NHK, NTV, and TBS gave top play to reports on heavy snowfall in Shikoku and Kyushu. TV Asahi led with a report on a teleconference between President Trump and ROK President Moon on Wednesday, during which the President reportedly said that there will be no military action while the North-South talks are going on. Fuji TV reported that a man was arrested for sending more than 200,000 threatening emails to a popular voice actress over the last few years.

Top stories in national dailies included a plan by the Japanese and British governments to provide public-private loans for Hitachi’s nuclear plant project in the UK (Asahi); South Korean President Moon’s comment on the comfort women agreement with Japan in his New Year’s press conference (Mainichi); a GOJ plan to introduce a new missile intercept system with “engage on remote” capability (Yomiuri); the growing presence of Google and Amazon at the annual CES trade show in Las Vegas (Nikkei); and the likelihood that Prime Minister Abe will not attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Feb. 9 (Sankei).