Region, and japan stressed that it would play a greater role in peace and stability. To realize measures to enhance japan u. S. Alliance, their firm to hold the security consul committee or two plus two meeting. In the foreign talks we agreed to discuss and speed up our preparations for our first 2 plus 2 talks, set the state for it at an early stage. Our Longstanding Alliance is devoted to peace, prosperity and freedom in the Asia Pacific Region. While the security environment in this region can be challenging, the United States is committed to strengthening our role and we welcome an increased japanese commitment to their roles and responsibilities in our alliance. As part of the alliance the two reiterated their committee to cooperating dealing with a threat posed by north korea missile launches. Translator we shared recognition that the countrys missile and Nuclear Development is totally unacceptable. In cooperation with japan, the u. S. , and south korea, we strongly demand the country refrain from any provocative act and comply with u. N. Security council resolutions, and we also discussed the importance of chinas role in this issue. North korea and its people near not fear the United States or their neighbors that seek only to live in peace with north korea. With this in mind, the United States calls on north korea to abandon its Nuclear Missile programs and refrain from any other provocations. The u. S. Commitment to the defense of japan and other allies through the full range of our military capabilities is unwavering. Tillerson also called on china to help persuade pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. Well ask chinas support toward encouraging north korea to give up on its nuclear program. We do believe they have a very Important Role to play. China is a major source of economic trade and activity with north korea. China has long stated their policy that they too want to denuclearize north korea. China has voted in fair favor of the u. N. Resolutions. We look to china to fulfill its obligations and fully implemented the sanctions called for in the u. N. Resolutions. Kishida also did not waste time reaffirming japans position on the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. Japan controls the islands. China and taiwan claim them. Translator i explained japans basic stance, aiming to improve ties with china. At the same time, i expressed appreciation for the u. S. s strong commitment on the Senkaku Islands. We affirmed that article 5 of the 1960 u. S. japan treaty covers the Senkaku Islands. We oppose any unilateral action that seeks to undermine japans administration criminal of the senkakus. The security of state heads to south korea and china after leaving japan on friday. Tillerson. As weve heard, north koreas missile and Nuclear Advances were a major topic of discussion. Now we hear about the challenge it presents to the u. S. North korea is on a path right now to develop, you know, longrange Ballistic Missiles with nuclear weapons. Its very likely that within President Trumps initial four years in office that north korea will acquire that capability. Reporter he used to be one of the u. S. s main policy voices on north korea. He says the countrys Nuclear Threat is greater than ever. North korea has not shied away from showing off its Missile Technology since donald trump took office. It fired one Ballistic Missile while he was hosting his first foreign leader, japans shinzo abe. And last week, pyongyang launched another one. It claims it was simulating an attack on american bases in japan. The missiles landed just a few hundred kilometers from the coast. Obviously north korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with that very strongly. Reporter Donald Trumps officials are reviewing american policy towards pyongyang. Some media have reported one option is to use force. The u. S. Also needs to step up pressure on the north. The countrys main ally is key to solving the problem. I think theres a lot more than china could do the chinese want a Good Relationship with trump. Reporter but a Good Relationship is far from assured. Theres multiple issues s causi friction like e the situation i the east and south china seas and antimissile system deployment in south korea and accusations over trade. That wont stop Rex Tillerson frfrom pushing to deal witith t north. Hes going to have to have a very tough discussion with china about how to deal with this problem and call on the chinese to take more action. Reporter the former highprofile businessman has kept a low profile as secretary of state. But the threat of north korea and the difficult task of navigating negotiations around it will likely keep him in the spotlight. Emiko lenhart, nhk world, tokyo. Nhk has learned top brass from japans ground selfdefense force lied about daily reports from its mission in south sudan. They said reports about the peacekeeping operation had been destroyed, but that wasnt true. Whats more, the documents contradict government statements about the situation on the ground in the wartorn country. A Defense Department official blew the whistle on what happened. The official also said an order was issued to destroy the reports. The sdf has had a unit taking part in peacekeeping operations in south sudan for five years. It files daily reports on its activivities and the local situation. In july of last year, major armed clashes broke out in the capital city of juba nearr the japanese base, and in october media requested the government release daily activity logs from that period. Around that time, lawmakers were discussing the situation in south sudan as they deliberated a bill to task the sdf with new duties in the country. The opposition grilled the government about whether combat was taking place near japanese personnel. Regulations stated peacekeepers were only permitted to operate in noncombat areas. The government said combat was not taking place. But a review of the reports show fighting had broken out, and the reports indicate an increasing sense of crisis. The head of the gsgf says he took officials at their word when he said they couldnt find the reports. Japanns defense minister says there will be a thorough investstigation into the matter. Translator i have ordered the ministrys Inspector Generals Office of Legal Compliance to conduct a special inspection to ensure the probes independence. I want the inspection results as soon as possible. Inada says shell make sure the ground selfdefense force fully c cooperates withh the procesess. She alsoo denies that Senior Ministry officials were ordered to delete the logs from south sudan. The opposition camp blasted ininadas explanation. Translator r defense minist inada has been telling lies and covevering things up in the die for the last two months. She really has to take responsibility. Oppositition lawmakers have alsoso calledd on inada to step down. She has refused. Japanese automakers are treading carefully around a request by donald trump to invest more in the u. S. Gene otani has the details on that and other business headlines. U. S. President donald trump has called on toyota to make more cars in america. He madade the appeal during a memeeting with executives of mar automakers. Trump urged toyotas chief in north america to build new plants in n the u. S. He also asked a nissan official about the percentage of vehicles the firm makes there. A toyota representative in japan said the firm is already heavily invested in the american market. Translator well pay close attentntion to how things proce. I think toyota already contributes fully to the u. S. Economy through investment and job creation. And we want to continue to be a firm that can contribute to local communities. The chairman of the japapan autotomobile Manufacturers Association also addressed the issue. He said its only naturural tha leaders want foreign firirms to invest more inn their countries. Translator wee all know t importance of the u. S. Market and i its enterprise. I suppose well have a serious talk about how japanese manufacturers should operate under President Trumps policies. Bank of japan policymakers are pressing ahead with their ambitious monetary easing program. They say theyll keep their expansion their measures in place as they pursue a 2 inflation target. Policymakers wrapped up a twoday meeting. They say theyll continue to focus on a framework that aims to manager short and longterm Interest Rates. And there will be no change to the negative rate policy for commercial banks. That means thoho banks effectively have to pay 0. 1 on a portion of their deposits in the boj. The target yield for the benchmark tenyear japanese Government Bond will stay at around 0 . The boj says itll purchase jgbs more or less in line with its current annual pace. Thats about 80 trillion yen or 700 billion. Analysts say the bank is counting on its easy money policy to shore up the economy. The Consumer Price index for january was up for the first time in more than a year, but the yearonyear increase was just 0. 1 , well below the bojs target. Boj governor kuroda brushed off speculation that the c centl bank may follow the fed with a rate rise of its own. Transnslator i wouldld neve cocontemplate a rate hike simpl because of an increase ovoverse. Kuroda said any decision would be based on other factors such as the state of the economy and price trends. Checking the markets, the bojs decision was widely expected. Investors are more focused on the u. S. Federal reserve. Fed policymakers raised the key Interest Rate but did not indicate they would be picking up the pace of further rate hikes. Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher as investors digested the fed announcement. Phoebe amoroso has more from the tokyo stock exchange. Investors finally got confirmation of the latest u. S. Rate hike, but some were also expecting a faster pace of increases down the road. When signs of that didnt materialize, they sold the dollar, sending it lower against the yen. That capped gains in the markets here. Lets check on the closing levels. The nikkei finished up 0. 7 , closing at 19,590. The broader topix rose almost 0. 1 . Turning to currencies, the dollar was in focus as it plummeted to a twoweek low against the yen, as there was no hint of a pick up in the pace of u. S. Rate hikes. And that disappointed some traders. Looking at individual stocks, that stronger yen weighed on major exporters. Pioneer dropped 0. 8 , and mazda fell over 1 . But Energy Related shares recovered after a decline in u. S. Stockpiles provided some support for crude oil prices. Showa shell rose 1. 3 , and inpex climbed more than 1 . So there were no major surprises, either from the fed or boj. Investors will be breathing a sigh of relief, but that dollar yen pair remains in focus. Im Phoebe Amoroso reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. Other benchmarks in the Asia Pacific Region also ended higher after the fed announcement. Many investors were unfazed about the possibility of capital outflows from emerging economies. Hong kongs hang seng index rose more than 2 . Indonesia was up 1. 6 . In china, the shanghai composite climbed 0. 8 , finishing at 3,268. Thats the highest level in more than three months. Analysts say sentiment was up following the National Peoples congress with investors more hopeful that authorities will carry through reforms. South koreas cospi index ended this way up also, by 0. 8 . Samsung electronics among the big gainers. The rate hike by the u. S. Federal reserve is only the third in a decade, but the central bank has forecast it will be one of three increases in 2017 alone. Fed chair janet yellen spoke at the end of a twoday policy meeting. She said the key rate target will be increased to a range of 0. 75 to 1 . We have confidence in the robustness of the economy and its resilience to shocks. Its performed well over the last several years. Yellen noted that inflation has increased in recent quarters, approacaching the fed 2 longer run objective. E. Todays d decision also reflects our view that waiting too long to scale back some accommodation could potentially require us to raise rates rapidly sometime down the road, which in turn could risk disrupting Financial Markets and pushing the economy into recession. Its the first increase since President Trump took office in january. Analysts have been trying to assess how much impact its economic policies may have on the fed. The president has been talking about tax cuts, deregulation in the financial sector, and more spending on infrastructure projects, which is leading some to believe that the fed mayay need to hike rate faster in order to prevent the economy from overheating. Analysts are also watching to see who trump will pick for the new members of the Monetary Policy board. Its expected that there will be three new openings by april. For more insight on the feds latest decision, my colleague ross mihara earlier spoke with a former fed official who serves as a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for international economics. Janet yellen emphasized the resi resilience of the economy. But the forecast shows the anticipated pace of future rate hikes is virtually unchanged. So how strong is the u. S. Economy, and what do you think is behind the feds decision . Well, i think they feel confidence that the economy is on track, and their confidence has grown, but that doesnt mean they see a stronger economy than they saw before. So theres no reason to hike any faster. The economy isnt any stronger. Its just that they feel more comfortable that the economy is going to maintain its strength. In your view, what kind of impact is President Trumps economic policies having or will have on the feds Monetary Policy . Well, its hard to say because we dont know what will happen. The fed really cannot anticipate what might happen. They cant act before the Trump Administration and the Congress Make their move. So theyre not changing their forecast on that. But i think there may well be a tax cut, and that would make the economy Even Stronger and make the fed raise rates faster, but thats not a certainty. And the fed will not indicate that until after it happens. How will the u. S. Monetary policy affect japan and other Asian Countries . Do you think this will affect policymaking at the bank of japan . Well, i think the continued solid growth of the u. S. Economy, which allows the fed to raise rates, is probably good news from the bank of japans point of view. It actually helps to widen the difference between Interest Rates in the u. S. And japan. That weakens the yen and stimulates the japanese economy. So i think the bank of japan will be happy. That will help get japan back to 2 inflation, which would be good for everyone. Finally, what are your prospects for future u. S. Rate hikes, and when would be the next increase . I think the next increase would be certainly not the next meeting, probably not even the june meeting. Possibly the summer meeting in july or august. Certainly by september, if not earlier. So maybe the summertime. Once we know more about the fiscal policy, what the congress and the administration do on taxes and spending, and once thats passed, not just proposed, but passed so it becomes law, then the fed might pick up the pace. But i dont think thats going to be possible before summer. So i really think nothing more will happen until june at the earliest and probably july. And that was joseph gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. And you can catch our report again online, together with a full transcript. Just look for nhk world and business wrap. Thats a look at business news. Im going to leave you with the markets. Prosecutors in western japan will soon be investigating a company that runs a Language School. Theyve been told its subjected foreign students to forced labor. The company runs a Language School and a nursing home, where six indonesian students worked. They say the company had told the students they would have to pay a financial penalty if they quit the school. Officials searched the Language School last july. They found students had contracts that combined study and work. They concluded those terms amounted to forced labor. Lawyers for the company deny any illegality. They say the firm offered foreign students parttime work to ease their financial burden. Fair skies prevail for us here in tokyo, with the weekend forecast looking good as well. Jonathan oh joins us for the world weather, starting with the u. S. Looks like were still going to see temperatures way below freezing. And throughout periods, the daytime highs are going to moderate just a bit as we go forward in time. I want to mention that yes we have had some serious weather conditions and reporters. And that same lowpressure system. We are continuing to monitor that low as it moves toward the north and east because we have the possibility of seeing more