ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 In the headlines... Reports suggest... Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may address the U.S. Congress when he travels to Washington later this year. Korean-Americans in the U.S. are making moves to oppose the address. The worst winter seasonal yellow dust in five years blankets much of Korea with health warnings issued against the sandy and toxic wind from China. And we take a closer look at Korea′s casino industry... and diagnose growth points and risks coming from China. Title: Japanese PM likely to address U.S. Congress in spring: sources We are getting reports on the growing possibility of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressing the U.S. Congress... when he travels to Washington later this year. But Korean Americans in the U.S. are already resisting the idea… saying he needs to apologize for Tokyo′s wartime atrocities first. Kwon Soa reports. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may give a speech before U.S. Congress during his planned visit to Washington in late April or early May. Various reports say Abe has strongly expressed his will to a congressional delegation from the U.S. who recently visited Tokyo. Many U.S. congressional leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, are known to be leaning toward letting Abe speak to Congress. If Abe gets the green light, it will mark the first time a Japanese prime minister has addressed U.S. Congress in 54 years. Former prime minister Hayato Ikeda was the last Japanese leader to give a speech before the House of Representatives all the way back in 1961. Before that, Nobusuke Kishi addressed Congress in 1957 and Shigeru Yoshida in 1954. Abe reportedly wants to speak before a joint session of the lower and upper house, something no Japanese prime minister has ever done before. However, some obstacles stand in his way. Many Korean-Americans are opposed to Abe′s move as he′s expected to promote Japan as a country that has followed a peaceful path since the end of World War II. A task force for a Korean council in Washington for ′Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan′ said they launched a petition campaign on Sunday. They will submit a formal letter to California Congressman Ed Royce saying they are opposed to the idea unless Abe makes a sincere apology over Japan′s historical wrongdoings first. Sohn Jung-in, Arirang News. Title: Korea summons senior Japanese diplomat to protest Japan′s latest Dokdo claims And staying with Japan... Korea has further protested Japan′s latest territorial claim to Korea′s Dokdo Island. The foreign ministry has summoned Kenji Kanasugi, a minister at the Japanese embassy in Seoul,... to protest Japan′s celebrations of its Takeshima Day. Takeshima is what Japan calls Dokdo. For the third straight year, the Japanese government dispatched a senior official to attend an event for the occasion. Seoul calls it historically regressive... and questions Tokyo′s willingness to strengthen ties with Seou

• published: 23 Feb 2015
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