Asean Tribune

South Korea and Japan held vice-ministerial talks in Seoul on Thursday, the first such talks in nine years amid warming bilateral relations, as Japan was set to begin a second round of radioactive water discharge into the ocean.

First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin met his Japanese counterpart, Masataka Okano, for “strategic dialogue” discussions expected to address various agenda items from bilateral relations to regional and global issues, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.

The meeting came amid a thaw in bilateral relations after South Korea decided in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.

The decision led to President Yoon Suk Yeol traveling to Tokyo later that month for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, becoming the first South Korean president to make a bilateral visit to Japan in 12 years.

Thursday’s meeting also came on the day that Japan was set to discharge i
ts second batch of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean through Oct. 23, following its first release from Aug. 24 to Sept. 11.

Japan’s release of the radioactive water has had little impact on the warming of relations, as Seoul has maintained the discharge will have little effect on the environment as long as it is done in a scientifically safe manner.

Reviving high-level diplomatic dialogue channels, including restoring the long-suspended “shuttle diplomacy” of regular leader visits, was part of the agreement reached at the March summit. Since then, the two leaders have held five additional summit meetings.

The strategic dialogue, established in 2005, had not taken place since the last meeting in October 2014 due to a chill in bilateral ties.

Following the meeting, Okano was expected to pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Park Jin.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

An official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Thursday the sea collision incident off the waters of Pangasinan on Monday was most likely an accident with no signs of involvement of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) or its maritime militia vessels.

During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela, said the survivors’ testimonies indicate that the incident was unlikely to be deliberate.

‘Sila rin mismo yung nagsasabi na in this particular time na nangyari ito, masyadong madilim ang area, pangit ang panahon. So, there’s a possibility na hindi nga sila napansin (The survivors said that during that particular time, the area was very dark and the weather was bad. So, there is a possibility that they weren’t noticed),’ Tarriela said.

He clarified that the incident happened in waters near Pangasinan and was outside the waters of Bajo de Masinloc, contrary to earlier reports.

‘If you’re going to plot the area kung saan nabangga itong ating mga
mangingisda, ito ay may distansya na 180 nautical miles from Agno, Pangasinan. So, mas malapit siya sa Pangasinan kesa Bajo de Masinloc (If you’re going to plot the area where the collision happened, it’s about 180 nautical miles from Agno, Pangasinan. So, they were nearer to Pangasinan than Bajo de Masinloc),’ Tarriela said.

He also dismissed speculations that China was involved in the incident.

‘It’s not deliberately rammed, as what was speculated by some. At hindi ito CCG and maritime militia (And this was not done by the CCG and maritime militia),’ he said.

To date, he said, the port state control of the suspect ship, Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker Pacific Anna, has been contacted by the PCG for coordination regarding the investigation.

‘We have already coordinated with them for them to be subject to a much more thorough investigation and to confirm kung ang barko na ito ay dumaan sa area na sinasabi ng mga mangingisda in the specific time and date na nilahad din nila (whether this ship was
the one identified by fishermen to be in the area at the time and date of the incident),’ he said.

If the tanker is found to be liable, he said the PCG would coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs for further action.

‘Kumbaga saan naka-register yung barko to help us in ascertaining yung liability claims sa may-ari ng barko na ito (Where the ship is registered to help us ascertain the liability claims of the ship’s owner),’ he said.

At about 4:20 a.m. Monday, the Filipino fishing boat FFB Dearyn carrying six of its crew members was moored at its payao when a foreign vessel rammed the boat, causing it to capsize.

The incident resulted in the death of three fishers while the survivors were eventually picked up by the eight other crew members who were out fishing when the incident occurred.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Japan began the second phase of the discharge of treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, after the first phase was carried out within the established safety limits between Aug. 24 and Sept. 11.

The second phase of the discharge kicked off around 10:30 a.m. and is scheduled to continue through Oct. 23, according to Japanese media reports, estimating the total discharge amount at 7,800 tons, almost the same amount as that of the first period.

The daily discharge is expected to be 460 tons.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, plans to release the water, stored in tanks after being treated through a custom purification system known as the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) since its meltdown in March 2011, through a sea tunnel extending 1 kilometer into the ocean.

ALPS can remove 62 kinds of radioactive substances, except tritium, which can be reduced to the international safety level through dilution with seawater.

The Japane
se government, the Fukushima prefectural government and Tokyo Electric have regularly analyzed the concentration of tritium in seawater and fish around the nuclear power plant since the beginning of the first discharge and reported no abnormalities.

On Wednesday, Tokyo Electric again measured the concentration of tritium in the treated and diluted wastewater and found it was up to 87 becquerels per liter, which was lower than the discharge standard.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A religious organization said Thursday it would pray for drag artist Pura Luka Vega or Amadeus Fernando Pagente to have a clear mind.

Alex Irasga, technical adviser of the Hijos del Nazareno – Central, expressed hope that Pagente would fully repent over the blasphemous acts he has committed against God.

“We pray that Mr. Pagente will find clarity in the charges he is facing in relation to his desecration of the sanctity of our Lord,” Irasga said in an interview over the church-run Radio Veritas.

Pagente was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the case filed against him by the group for violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code – immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions, and indecent shows and Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 for his controversial drag performance singing a punk rock remix version of the ‘Ama Namin’ or The Lord’s Prayer while clad in a costume resembling the Black Nazarene.

The Manila Police District’s Sta. Cruz station served the arrest warrant
issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 36 against Pagente.

The respondent did not attend the hearings in the case filed by the Hijos del Nazareno – Central and insisted that he did not receive any subpoena regarding the case.

Irasga noted that at the beginning of the case, the group left the trial to the country’s justice system.

Apart from the case filed by the devotees of Jesus the Nazarene, the evangelical group Philippines for Jesus Movement also filed a complaint.

Pagente was allowed to post bail set by Manila RTC Branch 36 acting presiding Judge Czarina Encarnacion Samonte-Villanueva in the amount of PHP72,000.

The drag artist, however, insisted that his act was an ‘expression of faith.’

Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korea and Malaysia have discussed efforts to expand technological and policy cooperation to help advance carbon neutrality goals during their first climate change talks, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

The inaugural Climate Change Dialogue took place in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, led by Kim Hyo-eun, ambassador and deputy minister for climate change, and Dato’ Mohamad Razif bin Haji Abdul Mubin Sandra, deputy secretary general at Malaysia’s natural resources, environment and climate change ministry.

The dialogue was launched as a two-way climate change discussion channel in the follow-up to the foreign ministers’ talks in May.

The discussions covered a broad range of issues, including implementing the climate action plans aimed at reducing carbon emissions and joint responses to climate change under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty, according to the ministry.

At the talks, Kim highlighted the need to utilize carbon-free energy, such as nuclear power, hydrogen and carbon c
apture, in order to achieve the carbon emission targets.

Kim expressed South Korea’s support for Malaysia’s road map for its energy transition and asked for its participation in the envisioned Carbon Free Alliance, an initiative proposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol to increase renewable energy use to tackle climate change.

Industry officials from South Korean energy companies, including Samsung Engineering, SK Ecoplant and Hanwha Q Cells, were also present at the dialogue, the ministry said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Thursday said plastic cards for driver’s licenses have been delivered to its offices and announced the schedule as to when the drivers should visit their local LTO office for replacement.

In a statement, LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said the rollout schedule is for all drivers whose licenses expired from April 1 to Sept. 30 this year.

‘Meron na po tayong sapat na bilang ng plastic cards to cover the printing of the driver’s licenses (We already received a sufficient number of plastic cards to cover the printing of driver’s licenses),’ he said.

In a memorandum dated Oct. 5 and signed by Mendoza, drivers whose licenses expired on April 1 to 30, 2023, may have their licenses renewed from Oct. 6 to 31.

Those whose license expired in May are scheduled for license renewal for the entire month of November, licenses that expired in June are up for renewal in December, those that expired in July are to be renewed in January 2024, licenses that expired i
n August are to be renewed in February, and those that expired in September are to be renewed in March.

‘Failure of the driver to renew his/her driver’s license beyond the prescribed schedule shall render the license expired,’ the memorandum read.

The gradual renewal schedule, he said, is meant to avoid congestion in LTO offices.

He reiterated that driver’s licenses that expired on April 1 onwards and have not been renewed due to the shortage of plastic cards are extended until their renewal schedule.

Those with paper licenses, he said, need only visit their LTO office and present the receipt of their payment for the issuance of their plastic driver’s license.

He encouraged the public to follow the renewal schedule and emphasized that the renewal process would only take 15 minutes.

Plastic cards delivery

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation said the delivery of pre-printed driver’s license plastic cards is expected to be completed by first quarter of 2024.

About 1.2 million cards have been deli
vered so far by the supplier since July 25.

The LTO had been directed by Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista to fast track delivery of the license cards after the temporary restraining order on the card manufacturer was recently lifted.

‘We want to make sure that this issue of license cards is resolved immediately. The LTO must oversee that the delivery from the manufacturer is well within the timelines we have set,’ Bautista said.

The LTO received Thursday at least 150,000 more plastic cards from Banner Plasticard, Inc.

The current production rate, according to the LTO, is at 25,000 to 27,000 cards daily.

A total of 700,000 cards have been distributed to LTO’s regional offices.

Source: Philippines News Agency