DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 05/26/09

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 05/26/09

INDEX:

INDEX:

(1) North Korea presses U.S. for talks; Concerns over Kim Jong Il's
health condition evident; Eager to establish itself as nuclear power
(Asahi)

(2) North Korea aims to shake and bring U.S. in negotiations with
second nuclear test (Mainichi)

(3) Lower House to adopt resolution condemning North Korea today
(Mainichi)

(4) UNSC agrees to new resolution denouncing North Korea for nuclear
test: Japanese, American leaders in telephone discussion agree:
"Need strong resolution, swiftly" (Mainichi)

(5) New U.S. Ambassador to Japan Roos: Government perplexed by
appareyuqLQQtic solution needed for Futenma: Nakaima (Ryukyu Shimpo)

(8) NHK owns military land (Mainichi)

(9) Current Diet session to pass Northern Territories Law,
designating the islands as "integral part of Japanese territory"
(Tokyo Shimbun)

(10) Pacific Islands Forum kicks off (Nikkei)

(11) Editorial: "IWC stalls: Gap is Wide But There is Still
Hope"(Tokyo Shimbun)

(12) TOP HEADLINES

(13) EDITORIALS

(14) Prime Minister's schedule, May 25 (Nikkei)

ARTICLES:

(1) North Korea presses U.S. for talks; Concerns over Kim Jong Il's
health condition evident; Eager to establish itself as nuclear
power

ASAHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly)
May 26, 2009

Tetsuya Hakoda, Seoul

The second nuclear test conducted by North Korea on May 25 stunned
the officials in charge of countries concerned. Although there is
apparent concern over the health of its supreme leader, Pyongyang
does not provide the slightest indication of softening its hard-line
stance. It will apparently take time for North Korea to miniaturize
its nuclear weapons, but the nuclear threat nonetheless has grown
stronger.

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In response to a flood of media inquiries eager to confirm the
North's nuclear test, a high-ranking South Korean official
repeatedly said yesterday morning that the Presidential Office was
analyzing information. The turmoil ended with the Korean Central
News Agency's proud announcement some 20 minutes later that the
country had successfully conducted one more underground nuclear
test.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry hinted on April 29 at another
nuclear test, but the country had just launched a ballistic missile
in early April. The official in charge at the South Korean
Presidential Office said: "Many countries must have expected
(another nuclear test),but I don't think anyone expected it so
soon. I think North Korea has decided to stop using a nuclear test
as a trump card in dealing with the United States. North Korea now
is trying to press the United States to determine how it is going to
deal with it as a nuclear power."

It is certain that the ultimate aim of North Korea's nuclear and
missile development programs is the United States. Although
President Barack Obama has replaced George W. Bush, who had once
labeled North Korea a part of an "axis of evil," the current U.S.
administration has yet to set a specific policy toward North Korea.

Pyongyang continues to send a message to Washington that if it
underestimates North Korea, things could go terribly wrong. In order
for the message to carry weight, the sender must be a nuclear power
rather than a minor power in East Asia. The governments of such
countries as Japan, the United States and South Korea do not regard
North Korea as a nuclear power.

Sogang University Professor Kim Young Soo takes this view: "Becoming
a nuclear power is what the North wants most and what the United
States hates most. The nuclear test (on May 25) refleQk[|est.

Behind North Korea's eagerness to enter into bilateral talks with
the United States lies its frustration with an unstable domestic
situation. A South Korean government source chiefly ascribes that to
concerns over the health of Kim Jong Il, who is chairman of the
National Defense Commission and general secretary of the Workers
Party of Korea.

Lee Bong Jo, who directly met with Kim Jong Il when he was serving
as unification deputy minister under the former Roh Moo Hyun
administration, also noted: "The North Korean leadership is obsessed
with the health of the general secretary. There are no prospects for
negotiations with the United States, while the North is aiming to
turn itself into a prosperous and powerful socialist country in
three years' time. The North Korean leadership is extremely
irritated with such a fact." Establishing itself as a prosperous and
powerful socialist country by 2012, the 100the anniversary of the
birthday of late President Kim Il Sung, is the North's national
goal.

The country cannot get loans from international organizations unless
its relationship with the United States is improved. Turning North
Korea into a prosperous and powerful country is synonymous with

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improving its ties with the United States, according to Lee.

Information on and speculation in North Korea about who would
succeed Kim Jong Il are the flip side of the leadership's concerns
over the health of the supreme leader.

The South Korean government thinks the North will continue hardening
its stance unless there are prospects that it can conduct talks with
the United States in its favor. "In the future, North Korea might
launch intercontinental ballistic missiles to raise tensions," a
senior South Korean National Defense Ministry official said before
the national defense affairs committee that met yesterday.

Rudimentary success, miniaturizing nuclear weapons still many years
away

Yoshihiro Makino in Seoul, senior writer Kunikazu Tanida, and
Tatsuyuki Kobori

Defining the May 25 nuclear test a success, North Korea explained
that it helped further increase the power of nuclear weapons. From
the scales of seismic waves observed in Japan, South Korea and other
countries, many observers think North Korea succeeded in a basic
plutonium-based nuclear test.

According to the South Korean National Defense Ministry and other
sources, the tremor registered 4.4 on the Richter scale. Lee Chun
Kun of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology said: "A
reading between 4.5 and 4.7 is regarded as a success
internationally. The yield of the latest test was smaller than 20
kilotons (that was used on Nagasaki),but it still could be called a
success."

The South Korean government concluded that the nuclear test
conducted by the North in 2006 did not generate insufficient
explosion.

The seismic wave registered in Japan yesterday was larger than the
one in 2006. Experts believe that the performance of the nuclear
weapons used on May 25 has increased than the ones used before.

Tokyo Institute of Technology Associate Professor Tetsuo Sawada
commented: "It is undeniable that the North has developed nuclear
bombs with greater yields." He also thinks that the technology of
implosion has also increased.

At the same time, many believe that the North has yet to succeed in
developing nuclear weapons small enough to fit onto missiles.

The mid-range Rodong missile, which generally has all of Japan in
its range, and the improved-version of the Taepodong-2 the North
launched on April 5 are believed to be able to carry about 800 kilos
and 1 ton of nuclear weapons, respectively. The atomic bomb used on
Nagasaki weighed nearly 5 tons.

The weight of the nuclear weapons used on May 25 is unclear, but
many observers in South Korea think it takes time to miniaturize
nuclear weapons.

According to North Korea's nuclear programs declared over the
Six-Party Talks in June 2008, the country used about 26 kg of
plutonium in producing nuclear weapons. In yesterday's test, part of

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theme was believed to be used. The South Korean National Defense
Ministry disclosed the analysis yesterday that the North might
possess six to seven nuclear weapons. In addition, the North has
about 14,800 unused fuel rods. If they are burned off in the 5,000
kilowatt nuclear reactor, 10 - 15 kg of weapons-grade plutonium is
believed to be produced.

On April 29, the North underlined the need to construct light-water
reactors. The North intends to advance the uranium-enrichment
technology on the pretext of building the light-water reactors,
according to a South Korean government source. Light-water reactors
use low-enriched uranium, but weapons-grade enriched uranium can be
produced if the enrichment is repeated. The North has already
obtained 24 samples centrifuges and other devices that are necessary
for enriching uranium. The country has also reportedly imported from
Russia high-strength aluminum pipes capable of manufacturing some
2,600 centrifuges.

(2) North Korea aims to shake and bring U.S. in negotiations with
second nuclear test

MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full)
May 26, 2009

Many observers conclude that North Korea's nuclear test on May 25th
ended successfully, based on analysis of earthquake waves and other
data. The international community, including Japan, the U.S. and
South Korea, has condemned North Korea, but the North is likely to
make tougher claims, on the strength of its status as "a nuclear
power." Meanwhile, the international community remains unable to
come up with effective measures against North Korea, which has
escalated its brinkmanship diplomacy. The U.S. administration of
President Barack Obama has yet to present any clear-cut strategy
toward North Korea. Attention is being focused on what step the
Obama administration would take next.

North Korea aiming for direct talks with U.S.

Regarding North Korea's second underground nuclear test, a person
close to its regime said: "The Democratic People's Public of Korea,
unable to wait any longer, pitched a ball. Future development
depends on how the U.S. will throw it back."

Two months have already passed since North Korea launched a
long-range ballistic missile, which it claimed to be a satellite.
During this period, Pyongyang pushed ahead with brinkmanship by
referring to these plans to: (1) start the process of restoring its
main reactor in Yongbyon; (2) start the reprocessing of used fuel
rods; and (3) nuclear testing and test firing of intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBM). But the international community,
including the U.S., made no quick response.

The U.S. Obama administration had earmarked 95 million dollars, or
approximately 9 billion yen, as funds for energy aid to North Korea
in its supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2009 (from October 2008
through September 2009). But the U.S., citing North Korea's tough
stance as the main reason, the U.S. decided to put off the aid plan.
According to a source related to the Workers' Party of Korea, North
Korea took the policy decision by the U.S. administration as part of
its hostile policy toward it and promptly stiffened its attitude.

While building up a feeling of tension during the period between the

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missile firing in April and the nuclear test in May, North Korea
must have been bearing in mind these two processes: (1) from firing
the long-range ballistic missile Taepodong-1 in 1998 through the
issuance of a U.S.-North Korea joint communiqu in 2000; and (2)
from the freeze of North Korean assets at the Banco Delta Asia, a
bank in Macao, in 2005 through missile launch and nuclear tests in

2006. That is because North Korea believes, as the said source
remarked: "The North succeeded in turning around the tables by
carrying through what the international community opposed."

In the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, the North
has been at loggerheads with Japan, the U.S., and South Korea over
methods for verifying its nuclear information. Its relations
particularly with Japan and South Korea have deteriorated so
seriously that no prospects are in sight for their relations to be
restored. In addition, relations between North Korea and China, the
chair of the six-party talks, have become strained over the North's
April missile launch. Its relations with Russia have also been in a
gloomy atmosphere, as seen in no arrangement made for a meeting
between Kim Jong Il and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when
he visited Pyongyang last month.

North Korea, though, bullishly anticipates that the U.S., with a
growing sense of alarm, would get around the negotiating table and
sign an agreement with vague contents. The scenario continues that
the U.S. would allow the North to possess nuclear weapons and
conclude a peace treaty and establish diplomatic relations with
North Korea on an equal footing.

The said source also said: "The six-party talks have already become
just a framework to approve the items agreed on between the U.S. and
North Korea. Once North Korea resumes talks with the U.S., its
relations with the rest members of the six-party talks will
automatically improve." As shown by this remark, North Korea is
looking only at the U.S.

(3) Lower House to adopt resolution condemning North Korea today

MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full)
May 26, 2009

The House of Representatives Steering Committee in its directors'
meeting yesterday decided to adopt in its plenary session today a
resolution condemning North Korea's second nuclear test. When the
North launched a missile in April, the Japanese Communist Party
opposed adopting a resolution of protest, while the Social
Democratic Party abstained from voting. This time, though, the
committee will call for these two opposition parties' cooperation in
a drive to adopt the resolution unanimously. The House of Councillor
also eyes a similar resolution.

(4) UNSC agrees to new resolution denouncing North Korea for nuclear
test: Japanese, American leaders in telephone discussion agree:
"Need strong resolution, swiftly"

MAINICHI (Page 1) (Excerpt)
Eve., May 26, 2009

With the news that North Korea had carried out an underground
nuclear test, Prime Minister Taro Aso this morning held a 15-minute
conversation by phone with President Obama. The two leaders agreed
on the need for swiftly adopting a UN Security Council resolution

TOKYO 00001184 006 OF 013


with strong contents. They confirmed the importance of cooperating
closely with China and Russia, which have both taken the stance of
leaning toward North Korea.

The telephone discussion occurred at the request of the Japanese
side. Prime Minister Aso led off by making such observations as,
"Something that threatens the peace and stability of the
international community absolutely cannot be tolerated." The
President responded: "As members of the Six-Party Talks, we must see
a strong resolution adopted swiftly." The Prime Minister said, "The
carrying out of the test is regrettable, coming at a time when there
is a heightening mood toward arms reduction and nuclear
non-proliferation thanks to President Obama." The President
responded, "The carrying out of the test is a serious threat."

(5) New U.S. Ambassador to Japan Roos: Government perplexed by
apparent downgrading of position, disappointed with dropping of
"heavyweight" Nye

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
May 23, 2009

Many government and ruling party officials are perplexed by the
appointment of John Roos, a law firm C.E.O. as the U.S. Obama
administration's new ambassador to Japan because "he is a total
unknown."

Unknown diplomatic ability

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Nye, an expert on
Japanese affairs, had been tipped to become the next ambassador to
Japan.

Roos provided enormous amounts of campaign funds to Obama in the
U.S. presidential election last year. His relationship to President
Obama is closer than Nye's. Such is the reason behind the
appointment of Roos.

However, compared to Nye, who has served in senior positions in the
departments of State and Defense and who is a well-known
international affairs scholar, the appointment of Roos, who has no
diplomatic experience, appears to be "a downgrading." It can be
argued that the Roos appointment is similar to that of previous
ambassador Thomas Schieffer, whose only qualification was his close
relationship with President George Bush, although Schieffer had
served as ambassador to Australia before coming to Japan.

The Japanese government has refrained from commenting because
Washington has yet to make an official announcement. Officials
believe that the dropping of Nye, a heavyweight, means that Japan is
being treated lightly.

A senior official at the Foreign Ministry pointed out: "An
individual close to the president has been chosen because of the
importance given to Japan. He will be able to call the President
anytime and can be expected to serve as an intermediary." While
there are people who welcome Roos's appointment, strong doubts have
been voiced about the Obama administration's appointment of the
ambassador to Japan as a "reward" for his services during the
presidential election. One senior government official said: "He is
not someone who has had direct contact with Japan. His appointment
by the President came as a surprise."

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Liberal Democratic Party officials also have mixed feelings about
Roos. Taku Yamasaki, chairman of the party's Research Commission on
Foreign Affairs, says: "Considering the unstable situation in
Northeast Asia, the appointment of Nye would have been most
reassuring."

(6) "Taro's International Correspondence": Difference between Japan
and China in appointment of U.S. ambassador

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
Evening, May 23, 2009

Taro Kimura, freelance journalist

It has been reported that U.S. President Barack Obama intends to
appoint John Roos, a lawyer, as ambassador to Japan.

Appointments of a close friend and a political enemy

Roos is a lawyer who has been involved with mergers and acquisitions
of IT companies in Silicon Valley. He apparently does not have
particularly close ties with Japan, but was an enthusiastic
supporter of President Obama during his campaign, being "one of the
earliest supporters and biggest fund raisers of the Obama camp"
(according to The New York Times).

In that sense, this will be the second appointment in a row based on
personal relations with the president, after former president George
Bush appointed his close friend Thomas Schieffer as ambassador to
Japan.

With regard to the ambassador to Japan, it was reported that the
Department of State had pushed for Joseph Nye, an expert on Japan
who served as assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton
administration, and that an unofficial decision had been made.
However, it appears this was overruled by the White House.

Actually, the new ambassador to China had also been announced before
Roos' appointment became known. In this case, an individual who not
only does not have personal relations with the President, but can
also be classified as a "political enemy" was appointed. The obvious
difference in these two appointments is noteworthy.

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has been named the ambassador to China.
Not only is he a Republican, he has also served as a close aide to
Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan and was ambassador to
Singapore during the administration of Bush Senior.

Huntsman also served as the chairman of the national committee for
the campaign of Republican candidate John McCain, Obama's rival, in
last year's presidential election. He is probably politically
farthest from Obama.

It is said that the reason Huntsman was appointed is because he is
fluent in Chinese and has credibility in the Chinese government. He
is a Mormon and learned Chinese when engaged in missionary work in
Taiwan in his 20s. When he was ambassador to Singapore, he took
advantage of his linguistic skills to build close relations with
Chinese diplomats and was highly regarded by them. On a personal
note, he has one adopted daughter each from China and India among
his five children.

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It is said that he had been on the short list of Bush Junior's
candidates for ambassador to China. Therefore, President Obama
appears to have taken an idea from his predecessor.

Huntsman's appointment symbolizes the importance the Obama
administration attaches to restoring trust between the U.S. and
China in its diplomacy toward the PRC. On the other hand, what does
the appointment of someone unrelated to Japan as ambassador to Tokyo
symbolize?

Reflection of degree of friendliness

Looking at U.S. ambassadorial appointments, those made based on
personal relations with the president seem to apply to friendly
countries where there are no outstanding diplomatic issues, such as
in the case of the appointment of Joseph Kennedy, father of
President John F. Kennedy, as ambassador to Britain by President
Franklin Roosevelt as a reward for his substantial political
donations.

In that sense, one can say that the appointment of Roos as
ambassador to Japan is a result of the Obama administration's
assessment that there are "no outstanding problems" in Japan-U.S.
relations at present.

(7) Realistic solution needed for Futenma: Nakaima

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Abridged)
May 23, 2009

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, meeting the press yesterday,
indicated a skeptical view of Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto)
President Yukio Hatoyama's statement in which he indicated that the
DPJ would keep upholding its policy of seeking to relocate the U.S.
military's Futenma airfield elsewhere outside Okinawa Prefecture
after taking the reins of government. Nakaima said: "I wonder if
that policy can be translated into reality, or I wonder if it
(Futenma relocation) will just stop during that time. I think it
would be better for him to work on this issue in a realistic way
without wavering to the right or left."

Meanwhile, Nakaima also came up with his view, saying: "I cannot
predict how this issue will be settled when there is a government
that has a different view of the (U.S. force) realignment."

(8) NHK owns military land

MAINICHI (Page 8) (Full)
Eve., May 25, 2009

NHK, short for Nihon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation),
owns a land lot on the premises of the Akasaka Press Center, a U.S.
military base located in Tokyo's downtown area of Roppongi, and has
rented the land to the government for more than 40 years. NHK has
reduced the size of land in its possession by partially selling that
landed property to the government every fiscal year. However, NHK,
which is a news organization, is an owner of military land. Such an
unusual situation will continue for several more years.

The base used to be where a garrison of the now-defunct Japanese
military was located. The land was requisitioned by the Allied

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Forces in September 1945 and has been in U.S. Forces Japan's use. In
1960 and 1962, with the Tokyo Olympics ahead, the government sold a
total of about 30,000 square meters to NHK for its TV center.
However, the U.S. military continued to use that land. In 1963, NHK
swapped most of the land with state-owned land in Yoyogi, where its
present broadcasting center is located. The remaining land of about
8,200 square meters has been rented to the government since fiscal

1966.

In fiscal 1975, the government began buying the land back at NHK's
request. The government has so far bought up about 7,600 square
meters for approximately 6.9 billion yen in total. The base
currently covers a total land area of about 31,600 square meters.
Excluding state-owned land, a land lot of about 600 square meters is
still in the passion of NHK. The government says it has
acquisitioned land with its annual budget.

The base is in a prime location of Tokyo's downtown area near
Roppongi Hills. It houses a heliport, a billet for officers, and a
U.S. military newspaper's office. Minato Ward, which hosts the base,
and Tokyo have consistently asked the government to return the base
site due to such problems as the risk of a helicopter's crash and
noise.

NHK's public relations bureau explained: "This matter concerns the
land that we own. It has nothing to do with the neutrality of a news
organization. The land is unnecessary for NHK, so we have been
strongly asking the government to buy up the land." USFJ's public
affairs office said, "We're not in a position to comment."

Yasushi Kawasaki, formerly an NHK political reporter and currently a
commentator, said: "Aside from what was in the past, the public
broadcaster is involved in the U.S. military's use of land. Such a
situation should be dissolved as soon as possible."

(9) Current Diet session to pass Northern Territories Law,
designating the islands as "integral part of Japanese territory"

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
May 23, 2009

The ruling parties gave its approval on May 22 to a bill to amend
the law on special measures to activate the movement for the return
of the Northern Territories, which designates the Northern Islands
as "an integral part of Japanese territory." The opposition parties,
including the Japanese Communist Party (JCP),are also amenable to
passing the bill, so it is now expected to be enacted during the
current Diet session. The purpose of the bill is to give the
Northern Islands legal status as Japanese territory and to heighten
the people's interest in the repatriation movement. The ruling
parties want to use this to supply a tailwind for the Japan-Russia
summit in July, where the Northern Territories issue will be a key
issue, and plan to submit the bill next week.

The revised bill provides for the promotion of no-visa exchange of
visits between Japanese citizens and residents of the four Northern
Islands. The rearing of successors in light of the aging of the
original residents, promotion of tourism in Nemuro City, which
serves as the center of the campaign for the islands' return, and
other matters are also written into the law.

The draft was drawn up by the supra-partisan "Parliamentary Union

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for the Return of the Northern Territories and the Promotion of
Exchanges with the Four Islands" and was approved by the policy
officers of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito on May 22.
A senior Democratic Party of Japan Policy Research Committee
official stressed that "there is no problem with the contents." The
JCP advocates the return of all the Kurile islands, including the
four northern islands. It refuses to co-sponsor the bill but is
expected to vote for the amendment.

(10) Pacific Islands Forum kicks off

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
May 23, 2009

The Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum (Pacific Island Leaders
Meeting - PALM),participated in by 16 Pacific island countries,
started on May 22 in the village of Shimukappu, Hokkaido. The
meeting is part of Japan's diplomatic strategy to strengthen
relations with pro-Japanese island nations. Prime Minister Taro Aso
is expected to announce Japan's plan to set up a Pacific Environment
Community for financial assistance totaling 50 billion yen over
three years. The plan is also aimed to counter China's aid
diplomacy.

The prime minister at the outset of the meeting noted, "I would like
to send a powerful message to the world, while affirming ties with
island nations in the Pacific." He was so enthusiastic that he kept
his minute-cutting schedule for bilateral summits with six leaders.

Japan has hosted PALM every three years, staring in 1997. Measures
to deal with the climate change, improving the lives of people in
the region and strengthening personnel exchanges are on the table of
the current fifth round of the Meeting. Japan will propose the
transfers of technologies for seawater desalination and solar energy
generation.

Behind generous aid proposals is a diplomatic battle involving China
and Taiwan. Even tiny island countries have one vote at the UN like
big powers. If Japan gets them on its side, it would be able to form
public opinion advantageous to it.

In 2005, Japan along with Germany, etc., submitted a framework
resolution in a bid to secure a permanent seat on the UN Security
Council. Seven Pacific island nations were among the 29
co-submitters. Countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan all
supported Japan, while countries like Tonga that have such ties with
China did not. This indicates a pattern of Japan having managed to
secure support from seven countries that have diplomatic ties with
Taiwan, which is at odds with China.

China's offensive has continued. In 2006, it held a Chinese version
of island summit, bringing together six nations. Premier Wen Jiabao
visited Fiji and pledged financial cooperation totaling roughly 42
billion yen. China will hold the second round of the meeting as
early as this fall. Taiwan also held meetings with six island
nations in 2006 and 2007. A senior Foreign Ministry official said,
"The battle over Pacific island nations is becoming fiercer year by
year."

The prime minister's diplomatic principle is the Arc of Freedom and
Prosperity. He on the 21st announced a plan to host a Japan-Mekong
summit before year's end, inviting leaders of countries in the basin

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of the Mekong River bordering China. What is common between PALM and
the Japan-Mekong summit is that they are both intended to lay siege
to China and check it.

(11) Editorial: "IWC stalls: Gap is Wide But There is Still Hope"

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full)
May 24, 2009

The discussion at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to move
toward normalization has again ended by a decision to defer reaching
a conclusion. While the gap between the pro- and anti-whaling states
is still wide, an atmosphere conducive to dialogue has emerged. It
is important that Japan should continue its efforts to win
understanding for research whaling.

It is probably difficult to untie the knots once the pieces of
strings get tangled. The Small Working Group (SWG) had attempted to
normalize the dysfunctional IWC, but the disappointment (with its
failure) has been proportionate to the amount of expectations placed
on the group.

The plan was for the SWG to compile a "draft agreement" by mid-May
and submit this to the next annual convention to be held on the
island of Madeira in Portugal from June 22. With the conclusion
being deferred for a year, the upcoming convention is not expected
to discuss normalization vigorously.

The IWC is supposed to be an organization for the proper management
of whale resources. It decided on a moratorium on commercial whaling
in 1982 and went on to implement this in 1986. Japan also
discontinued whaling but started research whaling of minke whales
and other species in the Antarctic Sea.

Since then, conflict between pro- and anti-whaling states has
continued to intensify. The IWC was only able to form the SWG for
the organization's normalization last year. A government source
reacted to this latest development calmly: "I do not expect nations
that have been in dispute for over 20 years to reconcile in a short
time."

Nevertheless, dialogue between the two camps has proceeded slowly
but surely. Japan proposed to scale down its research whaling at the
SWG. This was an about-face from its previous policy of increasing
the catch steadily.

The anti-whaling states reportedly also showed a certain extent of
understanding to the proposal to cut back on the catch. However, the
U.S., Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and other anti-whaling
nations refused to back down from their position that Japan's
research whaling is a disguised form of commercial whaling conducted
in the name of scientific research. They insisted on a total ban on
research whaling.

The whale population in the Antarctic Sea has been recovering
steadily, except for species such as fin whales. The continuous use
of whale resources should be a top item on the agenda, considering
the future food problem in the developing countries, for instance.
In the North Atlantic Ocean, mass consumption of sauries and
sardines by whales has become a problem. This was discovered through
research whaling.


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Meanwhile, fishery industry sources say that fishery production
emits only one-tenth of the CO2 emitted by the livestock industry in
the process of increasing the output of animal protein. This fact
cannot be overlooked from the viewpoint of the earth's environment.

Japan should actively take advantage of such "common language of the
world" and work toward a rapprochement with the anti-whaling
states.

(12) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi & Yomiuri:
U.S., China, Russia condemn North Korea's nuclear test

Mainichi, Sankei & Tokyo Shimbun:
UN Security Council to discuss North Korea's nuclear test; China,
Russia also issue denunciation

Nikkei:
President Obama in speech reveals plan to apply pressure on North
Korea in cooperation with Japan, South Korea, China and Russia

Akahata:
JCP harshly condemns North Korea's nuclear test

(13) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) North Korea's nuclear test: U.S., China urged to jointly try to
stop reckless moves

Mainichi:
(1) UN Security Council expected to take resolute measures against
North Korea for second nuclear test

Yomiuri:
(1) Strictly respond to North Korea's repeated reckless act

Nikkei:
(1) UNSC should slap severe sanctions on North Korea for nuclear
test
(2) Japan needs to join hands with Pacific island countries to
protect environment

Sankei:
(1) Determined sanctions necessary against North Korea for its
second nuclear test

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) North Korea is recklessly challenging international community

Akahata:
(1) North's reckless act challenging public calls for nuclear
abolition

(14) Prime Minister's schedule, May 25

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
May 26, 2009

07:34 Took a walk around his official residence.
10:28 Met LDP Election Strategy Council Deputy Chairman Suga at the

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Kantei.
11:06 Met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda.
12:23 Attended a service held at the Chidorigafuchi National
Cemetery in Sanbancho.
13:00 Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura at the Kantei.
13:53 Met Kawamura.
14:21 Met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma, followed by
Administrative Reform Minister Amari and Administrative Reform
Promotion Headquarters Secretary General Fukui.
15:04 Met Vice Foreign Minister Yabunaka, Cabinet Intelligence
Director Mitani and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis
Management Ito, joined by Kawamura.
15:40 Met Deputy Secretary General Kojima.
16:00 Place a call to South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.
17:02 Attended an LDP executive meeting in the Diet building.
17:39 Attended a Security of Japan meeting at the Kantei. Afterward
met METI Minister Nikai.
18:05 Attended a meeting on a monthly economic report.
19:30 Attended a support association meeting held at Hotel Seiyo
Ginza.
21:05 Returned to his official residence.

ZUMWALT