defence ministry spokesman Another soldier is being treated after ness in carrying out the training,” said struck in the chest by comrades during of them in their early 20s, account for the said. being injured during the training, he said another official quoted by Yonhap. The mealtime, with a chunk of food lodged in lion’s share of the military’s 690,000 They appeared to have suffocated without elaborating further. During the latest incident comes as the army faces his airway. Five young soldiers were later active personnel. —AFP Abe picks China-friendly lawmakers to key posts Japan PM names five women to new cabinet

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister members such as Chief Cabinet campaign chief. tionship on common issues con- Shinzo Abe picked two veteran law- Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Finance Tanigaki, 69, is from a moderate fronting international society,” Suga makers with friendly ties to China for Minister Taro Aso, 73, Economics wing of the LDP that favours better told a news conference as China top party posts yesterday in an Minister Akira Amari, 65, and Foreign ties with China. He was also an archi- marked the anniversary of its World apparent signal of hope for a thaw in Minister , 57, signalling tect of a plan to hike the sales tax in War Two victory over Japan. chilly ties with Beijing and a summit policy continuity. two stages to curb Japan’s huge pub- Former vice defence minister with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Abe’s new line-up faces a number lic debt. Implementation of the sec- Akinori Eto takes over from moderate The change in executives in Abe’s of challenges, including how to ond stage is now in doubt due to a conservative as Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was repair ties with China that have been string of gloomy economic data. defence minister. He also assumes a twinned with a cabinet reshuffle in frayed by rows over disputed territo- Veteran lawmaker Toshihiro Nikai, new post responsible for national which Abe gave the health and wel- ry and Japan’s wartime history, and 75, who also has close ties with security reform as Abe pushes ahead fare portfolio to a reform-minded whether to go ahead with a planned China, was appointed to a second with efforts to ease the limits of lawmaker, kept core ministers and sales tax rise next year despite signs top party post. Outgoing administra- Japan’s pacifist constitution on its HONG KONG: Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (R) speaks boosted the number of women in an the economy is faltering. tive reform minister , military. during a press conference in Hong Kong yesterday. Tung supported the The little-known Eto, who is close standing committee of China’s rubber-stamp parliament who on August 31 to Abe, belongs to a group of law- ruled out public nominations for Hong Kong’s next chief executive in 2017, makers advocating visits to Tokyo’s with candidates for the city’s top job to be approved instead by a Beijing- controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war backed committee. — AFP dead, although his office said he has not visited the shrine this year. China rejects ‘interference’ over Abe’s pilgrimage there in December outraged China, where HK after US pledges support the shrine is viewed as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism. Abe has since BEIJING: China stressed yesterday that it which allows civil liberties not seen on avoided visiting the shrine in person. Eto has policy expertise, political would tolerate no foreign interference in the mainland, including free speech and analyst Ito said, but added: “He will Hong Kong affairs, after the United the right to protest. not have a lot of influence. The mes- States said it supported “universal suf- The NPC standing committee deci- sage from the appointments to the frage” in the territory. sion “represents an important progress two party posts is stronger.” The “constitutional reform of Hong in the development of democracy in Abe has not revamped his cabinet Kong is China’s domestic affair which Hong Kong”, Qin said. “To safeguard the since returning to office in December brooks no interference from the out- lasting prosperity and stability of Hong 2012, a record for a post-World War side”, Chinese foreign ministry Kong serves the common interests of Two premier. That means dozens of spokesman Qin Gang told reporters at a the international community including veterans in his male-dominated LDP regular briefing. the US.” were eager to be tapped for a post. Qin was responding to comments China hopes the international com- Abe, who has made a push to get made by State Department spokes- munity will see the issue “from a positive more women into the workforce a woman Jen Psaki in Washington on and objective perspective”, Qin added. linchpin of his “Abenomics” growth Tuesday supportive of pro-democracy Asked to react to the continuation of a plan, appointed five female ministers, protesters in Hong Kong, a semi- British parliamentary inquiry into Hong equalling a record set by Junichiro autonomous region of China. Kong, Qin underlined that the region Koizimi in 2001. “The United States supports universal was no longer under London’s control. Yuko Obuchi, 40, daughter of a suffrage in Hong Kong in accordance “It is not the Hong Kong of before former prime minister and mother of with the Basic Law and the aspirations of 1997,” he said, adding that its matters are two, takes over as minister of trade the Hong Kong people,” Psaki told part of China’s domestic affairs. TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front row C) poses with cabinet members during a and industry, while LDP policy chief photo session after their first cabinet meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo Sanae Takaichi, 53, an Abe ally and reporters, referring to Hong Kong’s mini- “We are opposed to any interference yesterday. Abe named five women to his new cabinet yesterday, leading by example in a country former minister for gender equality constitution. from the outside in any forms,” he said. economists say must make better use of its highly-educated but underemployed women. — AFP in his first cabinet in 2006, was The standing committee of the “This position is resolute and clear.” named minister of internal affairs and National People’s Congress, China’s rub- Separately, Hong Kong’s first post-han- effort to polish his image. “A positive economic cycle is kick- 55, a close conservative ally of Abe, communications. ber-stamp parliament, said Sunday that dover leader yesterday urged activists to In a move welcomed by Tokyo ing off,” Abe told a news conference became LDP policy chief. His message, however, was some- Hong Kong citizens would be allowed to cooperate over political reforms. stock market players, Abe drafted after the new line-up was announced. “He is sending a strong message what mixed since some of the elect their next leader in 2017 — but Tung Chee-hwa, the 77-year-old for- Yasuhisa Shiozaki, 63, a proponent of “We’re only halfway through in to China that he wants to improve appointees, including Haruko candidates must be chosen by a pro- mer British colony’s chief executive from an overhaul of Japan’s Government reforms and we need to deal with ties. Not only Tanigaki but Nikai have Arimura, new minister in charge of Beijing committee and must win the 1997 until 2005, said at a press confer- Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), to new challenges. I reshuffled my cab- good ties with China,” said political women’s issues and the falling backing of more than half of the com- ence in Hong Kong that activists should head the ministry of labour, health inet so that we can tackle these analyst Atsuo Ito. birthrate, are known for promoting mittee members to stand. make compromises and stop “pointing and welfare, which oversees GPIF. challenges boldly and vigorously,” highly conservative, traditional family Only two or three will be allowed to fingers” at Beijing. The fund is finalising plans to he added. “The biggest challenge Mixed message on women? values. stand for election. Democracy activists “Hong Kong is our home,” Tung said. boost the weighting of domestic now is ... to revive the regions of Abe has signalled that he hopes Abe, who surged to power prom- say the rules mean China will be able to “We have to work together. “The only stocks in its portfolio. Japan.” to meet Chinese leader Xi at an Asia- ising to revive the economy and bol- ensure that only pro-Beijing candidates way out is through working together Abe also gave women almost a In a bid for party unity, the Pacific leaders gathering in Beijing in ster Japan’s security stance in the can contest the vote. hand in hand. Otherwise there will be no third of the posts in his 18-minister hawkish Abe tapped outgoing November. face of a rising China, has seen his Britain handed Hong Kong back to end to the bitter squabble and the paral- cabinet to show his commitment to Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, “Japan and China both have support slip to around 50 percent, China in 1997 under an agreement ysis.” —AFP promoting women as part of his his predecessor as LDP leader, for responsibility for international peace still high for a Japanese premier “Abenomics” growth strategy. the key party post of secretary-gen- and prosperity. It is vital to develop a but off early peaks of around 60 But he retained powerful cabinet eral, the LDP’s de facto election forward-looking, cooperative rela- percent. —Reuters Explosion at Japan Thailand picks team for steel plant, 15 hurt talks with Muslim rebels TOKYO: At least 15 people were explosion came after other fire trou- injured yesterday after an explosion bles earlier this year. No one was hurt at a steel plant in central Japan, the in separate incidents in January, June latest in a series of accidents at the and July at the same plant. The inci- BANGKOK: Thailand will assemble a peace military junta said yesterday. ward” and that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan- site. Television pictures showed dents prompted the mayor of Tokai, a negotiating team by the end of the week to Udomdet Sitabutr, secretary-general of the ocha will appoint team members to lead the clouds of black smoke billowing from city of about 100,000 people, to for- revive talks with Muslim separatists whose National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Thai delegation. the Nippon Steel and Sumitomo mally ask the steelmaker to draw up a insurgency in the south of the country has as the junta is formally known, said talks, bro- “We will have soldiers, lawyers and aca- Metal facility in Tokai, which employs plan to deal with any safety problems. cost thousands of lives in the past decade, the kered by Malaysia, would “definitely move for- demics on the team,” Udomdet told reporters. 3,000 people. Mayor Atsuo Suzuki submitted the The insurgency is based in Pattani, Yala and A spokesman for the Aichi prefec- request twice in the wake of separate Narathiwat provinces in Thailand’s so-called tural police said the fire department incidents, according to local media. “Deep South”. Thailand is a mainly Buddhist had been alerted to a problem at the Four incidents this year were related country and resistance to central government plant at 12:46 pm (0346 GMT). to power blackouts, the company rule in the three Muslim-majority provinces A Tokyo-based spokeswoman for spokeswoman said, adding that has existed for decades, resurfacing brutally in the world’s number-two steelmaker Wednesday’s problem was caused by 2004. said the blast injured its workers and another issue. More than 6,000 people have died since those from partner firms. All 15 “The fire broke out during the then, according to Deep South Watch, which injured people were taken to hospital, process right before coal is thrown monitors the violence. Successive govern- according to a Tokai city emergency into a coke oven,” she said. Unlike in ments have failed to quell the unrest. The official. neighbouring China, industrial acci- start of talks in 2013 was lauded by some “We don’t know the severity of dents are relatively rare in Japan rights groups, and academics. Others were their injuries,” he told AFP. Five people where safety measures are usually sceptical, saying that the government was suffered serious injuries from appar- strictly enforced. talking to the wrong rebel group. ent smoke inhalation and burns, Last month, the plant announced The talks stalled months before the previ- national broadcaster NHK reported. It preventative measures, including set- ous civilian government became engulfed by added that police would investigate ting up a committee to investigate street protests late last year, in a political crisis the case over possible professional details of past incidents and over- that climaxed with a court ordering Prime negligence that resulted in injury. hauling the site’s power supply sys- Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down on Factory workers were trying to tems. May 7. deal with smoke rising from a coal The plant manufactures a wide The military seized power weeks later in a storage unit near a coke oven before range of steel products, from high- May 22 coup. Udomdet said Malaysia had the blaze erupted, according to NHK, quality steel sheets for vehicle bodies identified the right group to bring to the next citing police sources. to products for canned food as well as round of talks. “There was a small explosion that various kinds of steel pipes. BEIJING: Chinese children look at weapons used by the Japanese military in World “Malaysia has found the real people War II at an exhibition about the war, in Beijing yesterday. Chinese President Xi was caused by a fire at a coke oven,” The company’s Tokyo-listed shares behind the problem who are ready to talk to another Tokai city official told AFP. closed down 1.6 percent at 274.9 yen Jinping and all six other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the coun- us,” he said, without giving further details. Coal-based coke is a key ingredient as the broader Japanese market try’s most powerful body, made a rare public appearance yesterday to commemorate “The peace talks will definitely move for- used in the steelmaking process. The added 0.38 percent. —AFP 69 years since Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. —AFP ward.” —Reuters