DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 10/24/06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 006195 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 10/24/06 INDEX: (1) Deputy national security advisor to US president calls "Japan's military contributions inadequate"; Urges strengthening capability to deploy overseas (2) Japanese lawmakers' statements encouraging nuclear debate might fuel a nuclear domino effect (3) Missile defense: JDA plans to speed up introduction of sea-deployed-type missiles sometimes next year, following North Korea's nuclear test (4) Reading DPRK's nuclear test: Pyongyang confident "dramatic" weapons can win over US (5) Okinawa's choice 10 years after Futenma accord, with gubernatorial election set for Nov. 19 (6) Arrested former Fukushima governor Sato and his brother received bribes by using family business as shield; Focus is on degree of his involvement ARTICLES: (1) Deputy national security advisor to US president calls "Japan's military contributions inadequate"; Urges strengthening capability to deploy overseas MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) Eve., October 24, 2006 By Toshihiko Kasahara White House Deputy National Security Adviser Crouch in a speech in Washington on Oct. 23 called Japan's international contributions on the military front inadequate, and he urged that the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) strengthen their capabilities so that they can be deployed overseas. Commenting on the cargo inspections that will be carried out based on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions resolution against North Korea for testing a nuclear weapon, Crouch pointed out the importance of relevant countries building an environment for sharing intelligence. Deputy National Security Adviser Crouch highly praised the contribution of the SDF to the war on terror, including dispatch of military units to Iraq, but he also stated: "From the point of view of Japan's global interests and potential, it is still modest. Although Japan is the second largest economic power in the world, it has a very limited capability of bringing security to troubled spots." In addition, he made this appeal: "I hope to see more efforts by Japan to strengthen its capability to deploy troops overseas." Crouch is the number two national security adviser in the White House, next to NSC Adviser Hadley. (2) Japanese lawmakers' statements encouraging nuclear debate might fuel a nuclear domino effect MAINICHI (Page 7) (Abridged slightly) October 23, 2006 TOKYO 00006195 002 OF 010 By Hiroyuki Yoshida, Washington In the wake of the latest Japan-US foreign ministerial, the New York Times carried an article on Oct. 19 titled, "Japan assures Rice that it has no nuclear intentions." The article contrasted sharply with Japanese newspapers that focused on an agreement to swiftly implement the UN Security resolution on sanctions against North Korea. The reason behind the New York Times article is because Foreign Minister Taro Aso told Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 18 this regarding North Korean's nuclear testing: "It is important to debate the notion of Japan possessing nuclear weapons." The dominant view in Japan, a country upholding the three non-nuclear principle based on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is that the country will never seriously consider developing nuclear weapons. A series of controversial remarks by Aso and LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shoichi Nakagawa are tinged with their apparent desire to keep "nuclear armament" as a political card in dealing with North Korea and China. But the US as country that fears nuclear proliferation takes them differently. Joseph Cirincione, a nonproliferation specialist at Center for American Progress, a US think tank, strongly warned: "Learning of Mr. Nakagawa's comment, I thought he seriously wanted Japan to possess nuclear weapons. Even though they tend to use freedom of speech as the pretext, government officials and ruling party lawmakers must not forget that it is extremely dangerous to discuss the idea of possession of nuclear weapons. Debate in Japan may spread to South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and other countries in a chain reaction." Once debate begins, it might escalate and lead to nuclear development programs throughout East Asia. Such a risk is always associated with the psychological game of developing a nuclear arsenal. US intelligence agencies assess that Japan, having large amounts of nuclear reactor-grade plutonium, could develop nuclear weapons in a year if it wanted to do so. Some nuclear experts already regard Japan as a potential nuclear power. This can explain why other countries view nuclear debate in Japan as dangerous. To begin with, it is unclear whether Aso and others' call for nuclear debate can work effectively as a deterrent against North Korea. There is no guarantee that the Cold War-era nuclear deterrence theory can apply to North Korea, which easily carries out reckless actions, such as launching missiles and conducting a nuclear test. Even if a nuclear deterrent is effective to some extent, having the US nuclear umbrella over Japan should be enough. Japan's nuclear arming is certain to push North Korea further toward developing more nuclear capability, gravely affecting Japan's security. Science and Technology Fellow Michael A. Levi of the Council of Foreign Relations, a US think tank, noted: "Japan is an important example of how a country can achieve success without possessing nuclear weapons. The example must not cease to exist." Japan should not discuss a nuclear option now. It should instead tell the rest of the world why it has stuck to its non-nuclear TOKYO 00006195 003 OF 010 principles and then work against the spread of nuclear proliferation. (3) Missile defense: JDA plans to speed up introduction of sea-deployed-type missiles sometimes next year, following North Korea's nuclear test YOMIURI (Page 2) (Excerpt) Eve., October 24, 2006 As a measure to speed up the introduction of a missile-defense (MD) system, the Defense Agency (JDA) revealed this morning at a joint meeting of Liberal Democratic Party national defense-related committees its plan to deploy in 2007, three months earlier than originally planned at the end of that year, the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3),a sea-deployed intercept missile, which will be mounted on Aegis vessels. Following North Korea's launching of ballistic missiles in July and its nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9, coordination between the Japanese and US governments resulted in an agreement to refit the Aegis with SM-3s, originally planned in about a year, by speeding up the process by approximately three months. Under the refitting, necessary parts and other equipment will be procured from the US side, and the refitting process speeded up. The government plans to mount SM-3s on four Aegis ships, starting in fiscal 2007 and finishing in fiscal 2010. (4) Reading DPRK's nuclear test: Pyongyang confident "dramatic" weapons can win over US ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) October 24, 2006 Yoichi Funabashi North Korea has called itself a "proud nuclear weapons state" since conducting a nuclear test. Pyongyang's previous nuclear card was "nuclear capability," but this card is now likely to be that North Korea is a nuclear weapons state. In the past, the North Koreans pretended to have a nuclear arsenal at every occasion, playing a game in which they tried to get a security guarantee and energy supplies from Japan, the United States, South Korea, and other countries in return for freezing or abandoning its nuclear program. In April 2003, Li Gun, deputy head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's American Affairs Bureau, declared to the US during a break in the three-party talks among the US, China, and North Korea that his country had nuclear weapons. Li even referred to a nuclear test and the transfer of nuclear weapons. (The idea of transferring nuclear weapons was effectively retracted afterwards.) After hearing of this from the US, China asked the North Koreans if they were trying to commit suicide. If North Korea becomes a nuclear weapons state, China will have to reconsider its relations with it. The DPRK will find itself further isolated from the international community and difficult to keep going. China's stern message was to ask the North Koreans if they were ready for that. TOKYO 00006195 004 OF 010 From North Korea's point of view, however, a nuclear arsenal may be a means to prevent being driven to commit suicide. The North's economy, system, and ideology have collapsed. Instead of just waiting passively for death, it may be opting for a desperate strategy, namely possessing nuclear weapons. North Korea cited the Bush administration's hostile policy as the reason for going nuclear. But North Korea's nuclear program dates back much further. Historian Katherine Weathersby discovered files on North Korea kept in the former Soviet bloc during the 1962-1986 timeframe and examined them. She concluded that North Korea set out to develop nuclear weapons in 1963. Weathersby cited "America's nuclear threat and the North's emotional distrust that China and the Soviet Union, even though they were both allies of the North, might betray it" as the primary factor that pushed President Kim Il Sung to develop nuclear weapons. The North's nuclear development has deep roots. Pyongyang appears to have decided that only a nuclear arsenal and missiles will be an effective negotiating card in terms of protecting the current regime, as well as pushing for talks with the US. In this context, the Agreed Framework signed in 1994 between Washington and Pyongyang and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to North Korea in 2000 undoubtedly gave Pyongyang much satisfaction. A nuclear power can draw international attention and capture the spotlight. It also can pull the US to the negotiating table. Nuclear weapons have now become the ultimate dramatic weapon for the theatrical dictator, Kim Jong Il. Though North Korea has now become a "proud nuclear weapons state," if it parts with its nuclear weapons, its dignity and bravado would vanish like a mirage. This is the trap these weapons pose, and Kim Jong Il will likely never part with them. If we close our eyes to the trap these weapons pose, the crisis will deepen. If we panic at the crisis, we, too, will walk into the trap. Why is North Korea working to become a nuclear weapons state? The Asahi Shimbun plans to analyze the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula and the background of the crisis in a five-part series. (5) Okinawa's choice 10 years after Futenma accord, with gubernatorial election set for Nov. 19 ASAHI (Page 5) (Full) October 23, 2006 In November this year, Okinawa Prefecture will hold its 10th gubernatorial election since its return to Japan. The election is expected to focus primarily on the pending issue of relocating and returning the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the city of Ginowan. It was 10 years ago that Japan and the United States reached an intergovernmental agreement on the relocation and return of Futenma airfield. However, the airfield has yet to be relocated TOKYO 00006195 005 OF 010 or returned. In 1995, US servicemen raped a local schoolgirl. Since that incident, Okinawa has argued about the presence of US military bases on the island prefecture, sometimes splitting its local communities. With the election ahead, the people of Okinawa are recalling the past decade. Rape incident: Local protests end up failing to block base relocation within prefecture In late August this year, Suzuyo Takasato, 66, felt something unbearable as she was reading a news story in the paper. It was about a man who killed himself after killing a woman in the United States. The man was once in the US Marine Corps and raped a local schoolgirl in the northern part of Okinawa's main island. In September 1995, three Okinawa-based US servicemen kidnapped and raped a local schoolgirl on her way back home from a store. Takasato, who was a member of Naha City's municipal assembly, and local residents voiced their protest at once. The incident aroused a tidal wave of protests all over Okinawa. The following year, Tokyo and Washington agreed to relocate and return Futenma airfield. The Japanese and US governments worked out a final report of the Special Action Committee on Facilities and Areas in Okinawa (SACO),which incorporated their agreed plans to return bases and relocate training exercises. However, many of those plans were preconditioned on relocation within the island prefecture. Futenma airfield's relocation remained under the same preconditions even in the two countries' talks over the realignment of US forces in Japan. Takasato says, "The area of bases will decrease with the realignment, but old bases will be realigned into new bases." She added, "In the end, they only exploited the voice of Okinawa." In October 1995, a rally was held in Ginowan with the participation of various organizations from the conservative and reformist blocs. The rally organizers said a total of 85,000 people gathered for the rally and called for realigning and reducing the US military presence. It was said to be Okinawa's largest-scale struggle ever since its return to Japan. Yoshikazu Tamaki, a 57-year-old member of Okinawa Prefecture's assembly, managed the rally as chief of its secretariat. Nowadays, Tamaki recalls the rally with his self-reflection. The reformists in Okinawa once upheld their one-time slogan of "removing" all the bases. However, they changed it to the slogan of "realigning and reducing" the bases. This slogan rallied a large number of people in Okinawa. Tamaki is now thinking to himself that something might have weakened as a result. In 1998, Tamaki ran in Nago City' mayoral election with his campaign slogan of opposing Futenma airfield's relocation to Nago. Tamaki was defeated, however. In the 1995 rally, Masahide Ota, who was the governor of Okinawa Prefecture, took the platform, and the next one who took the platform was Keiichi Inamine. Three years later, Inamine won Okinawa's governorship with his acceptance of Futenma relocation. In those days, there was a gradual rise of voices calling for economic development in exchange for the maintenance of bases. "The rally was meant to allow no more bases," Tamaki says, "I wonder if Okinawa now takes it over." TOKYO 00006195 006 OF 010 Henoko: Old people disappear in anti-Futenma gatherings There is a small house in Nago City's Henoko district. The house, right near the planned construction site for a Futenma alternative, is for a group of local residents opposing the government's plan to build an alternative base there. Nowadays, many of those gathering in the house are young people in Okinawa Prefecture or from mainland prefectures. A decade ago, a number of elderly people living in Henoko used to join gatherings there against Futenma relocation. But now, they can rarely be seen in the gatherings. Henoko's administrative committee, a decision-making board of local residents, is now inclining to accept Futenma relocation in exchange for compensation. "To tell the truth, I'm against Futenma relocation. But if I say that outside, I may be cut out of the loop." With this, a local man who has broken away from the group came out of himself. Nine years ago, local women-neither civic activists nor labor union members-walked around in Nago Coty, taking elderly men and women by the hand. It was on Dec. 20, 1997, the day before a poll of Nago residents over whether to accept the government's proposed plan to build an alternative facility in waters off the coast of Henoko to take over the heliport functions of Futenma airfield. Yasuhiro Miyagi, 46, a one-time leader of locals opposing Futenma relocation, thought to himself that he could work it out when he saw those local women and their old parents-in-law opposing the newly planned heliport. The next day, a majority of Nago City voted against the new base plan. "If we only win in the poll," Miyagi says, "I thought everything would be over." He went on: "Everybody strove so hard as we thought it's for once in our life. Nine years later, however, we found that nothing has changed. The people of Nago City are now worn out." The government's new base building plan for Futenma airfield has undergone a number of alterations. However, it remains unchanged as far as its construction site-Henoko in Nago City-is concerned. That is because the government has poured a huge amount of money into the northern part of Okinawa's main island, including Nago City, in the name of economic incentives, and the city, though conditionally, has accepted the new base plan. People are longing for an affluent lifestyle. Miyagi thinks the government cashed in this natural feeling. "Local governments depend on the state coffers for finances," Miyagi says. He added, "Can they turn on the central government?" Helo crash: Accident unveils abnormality Ryozo Kinjo, 22, dashed out of a university building as soon as he heard students shouting to tell the crash of a helicopter on the campus. The playing field was covered with black smoke, and Kinjo saw smoke and flames going up by the main building. Somebody cried, "Take a picture as evidence!" A US serviceman in camouflaged fatigues was standing there on Kinjo's way in trying to stop him. Kinjo dodged the US serviceman and turned his cellphone camera. On Aug. 13, 2004, A US Marine Corps CH-53 heavy-lift helicopter, TOKYO 00006195 007 OF 010 soon after taking off from Futenma airfield, crashed on the neighboring campus of Okinawa International University. No one was injured in the crash. However, the chopper's broken pieces, including rotor blade debris, scattered and hit nearby houses. "I realized something that I thought I was seeing as usual in my daily life was actually something abnormal," Kinjo says. Kinjo lives at Chibana in Okinawa City. His house is right on the east side of the US Kadena Air Base. When a US warplane flies over that area, Kinjo turns up the television to the maximum. When the US military went on airstrikes in Afghanistan, a US military plane beamed the searchlight into his room. When he entered Okinawa International University, the sounds of helicopters did not matter much to him. More than one million people live on a small island with US military bases. The helicopter accident reminded people in Okinawa of such an abnormal fact. Mikiko Inafuku, 56, is a professor currently teaching Kinjo in her seminar at Okinawa International University. Inafuku began to teach at the university in the 1980s. In those days, she had to suspend her class frequently due to the roar of helicopters flying to and from Futenma airfield. Meanwhile, the university double-paned its windows for soundproofing, and she was not so concerned about choppers in flight. "I was shocked at the accident," Inafuku says. She admitted, "I completely got used to something wrong with us unknowingly." Gov. Inamine: 15-year time limit on dual use fades out On Oct. 6, Okinawa Prefecture's Governor Inamine met with Prime Minister Abe at his office for the first time. "The issue of realigning US forces in Japan is very difficult, and we have our own stance." With this, Inamine underscored the nonnegotiable line. Inamine was first elected eight years ago with his campaign pledge to build a Futenma alternative as a dual-use airport for joint commercial and military use and set a 15-year time limit on the U.S. military's use of the new base. Ever since then, although his campaign pledge was called into question about its feasibility, Inamine has reiterated his advocacy of building a dual-use airport and tag on a 15-year time limit to the U.S. military's use of it. Yoshihiko Higa, a policy adviser to Inamine, says as follows: "If we set a time limit on the US military's use of the new base, that airport will be an asset of Okinawa Prefecture's people in time. At the same time, the government decided on a package of economic development measures for the northern region of Okinawa Prefecture. The proposal of a dual-use airport and a 15-year time limit drew the government's utmost concessions sparing no expense." As a de facto compensation for the relocation of Futenma airfield's heliport functions within Okinawa Prefecture, the government promised a package of pump-priming measures totaling 100 billion yen over the next 10 years for the island's northern region. It was the beginning of an era for Okinawa Prefecture and its population to be tossed up and down between the government's new base plan for the US military and its economic package for the base-hosting localities. Meanwhile, Inamine reiterated "the magma of Okinawa Prefecture's TOKYO 00006195 008 OF 010 people" time and again, meaning that the wrath of the island prefecture's people, though seeming to be quiet for now, is boiling up under the ground and he is standing on it... The only best plan for Inamine as Okinawa's conservative governor to obtain local understanding was to build a dual-use airport and limit the US military's use of it to 15 years, Higa recalls. Even this proposal, however, was thrown into a wastebasket because of the realignment of US forces in Japan and the delay in the planned relocation of Futenma airfield. In April this year, the government announced a plan to build a new base with a V-shaped pair of airstrips at a site across the cape of Henoko in Camp Schwab. Inamine will not accept the new plan. However, the government is now mulling a new subsidization system to fund the base-hosting localities according to progress in the realignment of US forces in Japan. While shelving fundamental contradictions between the US military presence and the economic package, Okinawa Prefecture will pass its administration to the next governor. The gubernatorial election will be proclaimed Nov. 2 and will be held Nov. 19. In the race, the ruling camp will back up Hirokazu Nakaima, 67, former president of the Okinawa Prefecture Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the opposition camp fielding Keiko Itokazu, 59, currently seated on the House of Councillors. The election is expected to be a dead-heat race between Nakaima and Itokazu. (6) Arrested former Fukushima governor Sato and his brother received bribes by using family business as shield; Focus is on degree of his involvement YOMIURI (Page 3) (Abridged slightly) October 24, 2006 Investigation into a bid rigging scandal in Fukushima Prefecture by the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office special investigation team resulted in yesterday the arrest of former Gov. Eisaku Sato, 67. Sato's arrest comes a year and a half after the special investigative team secretly began investigating his alleged acceptance of bribes. Upon finding out the fact that Sato's brother was serving as a "coordinator" of a public works project on behalf of his brother, the special investigation team cut into the collusive ties between Sato, who placed the order, and general contractors, who won the order. Safety device A senior prosecutor described Yuji Sato, 63, the former governor's brother, as a "safety device." According to a person concerned, former governor Sato, who placed orders for public works projects, did not accept any petitions from the construction industry at the prefectural government office or elsewhere and did not join golf competitions once he found out that some construction firm members were on the lists of participants. Seals of approval for bid rigging came from his brother, Yuji -- president of Koriyama Santo Suits, a men's clothing maker based in the prefecture -- who was responsible for contacting general contractors. The presence of Yuji, who covered up the former governor's involvement in money transactions, was the largest TOKYO 00006195 009 OF 010 bottleneck in the long investigation. Such individuals as former Maeda Corp. executives and former Mizutani Kensetsu Chairman Isao Mizutani, 61, admitted to investigators that they had provided Santo Suits with a series of kickbacks in the form of payment for a land transaction in return for receiving orders from the Fukushima prefectural government for the Kido Dam project, knowing that the kickbacks were effectively extended to the former governor. Some others, including a realtor, who had brokered the land transaction, also admitted that the price had been higher than the actual value. The investigation team regarded the higher-than-the-actual-value land transaction as a bribe to the former governor. But the land transaction between Santo Suits and Mizutani Kensetsu -- a deal between two private companies -- was a major obstacle. Given the situation, the investigation team paid attention to the fact that the former governor had been a director of Santo Suits until May 2002 and that he was still the company's top shareholder with over a 40% stake. The team identified the suit company's profits as the former governor's profits. Holding a public office is a requirement for a bribery charge, but an individual who is not a civil servant can also be punished as an accomplice. Although it was Yuji who had directly received benefits from Mizutani Kensetsu and other contractors, investigators reached the conclusion that he and the former governor, the person responsible for placing orders for public works projects, had received bribes as a team, recognizing the former as an accomplice. Coordinators played main roles since 1993 graft case involving general contractors In public works scandals that came to light in recent years, coordinators mediating between government offices and corporations often played key roles. For instance, in a bid rigging case over a tunnel project placed by the Wakayama prefectural government, the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office arrested a former golf course operator, who had served as a mediator between the chief prefectural treasurer and Hazama Corp. that won the order for the project. In an influence peddling case involving Gyosai Toshi Kaihatsu Kenkyujo, a Tokyo consulting firm, cracked by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office in 2002, the firm's president who was also a former secretary to a lawmaker also played a central role behind the scenes. The firm also gave large amounts of bribes to a former Tokushima governor and a former mayor of Shimotsuma City, Ibaraki Prefecture. In 1993, prosecutors also arrested then Ibaraki and Miyagi governors for taking bribes from general contractors in connection with a graft case. Since this case, firms have been avoiding making direct contacts with local chiefs. Former prosecutor Nobuo Gohara, currently a professor at the Toin University of Yokohama Graduate School Law School, took this view: "To cope with enhanced efforts to crack down on bid rigging practices under the Antimonopoly Law, firms have since around 1992 managed to reach agreements on bid rigging ambiguously by, for instance, contacting individuals instead of holding meetings. People close to those placing orders have come to acquire strong TOKYO 00006195 010 OF 010 influence." Lawyer Kawasaki, a director of the Fair Trade Institute, took the following view regarding the fact that Maeda Corp. that won the Fukushima dam project and its subcontractor Mizutani Kensetsu gave bribes: "General contractors have acquired the underground method of coordinating orders by using prospective subcontractors." SCHIEFFER