TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - KILLING IN EAST

UNCLAS TOKYO 000629 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: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - KILLING IN EAST JERUSALEM ¶1. LEAD STORIES: Top stories on Tuesday morning include the police finding that two senior DPRK spy agency officials close to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appear to have instructed agents in or around 1978 to abduct two Japanese couples who were repatriated in ¶2003. ¶2. "Cycle of Retaliation Must Be Stopped" The liberal Tokyo Shimbun editorialized (3/11): "The recent shooting at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem was the latest tragic event for Israel. Right-wingers in the Olmert administration are bound to intensify their opposition to peace talks. However, Israel is urged to exhibit restraint in order to avoid a cycle of retaliation. It should not do anything to make the situation in Gaza more desperate.... President Bush released a statement supportive of Israel's retaliation, calling it self-defense. Acts of terrorism should indeed be denounced. But the use of force by Israel, while it maintains an economic blockade, carries the risk of merely reinforcing Gaza residents' support for armed struggle by Hamas. The UN Security Council refrained from adopting a resolution condemning the killing by noting that Israeli attacks on Gaza residents are equally worthy of condemnation. In order to win international sympathy, Hamas needs to change its strategy. Finding a path to Middle East peace is not an easy task. The Palestinians and Israelis, however, have no choice but to look toward coexistence." SCHIEFFER