Kyodo News Digest: June 15, 2025
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Philippines, Japan conduct joint exercise in South China Sea
ABOARD THE MIGUEL MALVAR, off Philippines - The Philippines and Japan conducted a joint maritime exercise Saturday in an area of the South China Sea that the Southeast Asian country insists it has jurisdiction over, amid China's intensifying claims in the waters.
The Miguel Malvar, a guided missile frigate from the Philippine Navy and the Takanami, a destroyer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, took part in the exercise, which was held west of the town of Masinloc on the Philippines' main island of Luzon.
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Trump effectively approves Nippon Steel's takeover of U.S. Steel
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday effectively approved a deal for Nippon Steel Corp. to acquire United States Steel Corp., reversing his staunch opposition to the Japanese company's takeover bid after it committed to investing heavily in the struggling American producer.
Nippon Steel will acquire a 100 percent stake in U.S. Steel as initially planned, a person with knowledge of the deal said. The acquisition process is expected to be completed possibly on Wednesday, according to sources close to the matter.
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Half of women in local assemblies have been harassed: study
TOKYO - More than half of women in local assemblies across Japan have either experienced harassment themselves or had family members who did, a recent government study found, highlighting how male-dominated political circles can make women more vulnerable.
A Cabinet Office survey released June 6 found that 53.8 percent of assemblywomen reported experiencing harassment, ranging from humiliation to physical encounters, more than twice the 23.6 percent of assemblymen who said the same.
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Japan negotiator mum on if Japan, U.S. can strike tariff deal at G7
WASHINGTON - Japan's chief tariff negotiator on Friday made a last-ditch effort to smooth the way for a mutually beneficial trade deal at a planned in-person meeting next week between the leader of his country and U.S. President Donald Trump, but whether that goal can be achieved appeared to be still up in the air.
Following separate meetings with U.S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa told reporters that he had "explored the possibility" of a trade deal with them during "extremely in-depth" discussions.
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Tokyo police wary of lone-wolf attacks as election campaigning begins
TOKYO - Campaigning began Friday for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, with the capital's police stepping up measures to thwart possible lone-wolf attacks after incidents involving notable politicians in recent years.
Top politicians are set to converge on Tokyo for a close contest seen as a bellwether for the national House of Councillors election this summer, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to struggle.
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Ex-Taiwan leader Ma starts China trip to attend exchange events
TAIPEI - Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, previously the head of the main opposition Nationalist Party, began a trip to mainland China on Saturday for exchange events including a cross-strait forum in Fujian Province, drawing criticism from Taiwanese authorities.
During the nearly two-week trip through June 27, Ma's delegation, including young people from the self-ruled island, will attend the Straits Forum in Xiamen, a city on the southeastern Chinese coast just across the Taiwan Strait, on Sunday.
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Sumo: Hakuho reveals company, Toyota chairman heads amateurs' body
TOKYO - Former grand champion Hakuho announced the name of his new company on Saturday as he looks to promote the sport through the concept of a "world sumo grand slam" after leaving the Japan Sumo Association.
Earlier in the day, the Japan Sumo Federation, which oversees the amateur side of the sport, unanimously elected the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and long-term Hakuho supporter Akio Toyoda as its new head.
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Judo: Ryuju Nagayama wins men's 60-kg gold on opening day of world c'ships
BUDAPEST - Japan's Ryuju Nagayama defeated France's Romain Valadier Picard by ippon in the men's 60-kilogram final at the world judo championships in Budapest on Friday.
The 29-year-old from Hokkaido, who took bronze at last year's Paris Olympics, captured his first world title in his sixth appearance.
Video: Traditional horse parade "Chagu Chagu Umakko" takes place in Iwate Prefecture
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European leaders will join Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington as they seek to pin down security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure that any peace deal reached with Russia holds. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron have confirmed their participation in the delegation. The move comes as European nations shift their focus toward providing Ukraine with robust security guarantees as Trump pushes for a quick peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. Officials from the so-called coalition-of-the-willing countries were set to hold a video call on Sunday afternoon to work on their plan. They're skeptical that a peace agreement can be rapidly reached, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin even wants one. Von der Leyen said in a post on X that she'll host Zelenskyy in Brussels on Sunday afternoon before joining him, Trump and other European leaders at the White House meeting. The talks will include, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, according to a German statement. It will be Zelenskyy's first visit in the White House since February, when his Oval Office encounter with Trump turned into a public shouting match and led to U.S. briefly pausing military aid to Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump berates Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in February. | Doug Mills / The New York Times While the two leaders patched up their relationship since then, the show of support from European leaders aims to help the Ukrainian president as he comes under growing pressure to cede some of the land in return for a vague promise of peace. Trump told European leaders on a call Saturday, following his talks with Putin in Alaska, that he was prepared to contribute to security guarantees with Europe so long as it didn't involve NATO. The U.S. president suggested Putin would be OK with such an arrangement, people familiar with the matter said. He also indicated he could be looking to organize a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders as early as within a week, the people said. Zelenskyy has said repeatedly that he's willing to meet Putin. The Kremlin has yet to provide a similar commitment, and many European officials doubt he wants to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is halfway through its fourth year. The topic of a trilateral summit wasn't raised during the meetings in Alaska, Russia's state TV channel Vesti reported on Saturday, citing Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. The specifics of a U.S. contribution to any security guarantees for Ukraine are unclear. The discussions have touched upon the possibility of granting Kyiv assurances from some allies — similar to those of NATO's Article 5 collective defense clause — which commits members to defend each other if attacked, said the people. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, and cautioned that a NATO-like mechanism would be difficult. An alternative would be bolstering, through U.S. commitments, earlier plans coordinated by the U.K. and France, which included reassurance forces, monitoring and air-cover, the people said. Ahead of his meeting with Putin, the U.S. president told allies that a ceasefire would be his key demand. He also threatened to walk out of the talks and impose tough new punitive measures on Moscow and countries buying its oil if it wasn't met. Yet Trump signaled on Friday that he wasn't in a rush to implement fresh penalties on Russia's trading partners. Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump pose on a podium on the tarmac after they arrived to attend a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. | Sputnik / Pool / via REUTERS Following his calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders early Saturday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that "it was determined by all' that the best way to end the war was to achieve a peace agreement and "not a mere Ceasefire Agreement.' Most statements issued by European leaders on Saturday made no mention of a ceasefire. Trump told Zelenskyy and European leaders that Putin wants Ukraine to cede control of the entire Donbas region in Ukraine's east, renewing earlier demands. Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out giving up all of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, which comprise Donbas. Moscow's forces only partially control the region and have failed to take it militarily after more than a decade of fighting. Russia would also halt advancing its claims over the parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions it doesn't now control, effectively freezing the battle lines there. The Kremlin could also potentially withdraw troops from other regions such as Sumy and Kharkiv in Ukraine's northeast, areas near the Russian border where Kremlin forces control only small pockets of land. According to an assessment by the U.K. Defense Ministry, it would take Russia more than four years to fully occupy the four Ukrainian regions it laid claim to in 2022. That would come at a cost of nearly 2 million additional Russian casualties based on current battlefield advances, the ministry said on X. While maintaining that any territorial decisions are for Zelenskyy to make, Trump has repeatedly signaled that a peace agreement would include land swaps, and has urged the Ukrainian president to make a deal. Many European officials are skeptical that a detailed agreement can be reached quickly. Russia's rejection of repeated calls for a ceasefire "complicates the situation,' Zelenskyy said in a social media post late Saturday. "If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater — peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades.'
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Sen Genshitsu, Japanese tea ceremony master, dies at 102
Sen Genshitsu, former grand master of Urasenke, a Japanese tea ceremony school, died on Thursday. He was 102. Sen, a native of the city of Kyoto who became grand master in 1964, received the Japanese Order of Culture in 1997 for his efforts to deepen and modernize the traditional tea ceremony. After handing over the title of grand master to his son in 2002, Sen dedicated himself to promoting Japanese culture overseas by holding tea ceremony lessons at universities across the world. He had close relations with the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Myanmar's democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and greeted Britain's Prince William with tea during his trip to Japan. Sen, who was trained to be a kamikaze pilot during World War II, actively held tea ceremonies overseas to commemorate war victims and pray for peace, while upholding the philosophy of "peacefulness through a bowl of tea." He worked on improving ties between Japan and China by repeatedly visiting China for talks with senior Communist Party officials. Sen received many awards overseas, including the Officier de la Legion d'Honneur from the French government. He served as a friendship ambassador of the United Nations and UNESCO.
