THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/07/29
The government decided to delay publication of its annual white paper on defense, in part to avoid a confrontation with South Korea in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula, according to sources.
The release of this year's white paper was due Friday, with 14,300 copies of the document already printed.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Wednesday that formal release of the document would be postponed until September or later.
Government sources said the delay was designed to prevent passages about the disputed Takeshima islets (called Dokdo by Koreans) from fueling anti-Japanese sentiment ahead of the Aug. 29 centennial of the treaty that annexed the Korean Peninsula.
Japan and South Korea both claim sovereignty over the islets.
The defense white paper has consistently described the islands as Japanese territory, eliciting strong protests from the South Korean government each year.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Sengoku declined to comment on whether the white paper's release had been postponed out of consideration for South Korean feelings.
But he did not deny that the dispute over the sovereignty of Takeshima had influenced the government's decision.
"We have to make judgments on all policy issues from the viewpoint of strengthening cooperation between Japan and South Korea," he said.
Sengoku said the delayed publication date would allow recent developments to be taken into the purview of the paper, including the sinking in March of the South Korean corvette Cheonan and the participation of Self-Defense Forces observers in U.S.-South Korea military exercises.
Sengoku said the white paper might also reflect the content of an advisory council report on the National Defense Program Outline, which will be submitted to Prime Minister Naoto Kan by the end of August.
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