ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. FILE - From left, President Barack Obama, former President Jimmy Carter, first lady Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton wave from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington during a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke, Aug. 28, 2013. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” FILE - Jimmy Carter gives his acceptance speech after accepting the Democratic nomination for president on the convention floor, July 15, 1976, at New York's Madison Square Garden. Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. FILE - President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter are pictured with their daughter Amy at the first of seven inaugural balls in Washington, Jan. 20, 1977, at the Pension Building. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. FILE - President Jimmy Carter leans across the roof of his car to shake hands along the parade route through Bardstown, Ky., July 31, 1979. The president climbed on top of the car as the parade moved toward the high school gym, where a town meeting was held. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter uses a hand saw to even an edge as he works on a Habitat for Humanity home in Pikeville, Ky., June 16, 1997. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report. Jimmy Carter is shown at age 6, with his sister, Gloria, 4, in 1931 in Plains, Georgia. (AP Photo) This is a 1932 photo of Jimmy Carter at age 7 in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo) Lt. Jimmy Carter peers at instruments on submarine USS K-1 in a 1952 photo. Directly in front of Carter, smoking a cigar, is Don Dickson. He had forgotten he ever served with Carter until he came upon the photo during Christmas, 1977. A friend got it to the White House where Carter wrote: "To my friend Donald Dickson - Jimmy Carter, USS K-1 to White House." (AP Photo) FILE - In this Sept. 15, 1966 file photo, then Georgia State Sen. Jimmy Carter hugs his wife, Rosalynn, at his Atlanta campaign headquarters. Jimmy Carter, winner in Georgia's runoff primary in the Democratic Party to determine the party's candidate for the November election for governor, 1970. (AP Photo) Former State Sen. Jimmy Carter listens to applause at the Capitol in Atlanta on April 3, 1970, after announcing his candidacy or governor. In background, his wife Rosalyn holds two-year-old daughter Amy who joined in the applause. Carter, 45, of Plains, Ga., finished third in the 1966 Democratic Primary behind Gov. Lester Maddox and Ellis Arnall. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly) Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn clutch the microphones as he claims victory in a runoff election at campaign headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, September 24, 1970. Carter beat former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders for the nomination and will face Republican candidate Hal Suit, veteran television newsman, in the general election Nov. 3, 1970. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly) Former state Sen. Jimmy Carter breaks into a broad smile after early returns gave him a lead of almost 2-1 in the Democratic runoff against former Gov. Carl Sanders, Sept. 23, 1970, in Atlanta, Ga. The winner will meet the Republic Hal Suit for the governorship of Georgia on the Nov. 3 general election. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly) Governor-elect Jimmy Carter and his daughter Amy, 3, walk about the grounds by the fountain at the Governor's Mansion in Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 10, 1971, as they get to know the place where they will live for the next four years. Carter will be sworn in as governor of Georgia Tuesday. (AP Photo) Judge Robert H. Jordan administers the oath of office to Gov. Jimmy Carter during ceremonies at the state capitol in Atlanta. Ga., Jan. 12, 1971. Next to the judge is former Gov. Lester Maddox, who will take over as lieutenant governer of Georgia. (AP Photo) Jimmy Carter of Georgia, seen here Feb. 6, 1971, already described as a symbol of a new breed of moderate southern politician, says that the race question has ceased to be a major issue "between or among candidates" running for office in the old confederacy. (AP Photo) Jimmy Carter, Governor of Georgia, is shown at his desk in Atlanta, on February 19, 1971. (AP Photo) Georgia's Gov. Jimmy Carter reaches for pen February 25, 1972 to sign a Georgia Senate House resolution opposing forced busing to achieve integration in the classrooms of the United States. Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter joins a half-dozen Rockettes in a high kick, September 21, 1973, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, while visiting backstage before an afternoon performance. Carter is in New York to induce the film industry to make pictures in his state. (AP Photo/stf) Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, right, and Delaware Gov. Sherman Tribbitt say hello to Atlanta Braves Hank Aaron, left, following a rain canceled game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Sept. 27, 1973, Atlanta, Ga. The cancellation slowed Aaron’s opportunity to tie or break Babe Ruth’s home run record. (AP Photo) Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter spoke to 18,000 messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention on Thursday, June 13, 1974 in Dallas, Texas. He urged Baptists to use their personal and political influence to return the nation to ideals of stronger commitment and higher ethics. He said "there is no natural division between a man's Christian life and his political life." (AP Photo/Greg Smith) Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter tells a gathering, Saturday, Oct. 5, 1974 at the National Press Club in Washington about his ideas concerning energy conservation. (AP Photo) In this Thursday, Aug. 14, 1975 file photo, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter announces in Washington that he qualified for federal matching funds to help finance his campaign for the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, right, drew about 5,000 people to Youngstown's Federal Plaza in Youngstown, Ohio, in his quest for support in Tuesday's Ohio Democratic primary, June 7, 1976. The presidential hopeful waded into the crowd, shaking hands and signing autographs. Carter, speaking to the largest crowd to assemble during his Ohio campaign, said 1976 would be a Democratic year because of the Watergate aftermath and other national ills. (AP Photo) In this Monday, Aug. 23, 1976 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter gives an informal press conference in Los Angeles during a campaign tour through the West and Midwest. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. (AP Photo) Democratic Presidential nominee Jimmy Carter, left, eats some freshly roasted barbecue chicken with his brother Billy Carter at Billy's gas station, Sept 11, 1976, Plains, Ga. The nominee had returned the night before from a week of campaigning, and planned to hold an impromptu press conference at the gas station. (AP Photo/Jeff Taylor) Democratic presidential nominee, Jimmy Carter, is all smiles as he talks with his brother Billy at the Carter Family Peanut warehouse, September 18, 1976. (AP Photo) Jimmy Carter stands in a large mound of peanuts at the Carter Peanut Warehouse in Plains, Ga., September 22, 1976. The Democratic party presidential nominee took an early morning walk through the warehouse to inspect some of the harvest. (AP Photo) FILE - In this Oct. 6, 1976 file photo with his wife Rosalynn Carter looking on at center, Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, center left, shakes hands with President Gerald Ford at the conclusion of their debate at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco, Calif. (AP Photo, File) Jimmy Carter, Democratic candidate for president, is joined by his daughter, Amy, as he waves from the rostrum at Fort Worth Convention Center, Texas, Sunday, Nov. 1, 1976. Carter and his family have been campaigning Texas, making a last minute bid for the state's 26 electoral votes. The others are not identified. (AP Photo) U.S. President-elect Jimmy Carter waves to supporters as he is surrounded by family members at a hotel in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 3, 1976. Carter won the presidential election by 297 electoral votes to 241 for Ford. Standing next to him is his wife, Rosalynn, and their daughter Amy Lynn, far right. The others are unidentified. (AP Photo) President-elect Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn wipe tears from their eyes after returning to their home town in Plains, Ga., Nov. 3, 1976. The Carter family was greeted by local residents after returning from Atlanta. (AP Photo) President-elect Jimmy Carter leans over to shake hands with some of the people riding the "Peanut Special" to Washington D.C., Jan. 19, 1977. They will travel all night, arriving in Washington in time for Carter's inauguration as President tomorrow. (AP Photo) Jimmy Carter takes the oath of office as the nation's 39th president during inauguration ceremonies in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1977. Carter's wife, Rosalynn, holds the Bible used in the first inauguration by George Washington as U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger administers the oath. Looking on at left are, Happy Rockefeller, Betty Ford, Joan Mondale, Amy Carter, and outgoing President Gerald Ford. Behind Carter is Vice President Walter Mondale. At far right is former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. (AP Photo) Rosalynn Carter, left, looks up at her husband Jimmy Carter as he takes the oath of office as the 39th President of the United States at the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 20, 1977, Washington, D.C. Mrs. Carter held a family Bible for her husband. (AP Photo) Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter walk down Pennsylvania Avenue after Carter was sworn in as the nations 39th President, Jan. 20, 1977, Washington, D.C. (AP Photo) FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 20, 1977 file photo, President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd while walking with his wife, Rosalynn, and their daughter, Amy, along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House following his inauguration in Washington. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis) In this Jan. 24, 1977 file photo, President Jimmy Carter is interviewed in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. In this file photo dated May 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, right, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, at Buckingham Palace in London. In this Feb. 20, 1978, file photo, President Jimmy Carter listens to Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., as they wait to speak at fund raising reception at Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File) President Jimmy Carter tucks his thumbs into his jeans and laughs as he prepares to head down the Salmon River in Idaho August 1978 for a three day rubber raft float. (AP Photo) United States President Jimmy Carter, on a visit to West Germany in 1978, rides with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt during a review of United States Forces at a base near Frankfurt. (AP Photo) Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel on March 26, 1979. (AP Photo/ Bob Daugherty) President Jimmy Carter, left, and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, right, sign the documents of the SALT II Treaty in the Vienna Imperial Hofburg Palace, Monday, June 18, 1979, Vienna, Austria. President Jimmy Carter leans across the roof of his car to shake hands along the parade route through Bardstown, Ky., Tuesday afternoon, July 31, 1979. The president climbed on top of the car as the parade moved toward the high school gym, where a town meeting was held. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty) In this April 25, 1980 file photo, President Jimmy Carter prepares to make a national television address from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on the failed mission to rescue the Iran hostages. President Jimmy Carter applauds as Sen. Edward Kennedy waves to cheering crowds of the Democratic National Convention in New York's Madison Square Garden, Aug. 14, 1980. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty) President Jimmy Carter raises a clenched fist during his address to the Democratic Convention, August 15, 1980, in New York's Madison Square Garden where he accepted his party's nomination to face Republican Ronald Reagan in the general election. (AP Photo/stf) Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy greets President Jimmy Carter after he landed at Boston's Logan Airport, Aug. 21, 1980. President Carter is in Boston to address the American Legion Convention being held in Boston. (AP Photo) President Jimmy Carter, left, and Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas enjoy a chuckle during a rally for Carter in Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 22, 1980. Texarkana was the last stop for Carter on a three-city one-day campaign swing through Texas. (AP Photo/John Duricka) In this Oct. 28, 1980 file photo, President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with Republican Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan after debating in the Cleveland Music Hall in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Madeline Drexler, File) Former US President Jimmy Carter, who had negotiated for the hostages release right up to the last hours of his Presidency, lifts his arm to the crowd, while putting his other hand around the shoulders of a former hostage in Iran, believed to be Bruce Laingen, at US AIR Force Hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wednesday, January 21, 1981. Former Pres. Jimmy Carter, center, is joined by his wife Rosalynn and his brother Billy Carter during session of the Democratic National Convention, Tuesday, July 19, 1988, Atlanta, Ga. Billy had been recently diagnosed with cancer. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks to newsmen as PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, right, looks on after the two men met in Paris Wednesday, April 4, 1990. Carter said he felt some leaders did not represent the region's yearning for peace. (AP Photo/Pierre Gieizes) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, center, introduces his wife Rosalynn, right, to Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin, April 14, 1991 in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Avery) Former President Jimmy Carter gestures at a United Nations news conference in New York, April 23, 1993 about the world conference on Human Rights to be held by the United Nations in Vienna June 14-25. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Former Presidents George Bush, left, and Jimmy Carter, right, stand with President Clinton and wave to volunteers during a kick-off rally for the President's Volunteer Summit at Marcus Foster Stadium in Philladelphia, PA., Sunday morning April 27, 1997. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) President Bill Clinton presents former President Jimmy Carter, right, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a ceremony at the Carter Center in Atlanta Monday, Aug. 9, 1999. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter adjusts his glasses during a press conference in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, July 6, 2006. The former president and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner is heading a delegation from the democracy-promoting Carter Center, based at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to observe preparations for Nicaragua's Nov. 5 presidential election. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) In this Friday, Dec. 8, 2006 file photo, former President Jimmy Carter signs copies of his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ric Feld) Former President George H.W. Bush, left, watches as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton chat during a dedication ceremony for the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) Former President Jimmy Carter poses for a portrait during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Former President Jimmy Carter poses on the red carpet for the documentary film, "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains" during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife Rosalynn wave to the audience at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter are seen on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Former President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd as he goes on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Former President Jimmy Carter, right, is seen with Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) In this photo taken Saturday, May 29, 2010, former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, right, reacts with former US president Jimmy Carter, during a reunion with The Elders, three years after he launched the group, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP Photo/Jeff Moore, Pool) Former US President Jimmy Carter, center, one of the delegates of the Elders group of retired prominent world figures, holds a Palestinian child during a visit to the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010. (AP Photo/Menahem Kahana, Pool) Former President Jimmy Carter, 86, leads Habitat for Humanity volunteers to help build and repair houses in Washington's Ivy City neighborhood, Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 22, 2010 file photo, former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, background right, looks at former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, center, while visiting a weekly protest in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The protest was organized by groups supporting Palestinians evicted from their homes in east Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan conclude a visit to a polling center the southern capital of Juba Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Pete Muller) Former President Jimmy Carter signs his name in the guest book at the Jewish Community center in Havana, Cuba, Monday March 28, 2011. Carter arrived in Cuba to discuss economic policies and ways to improve Washington-Havana relations, which are even more tense than usual over the imprisonment of Alan Gross, a U.S. contractor, on the island. C (AP Photo/Adalberto Roque, Pool) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter pauses during an interview as he and his wife Rosalynn visit a Habitat for Humanity project in Leogane, Haiti, Monday Nov. 7, 2011. The Carters joined volunteers from around the world to build 100 homes in partnership with earthquake-affected families in Haiti during a week-long Habitat for Humanity housing project. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, sits prior to a meeting with Israel's President Shimon Peres at the President's residence in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. Peres met two of 'The Elders', a group composed of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter watches baseball players work out before Game 2 of the National League Division Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, Oct. 4, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Former President Jimmy Carter speaks during a forum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Among other topics, Carter discussed his new book, "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power." (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) President Jimmy Carter, left, and Rosalynn Carter arrive at the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year event at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) In this July 10, 2015, file photo, former President Jimmy Carter is seen in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) In a Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 file photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) Former President Jimmy Carter answers questions during a news conference at a Habitat for Humanity building site Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in Memphis, Tenn. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have volunteered a week of their time annually to Habitat for Humanity since 1984, events dubbed "Carter work projects" that draw thousands of volunteers and take months of planning. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Former President Bill Clinton, left, and former president Jimmy Carter shake hands after speaking at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter holds a morning devotion in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 22, 2016, before he and his wife Rosalynn help build a home for Habitat for Humanity. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) Former president Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter arrive during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) In this Feb. 8, 2017, file photo, former President Jimmy Carter speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for a solar panel project on farmland he owns in his hometown of Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) Former President George W. Bush, center, speaks as fellow former Presidents from right, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter look on during a hurricanes relief concert in College Station, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017. All five living former U.S. presidents joined to support a Texas concert raising money for relief efforts from Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria's devastation in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Former President Jimmy Carter, 93, sits for an interview about his new book "Faith: A Journey For All" which will debut at no. 7 on the New York Times best sellers list, pictured before a book signing Wednesday, April 11, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis) Former President Jimmy Carter speaks as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams listens during a news conference to announce Abrams' rural health care plan Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018, in Plains, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter are seen ahead of an NFL football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Former President Jimmy Carter takes questions submitted by students during an annual Carter Town Hall held at Emory University Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis) Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, left, meets with former President Jimmy Carter, center, at Buffalo Cafe in Plains, Ga., Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Ga., Nov. 3, 2019. Well-wishes and fond remembrances for the former president continued to roll in Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, a day after he entered hospice care at his home in Georgia. (AP Photo/John Amis, File) Former President Jimmy Carter, arrives to attend a tribute service for his wife and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, at Glenn Memorial Church, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Former President Jimmy Carter arrives for the funeral service for his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Plains, Ga. The former first lady died on Nov. 19. She was 96. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) A sign wishing former President Jimmy Carter a happy 100th birthday sits on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Neal: Vikings could profit off a Bears team that wins ugly and loses dramaticallySADO, Japan (AP) — Japan will hold a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines , which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. The Japanese government said Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” who died at the mines, but without spelling out who they are — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan's history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war. The ceremony, which was supposed to further mend their wounds, renewed tensions between the two sides. On Saturday, South Korea's government said it will boycott the memorial service due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event. Masashi Mizobuchi, assistant press secretary at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, called the South Korean decision “disappointing.” He said Japan has thoroughly communicated with the South Korean side, but declined to comment further. Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday, The Associated Press explains the Sado mines, their history and the controversy. The 16th century mines on the island of Sado, about the size of the Pacific island of Guam, off the western coast of Niigata prefecture, operated for nearly 400 years beginning in 1601 and were once the world’s largest gold producer. They closed in 1989. During the Edo period, from 1600 to 1868, the mines supplied gold currency to the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate. Today, the site has been developed as a tourist facility and hiking site where visitors can learn about the changes in mining technology and production methods while looking at the remains of mine shafts and ore dressing facilities. Critics say the Japanese government only highlights the glory of the mines and covers up its use of Korean victims of forced labor and their ordeals. The mines were registered as a cultural heritage site in July after Japan agreed to include an exhibit on the conditions of Korean forced laborers and to hold a memorial service annually after repeated protests from the South Korean government. At the July meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the Japanese delegate said Tokyo had installed new exhibition material to explain the “severe conditions of (the Korean laborers’) work and to remember their hardship.” Japan also acknowledged that Koreans were made to do more dangerous tasks in the mine shaft, which caused some to die. Those who survived also developed lung diseases and other health problems. Many of them were given meager food rations and nearly no days off and were caught by police if they escaped, historians say. But the Japanese government has refused to admit they were “forced labor.” South Korea had earlier opposed the listing of the site for UNESCO World Heritage on the grounds that the Korean forced laborers used at the mines were missing from the exhibition. South Korea eventually supported the listing after consultations with Japan and Tokyo’s pledge to improve the historical background in the exhibit and to hold a memorial that also includes Koreans. Historians say Japan used hundreds of thousands of Korean laborers, including those forcibly brought from the Korean Peninsula, at Japanese mines and factories to make up for labor shortages because most working-age Japanese men had been sent to battlefronts across Asia and the Pacific. About 1,500 Koreans were forced to work at the Sado mines, according to Yasuto Takeuchi, an expert on Japan’s wartime history, citing wartime Japanese documents. The South Korean government has said it expects Japan to keep its pledge to be truthful to history and to show both sides of the Sado mines. “The controversy surrounding the Sado mines exhibit underscores a deeper problem” of Japan’s failure to face up to its wartime responsibility and its growing “denialism” of its wartime atrocities, Takeuchi said. All workers who died at the Sado mines will be honored. That includes hundreds of Korean laborers who worked there during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Officials say the ceremony is organized by a group of local Japanese politicians, business owners and other volunteers who campaigned for the Sado mines to win the UNESCO status, but preparations were handled by local government officials, who did not disclose details, including guests and programs, until the last minute. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya announced the ceremony on Friday, but he declined to comment on “diplomatic exchanges.” Officials at Sado city and the Foreign Ministry said about 100 people, including officials from Japan’s local and central government, as well as South Korean Foreign Ministry officials and the relatives of Korean wartime laborers, have been invited. Attendants are expected to observe a moment of silence for the victims who died at the mines due to accidents and other causes. The ceremony dredged up long-standing frustrations in South Korea, where the Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was impossible to settle the disagreements between both governments before the planned event on Sunday, without specifying what those disagreements were. The cancelation came a day after Japan said it will send a parliamentary vice minister, Akiko Ikuina, who in 2022 visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead including convicted war criminals and is seen by Japan's neighbors as a symbol of its wartime militarism. Some South Koreans had criticized the Seoul government throwing its support behind an event without securing a clear Japanese commitment to highlight the plight of Korean laborers. There were also complaints over South Korea agreeing to pay for the travel expenses of Korean victims’ family members who were invited to attend the ceremony. Critics say Japan’s government has long been reluctant to discuss wartime atrocities. That includes what historians describe as the sexual abuse and enslavement of women across Asia, many of them Koreans who were deceived into providing sex to Japanese soldiers at frontline brothels and euphemistically called “comfort women,” and the Koreans who were mobilized and forced to work in Japan, especially in the final years of World War II. Korean compensation demands for Japanese atrocities during its brutal colonial rule have strained relations between the two Asian neighbors, most recently after a 2018 South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordered Japanese companies to pay damages over their wartime forced labor. Japan’s government has maintained that all wartime compensation issues between the two countries were resolved under the 1965 normalization treaty. Ties between Tokyo and Seoul have improved recently after Washington said their disputes over the historical issues were hampering crucial security cooperation as China’s threat grows in the region. Japan's whitewashing of wartime atrocities has risen since the 2010s, particularly under the past government of revisionist leader Shinzo Abe . For instance, Japan says the terms “sex slavery” and “forced labor” are inaccurate and insists on the use of highly euphemistic terms such as “comfort women” and “civilian workers” instead. South Korea’s conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in March 2023 that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate forced labor victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japan’s then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for their suffering during a Seoul visit. Security, business and other ties between the sides have since rapidly resumed. Takeuchi said listing Japan’s modern industrial historical sites as a UNESCO World Heritage is a government push to increase tourism. The government, he said, wants “to commercialize sites like the Sado mines by beautifying and justifying their history for Japan’s convenience.” AP writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea contributed.
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FARGO — Qualifying for the North Dakota Class B volleyball state tournament for the very first time was a dream for Medina-Pingree/Buchanan. But to come out and dominate three sets was beyond anything it imagined. ADVERTISEMENT That's exactly what the Thunder did, upending Central McLean 3-0 in the state quarterfinals Thursday at the Fargodome. Set scores were 25-15, 25-9 and 25-17. The match was highlighted by M-P/B roaring out to a 17-1 lead in the middle frame, including what was an 11-0 start to the set. "It was so much fun to be at the state tournament and be able to have a score like that," said Thunder head coach Jacie Connell. "We just never let down. I just said we need to eliminate our errors in the second set, and they did a great job of that." With the win, No. 3 seed M-P/B (31-6) advanced to Friday's state semis where they'll take on No. 2 South Prairie-Max (33-6) with first serve set for 5 p.m. Connell said as state tourney newcomers, nerves came naturally. At least whatever nerves were left after downing Class B No. 1-ranked Linton/HMB in the Region 3 championship last week. "Lots of emotions," Connell said. "But beating the No. 1 team in the state in the (region) championship, I think a lot of our nerves were out right there. They were just excited to be here and play." ADVERTISEMENT Maddie Gefroh finished with a match-leading 14 kills for M-P/B, including the final one to secure match point in Set 3. "It felt great knowing we're closer to the finals now," said Gefroh, senior captain and middle hitter for the Thunder. "You could tell there were some nerves, but as soon as we got onto the court, we were ready to go right away." Gefroh said the dominant second set gave M-P/B all the momentum it needed to finish things off in Set 3. "That was crazy," Gefroh said. "That gave us so much energy to go into the third set. We knew we could do it right away." Central McLean (31-4-1) drops into the consolation semifinals, where it'll face Kenmare/Bowbells (35-7) at 1 p.m. Friday. Reagan Kjelstrup paced the Cougars offensively with eight kills while Morgan Snyder had six. Daphne Lauer finished with 25 assists. Behind Gefroh in the Thunder kills department was Brynn Sorenson with nine and Jorgen Tripp with eight, including set point in the opening frame. ADVERTISEMENT Gefroh added three aces and three blocks while Violet Bohl recorded 34 assists. Cierra Mack finished with a match-leading 15 digs. "If we play our game, that's been huge for us just eliminating our errors," Connell said. "We're going to talk about what we need to adjust a little bit on defense and we'll be ready to go. "It's been a great journey so far and we're happy to be here."Jimmy Carter, the 39th president and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has died at 100
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The City boss is enduring the worst run of his glittering managerial career after a six-game winless streak featuring five successive defeats and a calamitous 3-3 draw in a match his side had led 3-0. The 53-year-old, who has won 18 trophies since taking charge at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, signed a contract extension through to the summer of 2027 just over a week ago. Yet, despite his remarkable successes, he still considers himself vulnerable to the sack and has pleaded with the club to keep faith. “I don’t want to stay in the place if I feel like I’m a problem,” said the Spaniard, who watched in obvious frustration as City conceded three times in the last 15 minutes in a dramatic capitulation against Feyenoord in midweek. “I don’t want to stay here just because the contract is there. “My chairman knows it. I said to him, ‘Give me the chance to try come back’, and especially when everybody comes back (from injury) and see what happens. “After, if I’m not able to do it, we have to change because, of course, (the past) nine years are dead. “More than ever I ask to my hierarchy, give me the chance. “Will it be easy for me now? No. I have the feeling that still I have a job to do and I want to do it.” City have been hampered by a raft of injuries this term, most pertinently to midfield talisman and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri. The Euro 2024 winner is expected to miss the remainder of the season and his absence has been keenly felt over the past two months. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has also not started a match since September. The pressure continues to build with champions City facing a crucial trip to title rivals and Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday. Defeat would leave City trailing Arne Slot’s side by 11 points. “I don’t enjoy it at all, I don’t like it,” said Guardiola of his side’s current situation. “I sleep not as good as I slept when I won every game. “The sound, the smell, the perfume is not good enough right now. “But I’m the same person who won the four Premier Leagues in a row. I was happier because I ate better, lived better, but I was not thinking differently from who I am.” Guardiola is confident his side will not stop battling as they bid to get back on track. He said: “The people say, ‘Yeah, it’s the end of that’. Maybe, but we are in November. We will see what happens until the end. “What can you do? Cry for that? You don’t stay long – many, many years without fighting. That is what you try to look for, this is the best (way). “Why should we not believe? Why should it not happen with us?”CompoSecure COO Gregoire Maes sells $904,246 in stock
Japan has started devising a strategy to strengthen its defense industry and promote exports of equipment, hoping to lay out medium to long-term goals for a sector that has struggled with small market scale and other challenges, government sources said Friday. The so-called national defense industry strategy may be compiled next year. The planning will involve not only the Defense Ministry but also others such as the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, making the process different from the strategy the Defense Ministry came up with in 2014 on defense production and technological bases. The new strategy is expected to encourage collaboration among businesses, government and academia by showing the future direction of the necessary technology and production bases, according to the sources. The move is in line with the 2022 National Security Strategy, which pledged to advance defense production and technology bases, describing them as "defense capabilities themselves." In the document, which was updated amid the security challenges posed by China and North Korea, the government also said the transfer of defense equipment and technology is "a key policy instrument" to create a "desirable" security environment for Japan and to provide assistance to countries facing the fear of the use of force. Based on long-term policy guidelines, Japan has gradually eased its strict rules on defense equipment transfers, which had been maintained under its war-renouncing Constitution. The government's focus on reinvigorating the domestic defense industrial base is a boon for the sector, which has faced low profitability with sales channels limited to the Self-Defense Forces as well as a series of withdrawals from smaller companies. To forge the new national defense industry strategy, the government also plans to set up a panel of experts to look into issues such as which industrial fields and technologies should be maintained and strengthened, and resilient supply chains should be built, according to the sources.