Kyodo News Digest: Nov. 23, 2023

Giant panda Fuhin is given ice blocks as a gift for her third birthday at the Adventure World zoo and amusement park in Shirahama in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama on Nov. 22, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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South Korean court rules in favor of former “comfort women” suing Japan

SEOUL – A South Korean appeals court on Thursday ruled in favor of a group of former “comfort women” seeking compensation from the Japanese government over their treatment in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The Seoul High Court decision came after a lower court in 2021 dismissed the case on the grounds that South Korea has no jurisdiction over the case due to “sovereign immunity” — a concept under international law that a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country.

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North Korea says to restore military measures near demarcation line

SEOUL – North Korea said Thursday it will “restore all military measures” near the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas in response to Seoul’s resumption of reconnaissance and surveillance activities following a spy satellite launch by Pyongyang.

The South Korean military said the same day that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan late Wednesday but the launch appeared to have failed.

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China calls for independent monitoring of treated Fukushima water

BEIJING – China called for independent monitoring of the ongoing discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea during a meeting between its top diplomat and the chief of the junior partner in Japan’s ruling coalition on Thursday in Beijing.

Komeito party head Natsuo Yamaguchi introduced Wang Yi’s remarks to reporters following their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in the capital. The two Asian neighbors have been at loggerheads over the Fukushima plant water release that began in late August and prompted China to ban seafood imports from Japan.

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Baseball: 1st Japanese MLB player Masanori Murakami honored for good works

TOKYO – Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball, was selected as the winner of academic body Nippon Sports Gakkai’s grand prize for 2023 for his charitable works.

Murakami pitched in 1964 and 1965 for the San Francisco Giants after the National League club purchased his contract from one of its affiliated minor league clubs, where he was playing on loan from Japan’s Nankai Hawks.

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Sumo: Atamifuji upsets Hoshoryu, ties for lead with Kirishima

FUKUOKA – Young rank-and-filer Atamifuji retained a share of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament lead with a sensational win against ozeki Hoshoryu on Thursday.

The No. 8 maegashira — who made a surprise title run from the bottom half of the draw in September — shares the top rung at 10-2 with ozeki Kirishima, who defeated sekiwake Kotonowaka in another highlight bout of Day 12 at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.

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Tennis: Ex-doubles star Sugiyama aims to take Japan women to top

TOKYO – Former doubles world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Ai Sugiyama is dreaming big after leading Japan to six straight wins since assuming captaincy of the women’s national tennis team in January.

Japan edged Colombia 3-2 on Nov. 11 in the Billie Jean King Cup playoff to earn a place in next year’s qualifying round of the premier women’s international team tennis competition.

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NTT to launch generative AI platform for corporate customers in March

TOKYO – Japan’s telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. will launch a business-use generative artificial intelligence platform in March, in an effort to catch up with foreign rivals in the fast-expanding market.

The AI platform has higher Japanese language processing capabilities than ChatGPT, a widely used AI chatbot developed by U.S.-based OpenAI, NTT said earlier in the month.

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