Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TOKYO1227
2007-03-20 02:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA/IRAQ - TOKYO
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UNCLAS TOKYO 001227
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA/IRAQ - TOKYO
LEAD STORIES: Most Tuesday morning papers front-paged
remarks by DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan during
Monday's six-party session expressing his country's
readiness to halt operations at Yongbyon after confirming
that its frozen assets at the Macau-based Banco Delta
Asia (BDA) have all been returned.
UNCLAS TOKYO 001227
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA/IRAQ - TOKYO
LEAD STORIES: Most Tuesday morning papers front-paged
remarks by DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan during
Monday's six-party session expressing his country's
readiness to halt operations at Yongbyon after confirming
that its frozen assets at the Macau-based Banco Delta
Asia (BDA) have all been returned.
1. "Don't Play into North Korea's Hands" The business-
oriented Nihon Keizai editorialized (3/20): "Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Glaser, meeting the
press Monday morning in Beijing, announced that the US
would release the entire amount of frozen DPRK-linked
accounts, estimated at about 25 million USD, at the Macau-
based BDA. The US move, made at the North's request prior
to the resumption the same day of the six-party talks,
was intended to give momentum to the talks on North
Korea's denuclearization. While the move was welcomed by
China, South Korea, and Russia, all of which have long
taken a conciliatory line on Pyongyang, we cannot help
but be skeptical. The North Koreans always use bluffs or
brinkmanship to force concessions from other countries.
Can the US get Pyongyang, which has already conducted a
nuclear test, to abandon its nuclear programs in a
complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner just by
releasing those funds? We want to a keep close watch on
progress at the six-party talks, and one point of concern
is that the US has softened its stance on North Korea
since that country's nuclear test last October."
2. "Iraq War Four Years On: Learn from the Mistakes" An
editorial in the liberal Asahi stated (3/20): "Today
marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq
war, which the US and Britain launched amid worldwide
concern and opposition. What has become of Iraq? Nobody
now thinks that Iraq and the rest of the world have since
become safer.... Four years ago there was a 'crisis
mentality' that military action against Saddam Hussein
would be unavoidable, because he would pose a grave
threat to the world were he to obtain weapons of mass
destruction. But four years later, Iraq is in a state of
civil war, with Shiites and Sunnis at each other's
throats and 3.9 million people having fled the
country.... One of the most serious mistakes in the war
was the contention that Hussein had WMDs, which the US
and Britain used to justify the war. The two nations then
distorted information and manufactured crises."
SCHIEFFER
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - NORTH KOREA/IRAQ - TOKYO
LEAD STORIES: Most Tuesday morning papers front-paged
remarks by DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan during
Monday's six-party session expressing his country's
readiness to halt operations at Yongbyon after confirming
that its frozen assets at the Macau-based Banco Delta
Asia (BDA) have all been returned.
1. "Don't Play into North Korea's Hands" The business-
oriented Nihon Keizai editorialized (3/20): "Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Glaser, meeting the
press Monday morning in Beijing, announced that the US
would release the entire amount of frozen DPRK-linked
accounts, estimated at about 25 million USD, at the Macau-
based BDA. The US move, made at the North's request prior
to the resumption the same day of the six-party talks,
was intended to give momentum to the talks on North
Korea's denuclearization. While the move was welcomed by
China, South Korea, and Russia, all of which have long
taken a conciliatory line on Pyongyang, we cannot help
but be skeptical. The North Koreans always use bluffs or
brinkmanship to force concessions from other countries.
Can the US get Pyongyang, which has already conducted a
nuclear test, to abandon its nuclear programs in a
complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner just by
releasing those funds? We want to a keep close watch on
progress at the six-party talks, and one point of concern
is that the US has softened its stance on North Korea
since that country's nuclear test last October."
2. "Iraq War Four Years On: Learn from the Mistakes" An
editorial in the liberal Asahi stated (3/20): "Today
marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq
war, which the US and Britain launched amid worldwide
concern and opposition. What has become of Iraq? Nobody
now thinks that Iraq and the rest of the world have since
become safer.... Four years ago there was a 'crisis
mentality' that military action against Saddam Hussein
would be unavoidable, because he would pose a grave
threat to the world were he to obtain weapons of mass
destruction. But four years later, Iraq is in a state of
civil war, with Shiites and Sunnis at each other's
throats and 3.9 million people having fled the
country.... One of the most serious mistakes in the war
was the contention that Hussein had WMDs, which the US
and Britain used to justify the war. The two nations then
distorted information and manufactured crises."
SCHIEFFER