DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 12/20/07

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 005627 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 12/20/07 Index: (1) Poll: 23 PERCENT support grand coalition idea; 21 PERCENT support DPJ-centered coalition (Mainichi) (2) Ozawa to play up confrontational stand in party-head debate on Jan. 9; Some doubtful that debate will even take place, considering pitched battle between ruling and opposition camps over new antiterrorism legislation (Yomiuri) (3) Calls for cabinet shuffle appearing in ruling camp (Mainichi) (4) Koike, the fighting lawmaker, voices dissatisfaction with government (Yomiuri) (5) Establishing connections with Japanese politicians a task for South Korean president-elect Lee (Nikkei) (6) I Corps command established at Zama (Tokyo Shimbun) (7) Draft basic maritime plan calls for strengthened measures against suspicious boats (Yomiuri) (8) TOP HEADLINES (9) EDITORIALS (10) Prime Minister's schedule, December 19 (Nikkei) ARTICLES: (1) Poll: 23 PERCENT support grand coalition idea; 21 PERCENT support DPJ-centered coalition MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) December 20, 2007 The Mainichi Shimbun found from its poll conducted on Dec. 15-16 that the public has a certain level of understanding toward a grand coalition of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) -- a notion which was discussed by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa. The outcome of the poll clearly showed that many LDP supporters were positive about the idea, while many DPJ supporters were negative about it. The newspaper questioned those polled about the form of government that they thought desirable, presenting six options. As a result, 1) 23 PERCENT considered a grand LDP-DPJ coalition the most desirable; 21 PERCENT thought a DPJ-centered coalition would be the best choice; 17 PERCENT said the current LDP-New Komeito coalition would be the best; 11 PERCENT deemed a DPJ government the best option; 10 PERCENT considered a LDP government desirable; 6 PERCENT wanted a government-led by one party, but neither the LDP nor the DPJ. Among the LDP supporters, 35 PERCENT favored a grand coalition of the LDP and DPJ, 34 PERCENT supported keeping the LDP-New Komeito coalition; and 23 PERCENT wanted an LDP government. Many LDP supporters seem to have favored a grand LDP-DPJ coalition due to a sense of alarm about the now divided Diet, in which the Upper House is controlled by the opposition camp. TOKYO 00005627 002 OF 007 Meantime, 45 PERCENT of the DPJ supporters wanted a DPJ-centered government and only 16 PERCENT hoped for a grand coalition with the LDP, followed by 25 PERCENT wanted to see a DPJ government. This is one of the reasons the DPJ turned down Ozawa's grand coalition proposal. Fifty-five percent of the New Komeito supporters favored maintaining the present LDP-New Komeito coalition, while 15 PERCENT supported a grand coalition. (2) Ozawa to play up confrontational stand in party-head debate on Jan. 9; Some doubtful that debate will even take place, considering pitched battle between ruling and opposition camps over new antiterrorism legislation YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged slightly) December 20, 2007 The ruling and opposition camps reached an agreement yesterday to conduct a party-head debate on Jan. 9 between Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa. It will be Prime Minister Fukuda's first one-on-one party-head debate since taking office. But because hard bargaining between the ruling and opposition blocs over the new antiterrorism special measures bill is expected to climax early next year, some observers are doubtful that the debate will take place as planned. A party-head debate has always been held during a Diet session, except for short-term sessions that usually follow national elections or other important events. In the current session, however, a party-head debate has not taken place due to the recent Fukuda-Ozawa talks and other reasons. A record 200 days have passed since the last party-head debate. The DPJ wants to use the series of scandals involving the Defense Ministry and the deadlocked efforts to identify a large number of pension accounts to its own advantage as ammunition to attack the government and ruling coalition. The DPJ intends to vote down the new antiterrorism legislation in the House of Councillors by Jan. ¶11. "President Ozawa will send out a signal we are going on the offensive in the party-head debate ahead of our taking a vote (in the Upper House)," a person close to Ozawa said. Amid growing criticism of the government's response to the pension record issue, a senior LDP member, too, expressed an upbeat view, saying, "It will be a good opportunity for the prime minister and others to offer explanations." Prime Minister Fukuda said last night: "Since it will be my first party-head debate, I want to conduct it in a way that is easy to understand." DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama also commented: "It is important for the party heads to discuss matters frankly." At the same time, the ruling and opposition camps are in agreement not to conduct a debate between party leaders during the week when the prime minister is attending a committee meeting. Chances are high that the prime minister will attend an Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting around Jan. 9 when the antiterrorism legislation is expected to be at a critical juncture. If that is the case, the fate of the planned party-head debate would become uncertain. TOKYO 00005627 003 OF 007 (3) Calls for cabinet shuffle appearing in ruling camp MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) December 20, 2007 Calls for a cabinet shuffle early next year are now becoming stronger in the ruling camp. One reason is that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda kept on most of the ministers appointed by his predecessor Shinzo Abe, and another is that some believe a cabinet shuffle could halt the Fukuda administration's plummeting approval ratings and turn the political situation around. However, a senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member noted: "It would be difficult to set the schedule" since the new antiterrorism special measures bill is expected to be put to a vote at the beginning of the New Year. Fukuda has hinted at such a possibility, but he will likely be forced to make a tough decision. "Former Prime Minister SHINZO ABE appointed (the present cabinet), but he and Mr. Fukuda have quite different ideas," said former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on a TBS talk show. He indicated that he expected an early shuffle of the cabinet in an attempt to stop the plunge in cabinet support rates in the polls. Fukuda retained 13 of the 17 cabinet ministers whom ABE had picked. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura was moved laterally to the chief cabinet secretary's post and Defense Minister Masahiko Koumura moved to the SIPDIS foreign minister's post. He appointed only two new members: Shigeru Ishiba as defense minister; and Kisaburo Tokai as minister of education, culture, sports, and science and technology. A senior member of the Machimura faction to which Fukuda belonged said: "It is only natural for Fukuda to want to display his own political identity by forming his own cabinet." The New Komeito also has indicated it expects to see an early cabinet shuffle, since Tetsuzo Fuyushiba has now been serving as minister of land, infrastructure, and transport for 15 months. Fukuda, who wants to keep on top of the situation with an eye on the upcoming regular Diet session, has strongly denied the possibility of his dissolving the Lower House to call a snap election, but he has left some room for a cabinet shuffle. In an interview on Dec. 14 by the Mainichi Shimbun, he stated: "It is a matter on which I must soon decide." An aide said: "If he wanted to shuffle his cabinet, it will only take him two days to do so." However, the current Diet session is expected to be under a tense situation until Jan. 15, when it will close once the Lower House overrides the Upper House's rejection of the new antiterrorism bill and the opposition in turn lodges a censure motion against the prime minister. Since the government and ruling coalition plan to convene a regular session on Jan. 18, there would not be enough time for Fukuda to shuffle his cabinet during the recess. Moreover, many lawmakers think that it ill advised to change the cabinet ministers who had compiled the state budget for fiscal 2008 immediately before starting deliberations on the budget bill. In the past, however, there were a few cases of a cabinet shuffle and the inauguration of a new cabinet conducted almost simultaneously, such as the Obuchi cabinet shuffle on Jan. 14, 1999, after the compilation of the state budget; the Nakasone cabinet reshuffle on Dec. 28, 1985; and the Kaifu cabinet reshuffle on Dec. 29, 1990. (4) Koike, the fighting lawmaker, voices dissatisfaction with government TOKYO 00005627 004 OF 007 YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) December 20, 2007 LDP lawmaker and a former defense minister Yuriko Koike delivered a speech in the city of Fukuoka yesterday. In it, touching on the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP13) held in Indonesia, Koike criticized the government, which is reluctant to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saying: "If I were environment minister, I would have supported setting numerical targets. I watched the conference with frustration, thinking that Japan should come up with more proactive measures" In regard to attendance at COP13 by Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita, Koike cynically said: "Japan is regarded as an easy target (by other countries)." During her tenure as environment minister under the former Koizumi administration, Koike spread the Cool Biz casual business dress code across the country. Under the former ABE administration, Koike as the country's first female defense minister locked horns with then Vice-Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya over personnel appointments and forced him to resign. In the speech yesterday, Koike said: "An election will occur sometime next year. I will say what I have to say and work hard as a common foot soldier." In the House of Representatives election in 2005, she won a seat, running in the Tokyo No. 10 constituency as an "assassin" against a postal rebel. This time around, the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) has decided to field a female candidate, former University of Tokyo associate professor, as an "assassin" against Koike. Is Koike, who has a strong image of being a fighting lawmaker, going to take a defensive stand? A verbal battle has kicked off already in preparation for the not-so-distant Lower House election. (5) Establishing connections with Japanese politicians a task for South Korean president-elect Lee NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) December 20, 2007 In the South Korean presidential election campaign, Lee Myung Bak expressed eagerness to improve relations with Japan, emphasizing: "I am determined to open up an age of Asia diplomacy." But many observers see that when he was a businessman and even after he entered the political world, "Lee did not establish a wide network of contacts with Japanese," according to a member of the Grand National Party. Establishing connections with the Japanese political world is a major task for the new administration. Lee was the president of Hyundai Construction, so a person concerned said: "He can hold a conversation in basic Japanese." When Lee came to Japan in November last year, he held meetings with Prime Minister SHINZO Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, New Komeito President Akihiro Ota, and other government officials. He met former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa at the Davos Forum last year. He also is acquainted with former Democratic Party of Japan President Katsuya Okada. But he has met no other major Japanese politicians than those listed above. TOKYO 00005627 005 OF 007 In his election campaign speeches, Lee hardly referred to Japan, probably out of consideration to the anti-Japanese sentiment in the nation. A brain-trust foreign policy adviser stated: "He places importance on relations with Japan, but if trouble breaks out over Japan's views of history, he would find it difficult to hold down reactions in South Korea." The Grand National Party, to which Lee belongs, and the LDP once actively exchanged members. During the election campaign this time, former Prime Minister Kim Jong Pil, who was on friendly terms with former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, joined the party. Even so, veteran party members who speak Japanese have mostly retired to private life during the decade when the party was in the opposition camp. In the Grand National Party, there are such junior or medium-ranking members as Kwon Chol-hyon, secretary general of the South Korea-Japan Friendship Parliamentarian Group, and Lee Song-kwon, who served as a secretary to LDP House of Representatives member Taro Kono, but the party's present ties with Japan are weak. (6) I Corps command established at Zama TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) December 20, 2007 A U.S. Army 1st Corps command was officially launched at Camp Zama in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, yesterday. The U.S. Army in Japan will be upgraded from a rear support unit to a forward command responsible for the security of the whole Asia-Pacific region. This is the first stationing of a U.S. Army combat-force command since the 9th army corps was disbanded in 1995, following the end of the Cold War. The Ground Self-Defense Force's Central Readiness Command will also be relocated to Zama by fiscal 2012. Such reorganization is regarded as a "symbol" of closer bilateral cooperation between Japan and the U.S. The inaugural ceremony held at Camp Zama yesterday brought together about 200 participants, including new command members and Defense Ministry officers. First Commanding General Lt. Gen. Jacoby told participants in the ceremony: "It is an honor to be able to strengthen the bilateral alliance between the U.S. and Japan." Meanwhile, citizens opposed to the launch of the command held a protest gathering in front of the base. Kanagawa Governor Matsuzawa and the mayors of seven neighboring cities, including Sagamihara City, did not attend the ceremony. (7) Draft basic maritime plan calls for strengthened measures against suspicious boats YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) December 20, 2007 The comprehensive maritime policy council, headed by Prime Minister Fukuda, which is to craft the country's maritime policy, held an experts' meeting (chaired by Keio University Professor Emeritus Tadao Kuribayashi) at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) yesterday. The council presented a draft basic maritime plan incorporating priority policies for the next five years, such TOKYO 00005627 006 OF 007 as undersea resources surveys and enhanced measures against suspicious boats. The draft plan lists 12 policy areas. In the area of maritime security, the plan highlights the need to establish a system that can monitor and crack down on mysterious boats and spy ships more effectively. It also lists the conservation of the marine environment and promotion of the development of the exclusive economic zone. The comprehensive maritime policy council plans to come up with a basic plan in February next year for a cabinet decision. (8) TOP HEADLINES Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, Nikkei, Sankei, and Tokyo Shimbun: Lee Myung Bak wins South Korean presidential election; Conservative administration to be established for first time in 10 years Akahata: New U.S. Army headquarters opens in Zama (9) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) ROK presidential election: Closer cooperation in East Asia expected to follow (2) Can social security council bear fruit without opposition parties? Mainichi: (1) UN resolution abolishing capital punishment requires thorough discussion (2) South Korea chooses pragmatist as new president to deal with North Korea Yomiuri: (1) How will North Korea policy change under new ROK president? (2) Putin diplomacy points to path back to superpower status Nikkei: (1) High hopes for South Korea's new CEO-type president (2) Adequate wage increase necessary next spring Sankei: (1) Mature foreign and domestic policies hoped for of ROK president-elect (2) Law must be revised against drunk driving Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Change of administration in ROK: People chose practical gain (2) Reform of independent administrative corporations must not be postponed Akahata: Proper working conditions essential (10) Prime Minister's schedule, December 19 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) December 20, 2007 TOKYO 00005627 007 OF 007 08:45 Attended a ministerial meeting on economic measures at the Kantei. 09:01 Attended an extraordinary cabinet meeting. Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Masuzoe stayed behind. Handed an official appointment for National Public Safety Committee (NPSC) membership to former Hiroshima High Court Chief Kenjiro Tao, with NPSC Chairman Izumi present. 09:23 Met Internal Affairs Minister Masuda, Vice Minister Takino, Local Public Finance Bureau Director General Kubo. Followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Futahashi. 10:03 Met Antimonopoly Law Research Council Chairman Horiuchi. Later met National Police Agency Security Bureau Director General Ikeda. 11:06 Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura. 11:59 Met New Komeito President Ota and mid-ranking members. Ota stayed behind. 15:17 Met Defense Ministry's Defense Policy Bureau Director General Kanazawa and Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yanagisawa. Followed by Cabinet Office's Policy Planning Director General Shibata. Then met Reform Implementation Headquarters Chief Takebe. 16:04 Met Finance Minister Nukaga, Vice Minister Tsuda, and Budget Bureau Director General Sugimoto. Followed by ambassadors to Latin American countries, including Ambassador to Mexico Ono. 17:35 Met former Secretary General Kato. 18:25 Met Masuzoe and Machimura. 19:55 Met Futahashi. 20:59 Dined with Futahashi and others at a Japanese restaurant in the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. 22:34 Returned to his private residence in Nozawa. SCHIEFFER