Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, April 20

TOKYO -- Japan's opposition parties boycotted Diet committee sessions on Friday after the government refused their demands over a number of scandal-related issues including influence-peddling improprieties implicating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

To take account for a number of scandals involving the finance ministry here, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and five other parties are calling for the resignation of Finance Minister Taro Aso. (Japan-Politics)

- - - -

JAKARTA -- A helicopter crashed on Friday in Marowali Regency of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, leaving one dead and nine injuried including six Chinese nationals, officials said.

"Based on a manifest, all the six passengers of the helicopters are Chinese nationals," spokesman for the transport ministry Bambang Ervan told Xinhua via telephone. (Indonesia-Helicopter crash)

- - - -

SEOUL -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) opened the hotline of direct dialogue between the leaders of the two Koreas, the Blue House of South Korea said Friday.

Yun Kun-young, director for the Blue House's government situation room, told a press briefing that the hotline was connected between the Blue House and the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK. (South Korea-DPRK)

- - - -

SENDAI, Japan -- China and Japan agreed to speed up preparations for launching an air and maritime contact mechanism in their ninth round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs held here from Thursday through Friday.

Officials from the two countries' ministries on foreign affairs, defense, security, natural resources, environment, transportation, and agriculture and some other departments attended the talks. (Japan-China-Ties) Enditem