VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Japan will coordinate closely with the United States and South Korea in dealing with North Korea, with the aim of resolving the issue of Japanese abducted by the North and denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, a top Japanese government spokesman said.

North Korea test launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan last week, underscoring steady progress in its weapons programme and ramping up pressure on the new U.S. administration as it reviews its North Korea policy.

“Close coordination between Japan, the United States and South Korea is indispensable in dealing with North Korea and maintaining regional stability,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a regular news conference.

Asked about media reports that Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi would visit Washington in April to meet his U.S. and South Korean counterparts, Kato said “nothing concrete has been decided.”

The White House announced earlier that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet National Security Secretariat Secretary General Shigeru Kitamura of Japan and National Security Adviser Suh Hoon of South Korea at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Indonesia has recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea in January, and the air accident investigator said on Wednesday it could take up to a week to be able to listen to the recording.

The CVR could help investigators understand the actions taken by the pilots of the doomed jet, which crashed shortly after take-off on Jan. 9, killing all 62 people on board.

A preliminary report by investigators released in February said the plane had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led it into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea. The report included information from the flight data recorder (FDR).

Divers found the casing and beacon of the CVR from the 26-year-old Boeing Co 737-500 within days of the crash but had been searching for the memory unit in relatively shallow but muddy waters, where currents are sometimes strong.

The CVR of Srwijiaya flight 182 was located late on Tuesday, Indonesia’s transport minister told a media conference. A navy official said it had been found under a metre of mud.

“We will take CVR to lab for reading, about three days to one week,” Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) head Soerjanto Tjahjono said. “After that we’ll transcribe and match it to FDR. Without a CVR, in the Sriwijaya 182 case it would be very difficult to determine the cause.”

Safety experts say most air accidents are caused by a combination of factors that can take months to establish. Under international standards, the final report is due within a year of the crash. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Indonesian police fired shots at a woman who entered the national police headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday, according to local media reports, which described her as an attacker.

Local television station TV One broadcast footage from the scene where an individual in a blue veil and long black clothing was seen entering the grounds of the police complex as gunshots could be heard.

The person in the television footage is seen falling to the ground while gunshots can be heard. It was not immediately clear if the individual was armed.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kompas TV and Metro TV said the individual seen entering the compound was a woman. TV One said one person at the scene was dead and gunfire had been exchanged.

The incident came three days after a husband and wife carried out a suicide bombing at a cathedral on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Palm Sunday, wounding 20 and killing only themselves.

At least 13 people have been arrested by police across the archipelago following the Sulawesi attack. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The Indonesian Police’s anti-terror squad Densus 88 has arrested a terror suspect, identified by his initials as I, in the wake of the suicide bombing at the Cathedral Church in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

"Yes, but we cannot disclose the location of the arrest. It is around Makassar," a spokesperson for South Sulawesi Police, Senior Commissioner Pol. E Zulpan, confirmed here on Wednesday.

Following the attack on the church, police arrested eight suspects from several locations around Makassar.

The suspects are still in Makassar for questioning, Zulpan informed.

Earlier on Monday (March 29, 2021), Densus 88 picked up four men, identified by their initials as AS, SAS, MR, and AA, for suspected terror links.

On Tuesday (March 30, 2021), police arrested three female suspects, identified by their initials M, MM, and MAN.

The eight suspects are allegedly members of militant group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and linked to the two suicide bombers killed in the Makassar bombing on Sunday (March 28, 2021), said police.

A bomb exploded at 10.30 a.m. local time at the entrance gate of Makassar Cathedral Church on Sunday. The explosion, which went off as soon as churchgoers finished Sunday Palm services, left 14 people injured.  (Antaranews)