Japan's PM Rejects 2006 Plan for US Air Base Relocation

24 April 2010

Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has repeated his objection to a 2006 plan to relocate a U.S. air base on the southern island of Okinawa.

In televised comments Saturday, Mr. Hatoyama denied a U.S. newspaper report that Tokyo had informed Washington it would largely accept the plan, signed by previous U.S. and Japanese administrations.

The Washington Post said Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada presented U.S. Ambassador John Ross Friday with a proposal to settle the dispute by accepting a significant portion of the 2006 agreement.

Under the 2006 deal, the U.S. Marine's Futenma base would move to a less populated area of Okinawa. But some Japanese people want the base off the island altogether.

Tokyo has promised to decide on the relocation plan by the end of May.

Changing the air base agreement could affect Washington's plan to relocate 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam in 2014. Around 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan.

Mr. Hatoyama came to power in August of last year when his Democratic Party of Japan ended a half-century of rule by the Liberal Democrats, Washington's long-time, unwavering ally.

Okinawa residents are planning a major protest against the base Sunday.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Japan Offers US New Proposal on Okinawa Military Base

Akiko Fujita
Tokyo 29 March 2010

The Japanese foreign minister is meeting with top U.S. officials to discuss the replacement of a military base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. Katsuya Okada made the trip to Washington just days after Tokyo suggested a compromise that would split the base's operations between two Japanese islands.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said for months that he will decide on the future of Okinawa's Marine Corps Air Station Futenma by the end of March.

With the clock ticking, the government has aired several proposals.

Photo: A military plane and helicopters are seen at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan

One option his government is considering places some Futenma operations on Camp Schwab, a Marine base in northeastern Okinawa. Another proposes moving operations to reclaimed land off a small U.S. navy base on the island. Some training would be moved to a small island closer to the main Japanese archipelago.

Hirofumi Hirano, the government's chief spokesman, says the prime minister is not tied to any specific alternative. He adds that Mr. Hatoyama still intends to present the U.S. with a finalized plan by Wednesday.

The Japanese government has said it hopes to reach an agreement with the U.S. on Futenma by May.

The U.S. and Japan have been at odds on Futenma for six months. The U.S. says a 2006 agreement to move the base to a remote part of Okinawa is not up for debate.

But Japan's ruling Democratic Party won a historic election last fall, in part because of a promise to move Futenma off the island.

Okinawa, Japan's smallest prefecture, is home to about half the U.S. troops in Japan - more than 20,000, plus their families and civilian support staff. Residents have long complained about noise and hazards from the bases. As Okinawa's population has grown, Futenma has become surrounded by a crowded city, giving rise to strong demands that it be closed.

The 2006 plan, which was reached after more than 10 years of negotiations, also involves moving about 8,000 Marines and their families to the U.S. island of Guam. Washington says renegotiating the plan would delay that effort to cut troop numbers on Okinawa.

Jeff Kingston, who teaches modern Japanese history at the Tokyo branch of Temple University, says the new proposals will not play well in Washington, and could fail.

"They want to be able to lay this off on U.S. pressure," said Kingston. "We did our best, we tried but ultimately we failed because the U.S. would not concede."

Okada has tried to ease concerns about the U.S.-Japan alliance, saying it does not hinge on the future of Futenma.

Kingston says Mr. Hatoyama and the DPJ will suffer politically regardless which option he chooses. But he adds the administration is running out of time to meet his deadline.

Gates: 'No Alternatives' to US-Japan Security Accord

By Al Pessin
Tokyo
20 October 2009

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Japan's new leaders Tuesday the Obama administration is committed to implementing a wide-ranging defense agreement reached by the previous American and Japanese governments, which some in Japan's new ruling party would like to change. Secretary Gates says there are "no alternatives" to the complex agreement.

Like the Obama Administration, Japan's new government ran hard against its predecessor's policies and put many of them under review when it took office. Secretary Gates says he understands that, but he told Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada the United States is committed to moving forward with the existing security realignment.

"We in President Obama's administration understand what it is like to go through a transition period. And, as your government exercises its new responsibilities, I want you to know the United States stands with you and we are committed to advancing and implementing our agreed alliance transformation agenda," he said.

Earlier, on board his aircraft flying to Tokyo, Secretary Gates was more direct.

"We need to progress with the agreement that was negotiated. This has been a negotiation in the works for 15 years,"he stated. "All of the elements of it are interlocking. And, so it is important to continue with it. There really, as far as we're concerned, are no alternatives to the arrangement that was negotiated."

Secretary Gates says all possible alternatives were explored during the long negotiations and all are either "politically untenable or operationally unworkable." And although U.S. officials say small adjustments may be possible in the specific plan for an air base in northern Okinawa, Secretary Gates said he doubts the U.S. Congress would agree to significant changes in the agreement, particularly if they would cost the United States more money.

Among many changes to the configuration of U.S. forces in Japan, the agreement involves moving nearly half the 18,000 Marines now stationed on Okinawa to Guam; closing an air field in a populated area and building a new one on an existing U.S. base in the northern part of the island. American officials say the agreement benefits both sides, and any significant change could unravel the whole deal.

The newly ruling Democratic Party of Japan ran in part on a platform that advocated a more assertive policy toward the United States. One of its first acts was to announce it would end Japan's naval operation that refuels coalition supply ships heading to and from Afghanistan - a move seen by some in Japan as an expression of independence from U.S. policies.

But Secretary Gates - on the first visit to Tokyo by a senior U.S. official since the new Japanese government took office - says he will remind the new Japanese leaders that Afghanistan is a NATO and coalition effort and that Japan's refueling mission did more to help other countries than it did to help the United States directly.

"A number of countries benefit more from the refueling than the United States does. And, so I don't see the refueling as being a favor to the United States but rather a contribution that the Japanese have made that is commensurate with its standing as in the world as the second wealthiest country and one of the great powers," he said.

Still, Secretary Gates says he went to Japan with a "menu" of options for how the country can be helpful by, among other things, providing trainers for the Afghan security forces and donating money for development projects.

U.S. officials say, in addition to the refueling operation, Japan has contributed $2 billion worth of aid to Afghanistan during the last eight years. This fiscal year alone, the United States will spend $68 billion in Afghanistan.

The secretary says he will also discuss options for increased involvement in Afghanistan during a visit to South Korea, starting Wednesday. He said missile defense will also be on the agenda in both Tokyo and Seoul, in the wake of increased missile test launches by North Korea.

Gates to Meet New Japanese Leaders, Talk Security With South Koreans

By Al Pessin
Washington
18 October 2009

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates heads to Japan and South Korea this week with North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and the new Japanese government's defense policies high on the agenda. The visits come just a couple of weeks before President Barack Obama will visit the two countries.

Defense officials say the secretary's first stop, Tokyo, will be partly an opportunity to get to know Japan's new leaders. But Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says serious issues will be discussed related to the new government's decision to end a refueling mission for alliance ships supplying the international effort in Afghanistan and its concerns about plans to relocate some U.S. forces in Japan.

"Obviously, I think both those issues will be subject for discussion as the secretary meets with the new Japanese Prime Minister, the foreign minister and his counterpart, the defense minister," he said.

The new Japanese ruling party, which took power after 50 years of rule by its political opponents, ran on a platform that promised a more assertive posture toward the United States. Comments by Pentagon officials indicate they hope the new Japanese leaders change their minds and continue the refueling mission, but the U.S. officials also recognize that Japan may decide to help in Afghanistan in other ways, perhaps by training police officers or donating money to development projects.

The U.S. officials also say they understand that the new government in Tokyo wants to review the recent changes to U.S.-Japanese security arrangements. But the spokesman, Geoff Morrell, indicated that at this week's meetings Secretary Gates will tell the new Japanese leaders the United States expects the complex agreement to be honored.

"I think it will also be an opportunity to reiterate our strong commitment to this alliance, and also to the agreements that have been reached between our two governments, not political parties, but between our two governments," added Morrell.

Another senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said last week that any change in the complex series of agreements could unravel the entire plan, which was 15 years in the making. It involves moving thousands of U.S. forces stationed on Okinawa, building a new air base and re-locating some of the troops to Guam, among other aspects.

From Tokyo, Secretary Gates will travel to Seoul, where Geoff Morrell says he will try to further reassure officials of the U.S. commitment to South Korea's security, in the wake the latest short-range missile tests by North Korea earlier this month.

"Obviously missile launches of that nature are unhelpful and potentially destabilizing, and are frowned upon by us and others in the region," he said.

The United States is also in the process of re-locating tens of thousands of its troops in South Korea, and is working toward a transfer of wartime command responsibility to South Korean forces in 2012.

From Asia, Secretary Gates will travel to Slovakia for a meeting of NATO defense ministers expected to focus on Afghanistan. The alliance has primary responsibility for securing the country, but the United States has by far the largest number of troops there, and President Obama is in the midst of a major strategy review to determine whether to send even more troops, as the top NATO and U.S. commander wants.

Japan Gears Up for Election

By Akiko Fujita
Tokyo
30 June 2009

A new political party could take the reins in Japan for the first time in than more than a decade. The Democratic Party, known as the DPJ, is likely to dominate the general election, expected to be held in September. A DPJ victory would oust the Liberal Democratic Party, which has led the government for most of the past 60 years. But there is little expectation of big policy shifts.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso came to power last September with dismal approval ratings for his Liberal Democratic Party. Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda had just resigned after support for his Cabinet fell below 30 percent.

The LDP hoped a change in leadership would change the numbers. Yet nine months on, polls show Mr. Aso's support below 20 percent.

Chuo University Professor Stephen Reed says that is no surprise.

"They've [the LDP] basically been holding on all this time," Reed said. "They started with a huge majority and they've slowly been hanging on since. They basically ran out of tricks. It's no longer working."

DJP could score big victory

Reed says that will be shown in the Lower House Election, expected to be held in September. All 480 seats are up for grabs. Reed predicts a big win for the opposition Democratic Party or DPJ, and he is not alone.

The latest polls conducted by Japan's top newspapers show a majority support a DPJ-led government.

"There's a lot of people who are ready to say 'okay, I don't know if the Democrats can govern or not but I know the LDP cannot,'" Reed noted.

The conservative LDP has dominated Japanese politics for more than half a century now. Since the early 1950s, only three prime ministers have come from opposition parties, all leading brief coalition governments in the mid-1990s, the last ending in 1996.

Scandals plague LDP

But the LDP has faced one scandal after another since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left office three years ago.

His successor, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned in September 2007 following revelations that the government lost millions of pension files. And his successor, Mr. Fukuda, lasted only about a year.

Mr. Aso's Cabinet has had its share of scandals. In February Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa resigned after he appeared drunk at a G7 meeting news conference. His successor, Kaoru Yosano, now faces allegations he received illegal campaign donations.

Party dominance frustrates voters

This voter says there is something wrong with one party being in power for 50 years. He says he wants want to know what will change if voters put a different party in power.

But the DPJ has had its share of scandals as well. Last month, party leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned after one of his close aides was charged with accepting illegal campaign donations.

The scandals involving both the DPJ and the LDP cause voters like Kei Takikawa to question whether the two parties are any different.

He says LDP or DPJ, it does not matter. Both sides are just about accepting a lot of money and living the good life.

Reed says there are some differences.

Campaign promises

DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama vows to cut bureaucratic waste and refuses to commit to a sales tax increase in the near future to fund social security programs. Mr. Aso favors sales tax increase over the next two years, when he expects the economy to recover. Hatoyama says he wants to stimulate the economy through tax breaks instead of the large infrastructure projects promoted by the LDP.

And he is pushing for reforms to the political process, vowing to eliminate corporation donations. He also wants to limit the widespread practice of inheriting political seats from family members.

Polls show voters are not impressed with either leader. Nearly half said neither Mr. Aso nor Hatoyama would make a good prime minister.

"The number of people who have high expectations for a Democratic [DPJ] government are almost zero," Reed said. "There just aren't that many people who think the Democratic government is going to do a good job. They just know that the LDP is going to do a bad job."

An attitude the DPJ is willing to accept, so long as it drives the party to victory.

Student puts North Korea on Map

VOAvideo
June 17, 2009

The computer mapping tool, Google Earth, is being used to build a database about one of the world's most secretive nations. The North Korean version of the online satellite map has been created by a doctoral student in the U.S. state of Virginia. The map includes details on everything from political prisons to a fried chicken restaurant. From Washington, Daniel Ryntjes reports.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: computer mapping tool Google Earth database online satellite U.S Virginia Daniel Ryntjes voa news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il4LFYakZhw

See Also:

North Korea Secrets Uncovered In Google Earth by Amateur Spies

Obama: North Korea A Grave Threat

VOAvideo
June 17, 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama says the world is standing together against what he calls "a grave threat" from North Korea. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports he spoke after talks at the White House with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak

Category: News & Politics
Tags: U.S. President Barack Paula Wolfson White House South Korean Lee Myung-bak nuclear and ballistic missile programs voa news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYK1UlT1wU

Disappearance Boats off South Korean Islands Raises Alarm

VOAvideo
June 16, 2009

The latest tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program is playing out in a maritime vigil being kept in waters west of the Korean peninsula. A handful of tiny South Korean islands are inhabited mainly by aging fishermen and their families-- but also by South Korean military personnel ready to respond to any incursion by the North. VOA's Kurt Achin headed out to the islands, which North Korea mentioned by name in a recent warning to the United States and South Korea.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: Tensions North nuclear weapons program maritime vigil peninsula fishermen military personnel Kurt Achin voa news warning United States

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hbIRmd6fqo

North Korea Conducts an Underground Nuclear Test

VOAvideo
May 26, 2009

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session later Monday to discuss a response to North Korea's nuclear test. There already has been strong international condemnation of Pyongyang's underground test of a nuclear bomb -- with South Korea, Japan, the United States and other nations calling the action a "serious threat to peace and stability." VOA's Chris Simkins has more in this report.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: voa news Simkins emergency international nuclear test bomb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AruJIysPxEM

Obama Meets Japan's Prime Minister at the White House

VOAvideo
February 25, 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the new president took office. Mr. Obama said his administration wants to strengthen ties with Japan and to work together on global issues. Meanwhile, the U.S. warned North Korea against disturbing regional stability, after Pyongyang announced plans to launch a satellite into space.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: Taro Aso visit White House pm North Korea cornerstone of security alliance Pyongyang East Asia voa news Fincher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m90qAkjvAp4

Japanese PM First Foreign Leader to Visit President Obama

By Jason Strother
23 February 2009

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso will meet Tuesday with President Barrack Obama. He will be the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the new administration took office last month.

Japan has been getting a lot of attention from the newly inaugurated Obama administration. Just last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made Tokyo her first stop on a week-long tour of Asia. And now Prime Minister Taro Aso is headed to Washington to meet with the American president.

Most analysts believe the Obama-Aso summit is largely symbolic. There is a sense in Tokyo the White House will overlook Japan, in favor of improving relations with China.

Masaru Nishikawa, research fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs, explains the public's skepticism.

"Obama's administration is a little bit ignorant or probably they tend to ignore the Japanese and Japanese government. Obama is trying to restore some kind of interest and confidence of Japanese people. I think that is his aim, Nishikawa said."

There is a lot for the two leaders to discuss during their summit. Washington wants Japan to dispatch solders to the war in Afghanistan. There are also the stalled six party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear-weapons program.

And both the United States and Japan have been badly hit by the global economic crisis. Tokyo announced recently that the economy here is in its worst shape since the end of the Second World War.

Analyst Nishikawa says the world's two largest economies need each other now more than ever to cope with this recession.

"Now the ongoing crisis all over the world is not the problem, that one country can deal with, it is too big to solve by only one country, so probably need some cooperation, especially from Japan," said Nishikawa.

But the Obama-Aso partnership may not last long. Prime Minister Aso's approval rating has slipped to about 10 percent. It is widely believed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will lose its decades-long control to the opposition during upcoming parliamentary elections.

No matter what the outcome of his trip to Washington, Mr. Aso looks set to be Japan's third consecutive prime minister to serve in office for less than one year.

North Korea Removed from Terrorism Blacklist

Ampontan

• With friends like these
  Sunday, October 19, 2008
  WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, Japan has been America’s most dependable ally since the end of the Second World War. To take the point further, Japanese conduct in that time might well be used as a model for the behavior of the ideal national ally. continued ...

Telegraph

• Families of missing Japanese angry at US - North Korea deal
  Last Updated: 11:40AM BST 18 Oct 2008
  There were celebrations in Washington and Pyongyang when North Korea and America agreed a groundbreaking deal but, for Sakie Yokata, and her husband, Shigeru, there was no cause to celebrate.
  By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
  The US decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorist countries marked a new low in the 31-year-search for her daughter. Megumi Yokota was 13 when she was snatched on her way home from school in November 1977 by North Korean agents. continued ...


• Families of missing Japanese angry at US - North Korea deal
  Last Updated: 11:40AM BST 18 Oct 2008
  There were celebrations in Washington and Pyongyang when North Korea and America agreed a groundbreaking deal but, for Sakie Yokata, and her husband, Shigeru, there was no cause to celebrate.
  By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
  The US decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorist countries marked a new low in the 31-year-search for her daughter. Megumi Yokota was 13 when she was snatched on her way home from school in November 1977 by North Korean agents. continued ...


• Japan denounces US decision to remove North Korea from terrorism blacklist
  Last Updated: 7:59PM BST 12 Oct 2008
  Japan denounced America's decision to remove North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, pointedly reminding Washington that 17 of its citizens are still held captive by the Stalinist state.
  By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
  Taro Aso, the new prime minister, was called out of an official dinner to learn that President George W. Bush had authorised North Korea's removal from the official list of state sponsors of terrorism. continued ...

Sydney Morning Herald

• Change of tack by Bush miffs Tokyo
  October 18, 2008
  WITH the crumbling American economy, the precarious hold on security achieved by the "surge" in Iraq, and the widening threat of Islamist extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, George Bush has just been forced to accept another setback to his original agenda.
  His presidency is ending with a slap in the face for the key ally in Asia, Japan, for whom his advisers had envisaged an enhanced role in Asian security. continued ...

The Japan Times

• U.S. reassures Japan on abductions
  Friday, Oct. 17, 2008
  WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States will continue to support Japan on the abduction issue even though it has removed Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the State Department said Wednesday. continued ...


• Aso downplays removal of N. Korea from U.S. blacklist
  Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
  (Kyodo News) The U.S. move to strike North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism won't prevent finding a resolution to Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals, Prime Minister Taro Aso said Sunday. continued ...

Independent (UK)

• Trimming a hawk's wings
  17 Oct 2008
  Outspoken Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso holds his tongue as Washington informs him at the 11th hour of its decision to remove North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, Axel Berkofsky writes for ISN Security Watch.
  By Axel Berkofsky for ISN Security Watch
  Newly elected Japanese Prime Taro Aso is not happy. continued ...

Kyoto

• Japan envoy Fujisaki sees U.S. delisting as no surprise
  Oct 16 09:39 PM US/Eastern
  WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki said Thursday the U.S. removal of North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism came as no surprise to Japan. continued ...


• Aso Cabinet reaffirms N. Korea policy of sanctions, no fuel aid
  Oct 15 07:07 AM US/Eastern
  Japan will stand firm in maintaining its sanctions on North Korea and not take part in six-party energy aid to Pyongyang until progress is made on resolving the issue of its past abductions, Prime Minister Taro Aso reaffirmed with all Cabinet ministers Wednesday in the wake of the North being checked off the U.S. terror-sponsoring blacklist. continued ...


• Abductees' families call for more sanctions over N. Korea delisting
  Oct 15 03:57 AM US/Eastern
  TOKYO, Oct. 15 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The families of Japanese victims of North Korea's past abductions urged the government on Wednesday to step up economic sanctions on North Korea to maintain its pressure to resolve the issue in the wake of the U.S. removal of the North from its list of terror- sponsoring nations. continued ...

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

• US envoy asks Japan families for understanding on NKorea
  October 16, 2008
  TOKYO (AFP) — The US ambassador to Japan on Thursday tried to ease anger at the US decision to take North Korea off its terrorist blacklist, seeking understanding from families of people kidnapped by Pyongyang. continued ...


• Japan PM says won't give energy aid to NKorea
  Tue Oct 14, 1:13 PM
  TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday criticised the US removal of North Korea from a terrorist blacklist and refused to give aid to Pyongyang under a nuclear disarmament deal. continued ...

Voice of America

• North Korea Off Terror List
  16 October 2008
  The Following Is An Editorial Reflecting the Views of The US Government
  The Six-Party Talks, which are aimed at the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, began in 2003. The participants include North Korea (the DPRK), South Korea, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States, under the chairmanship of China. continued ...


• Critics of US-North Korea Nuclear Deal Say US Concedes Too Much
  13 October 2008
  By Kurt Achin, Seoul
  For many, this weekend's nuclear compromise between the United States and North Korea brought a sigh of relief that a six nation diplomatic process could be salvaged. But the deal has critics, both in the United States and Japan. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul. continued ...

Reuters

• Japan PM vows to bring abductees home from N.Korea
  Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:07pm IST
  By Yoko Nishikawa
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Six years after Japanese kidnapped by North Korea agents returned home to an emotional welcome, Prime Minister Taro Aso vowed on Wednesday to do all he could to repatriate other abductees. continued ...


• Japan criticises US decision on North Korea
  Sunday, 12 October 2008
  Japan pledged on Sunday to try to resolve an emotive dispute with North Korea over citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago, after Washington took the secretive communist state off its terrorist blacklist. continued ...

Daily Yomiuri Online

• North Korea's hard line pays off
  (Oct. 15, 2008)
  North Korea will have gained far more through its delisting from the U.S. blacklist of terrorism-sponsoring states than it will have lost through its agreement to accept international verification of its nuclear programs. continued ...


• Has Japan suffered a diplomatic defeat?
  (Oct. 15, 2008)
  Hiroshi Yumoto and Takeo Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
  The United States' removal of North Korea from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism--symbolically significant but with little immediate impact on Washington-Pyongyang relations--has come as a major psychological blow to Japan. People both inside and outside the government have said the delisting is tantamount to a "diplomatic defeat" for Japan, brought about in part by a domestic political vacuum. continued ...


• Aso vows to be committed to tackling abduction issue
  (Oct. 15, 2008)
  Prime Minister Taro Aso told a Diet committee Tuesday that the government would seek to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korean agents despite the United States' removal of the reclusive country from a list of terrorism-sponsoring states. continued ...


• Govt reacts calmly to DPRK delisting
  (Oct. 13, 2008)
  The Foreign Ministry has reacted with equanimity to the United States' removal of North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, with a senior ministry official maintaining that there will be no major change in the situation surrounding the reclusive communist country. continued ...


• U.S. set to take DPRK off terrorist list
  (Oct. 11, 2008)
  Takeo Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
  WASHINGTON--The U.S. government was set to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as Friday following a deal in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs, a high-ranking U.S. government official told The Yomiuri Shimbun. continued ...

Asahi

• EDITORIAL: North Korea's delisting
  (IHT/Asahi: October 15,2008)
  The U.S. government on Saturday removed North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Before Washington announced its decision, President George W. Bush contacted Prime Minister Taro Aso and promised his continued support of Japan's efforts to resolve the issue of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese citizens. Bush's message to Japan was clear: We understand your concerns (about the abduction issue) but there is no other choice. continued ...

GlobalTalk21

• Shoichi Nakagawa’s Choice of Regrettables Is Not by Accident
  Tuesday, October 14, 2008
  The English-language media seized on the “extremely regrettable” comment that Shoichi Nakagawa, Finance Minister and well-known hardliner, made with regard to the U.S. delisting of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and took it as the expression of Japanese displeasure. There was one article that even speculated that Japan might stop the U.S.-DPRK agreement at the Six-Party Talks. In fact, Mr. Nakagawa’s words had served only to let off steam. That should have been clear from the circumstances and the wording. continued ...

Washington Post

• U.S. Move on N. Korea Assailed in Japan
  Monday, October 13, 2008; Page A18
  Nuclear Plant's Dismantling To Resume, Pyongyang Says
  By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Foreign Service
  TOKYO, Oct. 12 -- A day after the Bush administration removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, the country announced that it would resume tearing down its main nuclear plant, and South Korea welcomed the move as a step toward ending its next-door neighbor's nuclear program.
  But in nearby Japan -- where North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens is a festering national sore that politicians dare not neglect -- the decision to take the country off the list of state sponsors of terrorism was condemned by family members of the abductees. These relatives are well-known and much-honored in Japan, and their opinions have been a powerful force in crafting Japan's hard-nosed policy toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. continued ...

Observing Japan

• The US finally goes through with delisting North Korea
  Sunday, October 12, 2008
  The thinkable is finally the actual.
  After more than a year since it became plausible for the US to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as a reward for cooperation in negotiations over the North Korean nuclear program, the US State Department has announced that it will remove North Korea from the list. With the global financial system melting down, this move appears to have been timed in the hope that it would receive less scrutiny than it would otherwise. The US move may also been in response to signs that North Korea may be preparing another nuclear test. continued ...

Series of Crimes Spark Renewed Anger Against US Troops in Japan

By Naomi Martig
Hong Kong
08 April 2008


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Relations between U.S. military personnel and Japanese communities that host military bases are growing emotional following a spate of crimes committed by U.S. servicemen. The incidents have prompted calls by Japan's opposition party for a re-evaluation of defense pacts, and have led U.S. commanders to clamp down on their troops. Naomi Martig reports from Hong Kong.

In early April, Japanese authorities arrested a U.S. sailor on charges of killing and robbing a taxi driver near Tokyo. The serviceman had deserted from the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base.

Before that, in February, U.S. military police on the island of Okinawa took a Marine into custody following allegations that he raped a Japanese teenager. The girl's family decided not to press charges, but the Marine faces a possible court martial.

And next month the military plans to court-martial four Marines accused of gang-raping a woman in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Each incident has inflamed emotions in the Japanese communities around U.S. bases, and has renewed an old debate about how to keep U.S. troops in line.

More than 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, about half of them on Okinawa, Japan's smallest prefecture. Residents there are especially sensitive to the latest incidents, because it brings back memories of a 1995 case, when three U.S. servicemen kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl.

That prompted large anti-base protests and strained U.S.-Japan relations.

Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Powell is the Marine spokesman on Okinawa. He says although the crime rate among U.S. Marines is far lower than that of the general population, the military is fully responsible for any crime committed by its troops.

"We are guests here in Japan," he said. "Even though we as U.S. military here in Japan have very low crime rate, half that of the local population, still we are guests here and one incident is one too many."

Powell says that in 2007 around one percent of all crimes on Okinawa were committed by U.S. personnel, who make up about three percent of the prefecture's population.

The crime rate for the military on Okinawa has declined in recent years. The Okinawa Prefectural Police say the number of arrests for felonies or serious misdemeanors by troops and their dependents fell to 46 in 2006 from 133 in 2003.

But to improve relations with Okinawans and to reduce the chances of new problems, after this latest rape allegation the military imposed a sweeping curfew on service members, civilian employees and family members. The military also restricted alcohol purchases. The restrictions were eased after two weeks, but servicemen are still subject to a night-time curfew.

Powell says U.S. commanders and Okinawa officials are discussing other ways to reduce problems, such as joint police patrols in bar districts.

But for some people who live near bases, such as Suzuyo Takazato, those measures are not enough. Takazato is a co-founder of the Okinawa Women's Act Against Military Violence. She says residents of Okinawa think U.S. and Japanese officials have let them down, especially after this latest incident.

She says apologies by U.S. officials, including one in February by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are appreciated. But she says they do not solve the problem. What would solve the problem, she says, is for the U.S. military to leave Okinawa.

"We feel always they promise that they are so respectful and that they will train, they will discipline their soldiers, but it's really repeatedly it's happening, we don't see the new solution," she said.

However, many people on Okinawa are hesitant to call for closing the bases, because of the jobs they create for residents of one of Japan's poorest areas.

The larger issue for U.S. and Japanese officials is whether these incidents will affect defense ties.

The outcry after the 1995 rape case was a factor in negotiations between the two countries that led to a decision to move about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa by 2012.

Brandon Taylor is a lecturer at the Strategic and Defense Study Center at Australian National University. He says the outcry could intensify if U.S. crimes are not brought under control. But he says it is unlikely to affect U.S. and Japanese defense relations because of regional security issues.

"There's a great degree of apprehension regarding the North Korean nuclear problem and more broadly the prospect of a unified Korea in the future," he said. "And I think that the U.S. alliance is seen as pretty critical to Japan in terms of countering those perceived threats."

Taylor says Japanese policy makers could be pressured into changing the defense relationship only if domestic anger increases to a point of social instability.

"It remains to be seen, I suppose, whether the protests will continue at the domestic level and that will be the difficulty, I suppose, for the Japanese government - (it) will be to play that little game of balancing that domestic pressure with pressures of the alliance," Taylor said.

Opposition parties, which control the upper house of parliament, have petitioned to revise the pact that governs the status of U.S. forces in Japan.

Under the agreement, military suspects do not have to be handed over to local authorities until charged by Japanese prosecutors. After the 1995 rape, Washington agreed to consider handing over suspects in serious cases even if they have not been charged. But the agreement has never actually been changed. Officials in Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government, however, say the agreement does not need to be changed.

Okinawans Protest US Military Presence

By VOA News
23 March 2008

Thousands of people gathered in Okinawa, Japan, Sunday to protest crimes by members of the U.S. military stationed on the island.

The protesters rallied in heavy rain in the town of Chatan, where a 14-year-old girl allegedly was raped by a U.S. serviceman in February.

Photo: A student holds a banner during a rally against an alleged rape by an American serviceman in Okinawa, 23 Mar 2008

Okinawa Mayor Mitsuko Tomon told the demonstrators that when the people of Okinawa complain about the behavior of U.S. service members, their "voices have been trampled" by U.S. and Japanese authorities.

Also Sunday, the U.S. military said it would cooperate with the Japanese investigation of the killing of a taxi driver found stabbed to death last week in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. A credit card belonging to a U.S. sailor accused of desertion was found in the taxi.

The United States has more than 40,000 troops stationed in Japan.

In the case of the alleged rape incident, the girl dropped criminal charges against the suspect, who was released from Japanese custody into that of U.S. military authorities.

The incident echoed a 1995 case in which three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old girl on Okinawa, sparking a public outcry against the U.S. military presence on the island.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Japan Approves Anti-Terrorism Naval Mission in Afghanistan

By Naomi Martig
Hong Kong
11 January 2008

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Japan's lower house of parliament has forced through a controversial anti-terrorism law reviving an Indian Ocean naval mission supporting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The bill's approval came after the more powerful lower house used a rare second vote to override a rejection in the upper house. Naomi Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Photo: Japanese lawmakers queue up for voting of anti-terror bill at House of Representatives in Tokyo, 11 Jan 2008

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's ruling coalition took the very rare step of using a two-thirds majority to override a rejection in the upper house of parliament. Such a step has only been used once before, more than 50 years ago. The approval is seen as a victory for Mr. Fukuda, who supports Japan's presence in Southeast Asia.

Japan has supplied fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan since 2001, under legislation allowing participation in post-September 11 operations.

Lawmakers had extended the mission repeatedly in the past, but the mission expired last November because of a stalemate in parliament.

The country's opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which won control of the upper house of parliament last July, refused to back the extension. Opposition lawmakers had argued that the mission lacks a mandate from the United Nations, and that it goes against the country's pacifist constitution, which forbids it from engaging in warfare overseas.

Jeff Kingston, a professor of politics at Temple University in Japan, says approval of the new mission is good news for the Japan-U.S. alliance.

"I don't think that the refueling was critical to the operation, but I think symbolically this is important for the U.S. administration and I think that in that sense it is good," he said.

But, Kingston says there is still some concern in Japan about what the country's security posture should be in the international community.

"And I think this is not a debate that is going to go away. It hasn't been solved today. And I think what they've done is shelved it for another year. But it's still going to be a divisive political issue for some time to come," said Kingston.

Japan has struggled in recent years to reinvent itself as a nation more involved in helping to resolve international conflicts.

Tokyo's ships will be allowed to return to the Indian Ocean as soon as next month.

During its six-year mission, Japan provided about 480,000 kiloliters of fuel to coalition warships in the Indian Ocean, including vessels from the United States, Britain and Pakistan.

Japan's role in the war on terrorism also included a deployment of 600 self-defense forces in southern Iraq, which ended last year.

Last Japanese Ship Returns from Six-Year Indian Ocean Mission

By Naomi Martig
Hong Kong
23 November 2007


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The final Japanese navy tanker has returned home from the Indian Ocean, ending a six-year mission in support of U.S. led coalition troops in Afghanistan. As Naomi Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong, the tanker's return comes amid a political deadlock over whether to continue the controversial mission.

Photo: A Japanese boy waves a rising sun flag as Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force supply vessel Tokiwa returns to Tokyo's Harumi Pier from Indian Ocean, 23 Nov 2007

The Japanese tanker was welcomed to a port in Tokyo by cheering families, a brass honor band and several senior government officials, including Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba praised the Marine Self Defense Forces for what he called a "world class effort." He said the defense ministry is doing all it can to enact anti-terror legislation as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration brought back the two ships after the main opposition party failed to extend the navy mission past its November deadline. Opposition leaders have since refused to back legislation granting a new mandate.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura also spoke to the crew, promising to restart the mission.

"We are determined to approve legislation on combating terror in the current Diet [Parliament] session, that would continue refueling activities [in the Indian Ocean]," he said.

The first Japanese navy ship operating in the Indian Ocean returned to a port in southwestern Japan earlier this week.

Japan began the refueling mission after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. The tankers were providing fuel and other logistical support to troops in Afghanistan.

The country's opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the upper house of parliament, argues that the mission violates the country's pacifist constitution and that it lacks a U.N. mandate.

Japan's more powerful lower house of parliament, controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has approved a resumption of the mission. The opposition, however, has pledged to block the bill. Prospects for the navy's return to the Indian Ocean remain uncertain.

VOA News - Talks Between North Korea, Japan Sputter to Uneventful Close

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
06 September 2007


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Two days of talks between North Korea and Japan have drawn to a close in Mongolia with an agreement to meet again, but little else. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul the two sides had hoped to draw closer to normal diplomatic relations, but historical issues continue to block those efforts.

Song Il Ho, center, holds talks with Japanese counterpart Yoshiki Mine in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, 05 Sep 2007

Talks ended between Japan and North Korea in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaator, with unfinished business from the 20th century continuing to put a chill on current-day diplomacy.

The past two days were the second set of rare bi-lateral talks the two countries have held this year, as part of a broader multi-national effort to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

Japan's ambassador to Mongolia, Yoshiki Mine, sought to put a positive spin on events.

He said the fact that the two countries could have such thorough discussions was itself a certain kind of progress.

North Korean delegate Kim Chol Ho described relations with Japan as being at their "lowest level." But he held out some hope for the future.

He says the two countries have different perspectives on the issue, and will keep talking as a means to close the gap.

Japan ruled North Korea harshly as a colony for 35 years in the early 20th century. The current talks, which aim to normalize ties, could bring North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars in Japanese aid as an indirect form of compensation for that era.

But Japan says North Korea must provide more concrete information about citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and '80s. North Korea has admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals, of which five have returned to Japan. Pyongyang says the other eight are dead, and considers the case closed.

Asian Studies Professor Jeffrey Kingston of Tokyo's Temple University says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is under strong political pressure to demand North Korean action on the abduction issue.

"This is the issue that catapulted him into the premiership. He became famous because of his hard line on North Korea," he said. "However, now Japan has backed itself into a corner."

Kingston believes a resolution to the abduction issue will probably only be possible when Japan has a new prime minister, who can show more flexibility on the issue. He says Tokyo's intense focus on the issue is weakening its role in multi-national nuclear-weapons talks.

"The hard-line position of Abe has really sidelined Japan from the six-party talks. It has been very difficult to make any distinct sort of progress," he said.

Japan is expected to join the two Koreas, China, Russia, and the United States at those six-nation talks this month in Beijing. Japan and North Korea says they will hold more bilateral talks, but have not announced a date.

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