U/S JOSEPH'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH ACS ANDO, ACS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 006498 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: FOLLOWING KOREAN REUNIFICATION TAGS: PREL PINR PARM KNNP AS CH KS KN JA SUBJECT: U/S JOSEPH'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH ACS ANDO, ACS YANAGISAWA ON UNSCR 1718 IMPLEMENTATION TOKYO 00006498 001.2 OF 003 ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR ZFR MESSAGE WILL BE RESENT WITH NEW MRN/MCN TOKYO 00006498 002 OF 003 but have no mechanism for sharing with their Japanese interagency colleagues. With Cabinet Office guidance, they are now establishing such a mechanism. How, Yanagisawa asked, did the United States intend to handle information sharing among relevant countries? ¶6. (C) Noting that this was an important question, U/S Joseph stated that successful cargo inspection would depend on information sharing, as well as the operational, legal and technical aspects. In the trilateral, he had proposed the establishment of a U.S.-Japanese-Australian working group in the near term to address these issues. The United States would look forward to sharing information with Japan and Australia and would selectively share information with other countries, based on the specific circumstances. Deputy Foreign Minister Nishida had earlier indicated that Japan would participate in the proposed follow-on meetings, the Under Secretary noted. ¶7. (C) Responding to Ando's questions on the proposed working group, Joseph explained that the United States did not intend to make it public, but would simply refer to "follow-on meetings," which would be expected. Asked whether the "terms of reference" (TOR) would be limited to cargo inspections only or address all UNSCR 1718-related issues, U/S Joseph replied that the United States did not envision formalizing the working group through a TOR, but, rather, intended it to be an informal process addressing technical issues as the need arose. As to level, he suggested the working group be conducted "at a level that is as low as possible but still able to resolve issues." The United States hoped to have a practical proposal to present to Japan as quickly as possible. ¶8. (C) China's participation in the cargo inspection process would be very important, Ando stressed, particularly the inspection of land-based cargo passage. He asked the Under Secretary whether he thought China was really serious about SIPDIS cargo inspection. U/S Joseph observed that when he was in Beijing with Secretary Rice in late October, the Chinese had told the Secretary that they would fully and effectively implement UNSCR 1718. While he did not expect China to interdict DPRK-flagged ships, he did expect it to greatly enhance its inspection of land cargo. At the close of the meeting, U/S Joseph promised to stay in close contact on issues related to UNSCR 1718 sanctions. ¶9. Participants United States -------------- Robert G. Joseph, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Joe Donovan, DCM, U.S. Embassy David Stephens, Acting Senior Director for Counter- Proliferation Strategy, NCS Patricia McNerney, ISN Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, DOS William H. Tobey, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, DOE/NNSA Dr. Victor Cha, Director, NSC/EAP Eliot Kang, Senior Adviser, ISN/RA, DOS Carol Reynolds, U.S. Embassy (notetaker) Japan -------------- Hiroyasu Ando, Assistant Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Policy, Cabinet Secretariat Kyoji Yanagisawa, Assistant Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management and Security, Cabinet Secretariat Makita Shimokawa, Cabinet Counsellor, Office of the Assistant Cabinet Secretary (Ando),Cabinet Secretariat Atsushi Kato, Office of the Assistant Cabinet Secretary (Ando),Cabinet Secretariat Kenichi Takahashi, Office of the Assistant Cabinet TOKYO 00006498 003 OF 003 Secretary (Yanagisawa),Cabinet Secretariat ¶10. (U) The U/S Joseph delegation cleared this message. SCHIEFFER