DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 06/03/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 001245

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SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 06/03/09

INDEX:
(1) Japan, U.S. placing priority on financial sanctions against
North Korea; Final coordination on UNSC resolution (Nikkei)

(2) Legal hurdles lie before obligatory ship inspections (Tokyo
Shimbun)

(3) Ruling parties to make diplomacy, security areas of divergence
with opposition camp in Lower House election campaign (Tokyo
Shimbun)

(4) 4 F-22 jets arrive at Kadena (Ryukyu Shimpo)

(5) Illusion of reducing the burden (Part 2): F-22 Raptors
repeatedly arrived at Kadena; No fundamental step for solution;
"U.S. military operation" blocks request (Okinawa Times)

(6) Interview with METI Minister Nikai: Mid-term goal to cut
greenhouse gasses; Importance should be attached to feasibility,
burden on households (Asahi)

(7) Appointment of Roos as U.S. ambassador to Japan: Sign of mature
relations with Japan (Nikkei)

(8) Rare metals: METI drafts strategic plan to use ODA for stable
supply (Nikkei)

ARTICLES:

(1) Japan, U.S. placing priority on financial sanctions against
North Korea; Final coordination on UNSC resolution

NIKKEI (Page 8) (Full)
June 3, 2009

Hiroyuki Nakamae, New York

The United Nations Security Council, which is rushing to adopt a
resolution against North Korea's second nuclear test, started
fine-tuning the details of sanction measures yesterday. Since it is
expected that China, which has a close connection with Pyongyang,
will take a cautious stance toward such measures as cargo
inspections of North Korean ships, Japan and the United States
intend to place priority on financial sanctions. Tokyo and
Washington are placing emphasis on a strategy of putting the brakes
on the North's nuclear and missile development by restricting bank
transactions. Therefore, whether to impose financial sanctions
against North Korea is now being floated as one of topics of
discussion.

The five permanent UNSC members, Japan, and South Korea are expected
to hold an ambassadorial-level meeting on the afternoon of June 2
(on the morning of June 3, Japan time) with the aim of adopting a
resolution before the end of the week. At a press conference at UN
headquarters on the morning of June 2, Russian Ambassador to the UN
Churkin told the press corps: "We are gradually reaching (an
agreement)." He indicated that discussions were making headway.

According to Japanese Ambassador to the UN Yukio Takasu, Japan and
the United States have decided to place emphasis on imposing
financial sanctions on the North in consideration of how to enhance
the effectiveness of the resolution.

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The draft resolution that Japan and the United States presented to
the UNSC includes a ban on new financial and economic assistance to
the North, excluding humanitarian aid, in addition to a ban on
transactions with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank and Korea Daesong
Bank. The draft resolution also calls for expanding the scope of
organizations whose assets will be frozen, as well as for making a
list of target individuals. These measures are designed based on the
perception by the U.S. government that Washington's independent
sanction measure to freeze Macau-base Banco Delta Asia's assets
dealt a blow to North Korea.

However, there is a possibility that North Korea will strongly
oppose the introduction of financial sanctions for the very reason
that financial sanctions appear to be effective.

China and Russia have so far taken a cautious stance.

In an ambassadorial-level meeting on June 1, the five permanent UNSC
members, Japan, and South Korea agreed on the perception that they
would make a strong and clear resolution. In order to adopt a
resolution that is tougher than the resolution of 2006, coordination
between such sanction measures as the cargo inspections included in
the Japan-U.S. draft resolution and domestic laws will be
complicated.

(2) Legal hurdles lie before obligatory ship inspections

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
June 3, 2009

The governments of Japan and the U.S. have been calling for
including a measure to make cargo inspections onboard ships
mandatory in a new resolution to be adopted at the UN Security
Council (NSC) in reaction to North Korea's latest nuclear test.
Their aim is to seriously damage North Korea, but there are
obstacles to overcome before Japan carries out ship inspections.

The purpose of ship inspections is to inspect ships sailing between
Japan and North Korea on the open sea to see whether nuclear-related
materials are loaded on it.

Following North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, the UN Security
Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution that incorporated the ship
inspection measure. But faced with opposition from China, the UNSC
designated ship inspections not as a requirement but as a request.
This measure therefore produced no positive results. This time, in
response to calls from Japan, the U.S. and other countries, the
draft resolution specifies ship inspections as "mandatory."

Even if this resolution is adopted with no change, Japan will find
it difficult to carry out ship inspections under the relevant
domestic law.

The Ship Inspection Operations Law authorizes the Maritime
Self-Defense Force (MSDF) to conduct cargo inspections based on a UN
resolution, but it stipulates that the law is applicable only when
it is concluded that Japan could be attacked by a foreign armed
force. Prime Minister Aso, however, has said: "I do not think that
the Law regarding Emergencies in the Areas near Japan should be
immediately applied, so it is impossible for MSDF to conduct ship
inspections under the relevant law.

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To enable Japan's ship inspections, the Ship Inspection Operations
Law must be amended to remove the condition of Japan being in a
stage of emergency; and new legislation must be prepared.

The Liberal Democratic Party's group to cautiously promote policy
toward North Korea submitted new legislation to the current Diet
session yesterday. For legal preparations, difficulties also lie
ahead.

It is inconceivable that a ship carrying nuclear-related materials
will meekly allow a cargo inspection. It is, therefore, necessary to
work out measures to enable inspections even without consent by the
ship's captain, which is required under the relevant law, and to
ease the rules on the use of weapons, which restrict the use only
for self-defense and other limited purposes.

But if the crew on the ship put up resistance, MSDF members might
have to use force. A government source said: "It is necessary to
dissolve constitutional problems." With the run-up to the next House
of Representatives election, though, it is uncertain whether the
ruling and opposition parties can thoroughly discuss this issue.

Under this situation, some government officials suggest including
tighter financial sanctions in the new resolution, saying that
sanctions are more desirable than ship inspections.

(3) Ruling parties to make diplomacy, security areas of divergence
with opposition camp in Lower House election campaign

Tokyo Shimbun online (Full)
11:25 a.m., June 3, 2009

Secretaries general and Diet affairs committee chairmen of the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito met in Tokyo on
the morning of June 3. Participants agreed to highlight the
differences between the ruling and opposition camps on such
occasions as party head talks, by characterizing diplomacy and
security in connection with the situation in North Korea as major
differences with the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the next
Lower House election.

Emerging from the meeting, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman
Tadamori Oshima told reporters, "We will take a firm stand against
the DPJ on every available occasion." He thus called for holding
party head talks on the 10th. New Komeito Diet Affairs Committee
Chairman Yoshio Urushibara also stressed, "The general election is
drawing near. We need to clearly present a dichotomy between the two
parties."

The meeting also endorsed a stance of stepping up support for the
ruling parties' candidates in the Chiba Mayoral election, the
Shizuoka gubernatorial election, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly
election with Urushibara noting, "Those elections will serve as a
prelude to the Lower House election."

(4) 4 F-22 jets arrive at Kadena

RYUKYU SHIMPO (Page 2) (Full)
June 3, 2009

Four state-of-the-art F-22A stealth fighter jets arrived at the U.S.

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Kadena Air Base yesterday at around 2:50 p.m. after their flight
from Langley Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Virginia. The U.S.
Air Force plans to deploy 12 F-22 jets to Kadena temporarily. As of
yesterday, eight F-22s have arrived there. The remaining four are
expected to arrive today or later.

The F-22A Raptor fighters touched down after circling over the base
runway from Chatan. According to Kadena Town, its readout of noise
was 78 decibels (equivalent to noise in a subway train) during their
circular flights. Soon after their arrival, KC-10 and KC-135 air
tankers also arrived after stopping over at Hickam Air Force Base in
Hawaii.

Toshiyuki Kinjo, chairman of the Kadena Town Assembly's special
committee on base affairs, watched the F-22 fighter jets arriving at
the airbase. He was at the 'Michi-no-Eki Kadena' parking area that
commands a view of Kadena Air Base. Kinjo said: "Chances are high
that noise will intensify with the training missions of the F-22
fighters and other aircrafts coming from outside. The environment of
local residents will be destroyed." His committee will meet today to
confer on countermeasures.

(5) Illusion of reducing the burden (Part 2): F-22 Raptors
repeatedly arrived at Kadena; No fundamental step for solution;
"U.S. military operation" blocks request

OKINAWA TIMES (Page 2) (Full)
June 3, 2009

Shin Yoshida of the Political and Economic Department, Marino Hiyane
of the central branch

"The arrival of aircraft from outside Okinawa is often criticized by
the media in the prefecture. The U.S. government needs to rotate
(its military aircraft) for a variety of operational reasons. We
make no distinction between aircraft from outside Okinawa and the
aircraft based in the prefecture."

Asked about the temporary deployment of F-22 Raptors at Kadena Air
Base during a regular press conference, held at the U.S. Consulate
General in Urasoe on May 14, Consul General Kevin Maher, who is
scheduled to become Japan desk director at the State Department this
summer, expressed his perplexity as if to say, "What is the
problem?"

"There have been rotations since early times in order to contribute
to the defense of Japan and the maintenance of security and peace in
the Far East."

Suffering noise damage, local residents want to grasp the actual
situation in order to arrive at a solution, but they remain unable
to do so because "operations by the U.S. military" stand in their
way.

Repeated arrivals of fighter squadrons

In 2005, the U.S. Air Force began operating the F-22, which is
regarded as the world's most advanced fighter jet, boasting high
stealth performance. Kadena Air Base was selected as the first
overseas base to temporarily host the state-of-the-art fighter. The
27th Fighter Squadron from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia stayed
for the first time at the base for three months from February 2007.

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In January this year, the same fighter squadron again arrived at
Kadena. This time around, the 94th Fighter Squadron from the same
base is deployed at Kadena on a temporary basis.

Like the 27th Fighter Squadron, the 94th Fighter Squadron plans to
conduct joint exercises with Kadena and Air Self-Defense Force F-15
fighter jets and the U.S. Navy's FA-18 Hornets with the aim of
increasing the ability to take a joint action.

A senior officer of Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, the planned
site for the permanent deployment of F-22s, also indicated to a
Hawaiian newspaper that F-22s would be temporarily deployed to
Okinawa and Guam in the future.

More noise likely with an increase in exercises

Contrary to local residents' opposition to the temporally deployment
(of F-22s) believing that an increase in exercises would result in
more noise, there is a high likelihood that F-22 units will be sent
to Kadena one after another from across the United States.

"Due to a large joint rapid-response exercise between the Marine
Corps and the Air Force, the temporary deployment of F-22s, and the
repeated arrivals of F-16s and FA-18s, it can hardly be said that
the burden (on Kadena Air Base) has been visibly reduced recently."

On May 12, the day the latest F-22 deployment was announced,
Yoshiyuki Uehara, head of the governor's executive office, made a
request to Kadena Air Base and the government.

Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who supports the realignment (of U.S.
forces in Japan) said, "We have repeatedly asked, but it was like
beating the air. We want to deal with the matter squarely."

In response to a request from the local head, Col. Kelly Fletcher,
commander of the 18th Mission Support Group, Kadena Air Base, simply
said, "The plan was formulated by the military's upper echelons, and
we at the base do not know what is going on." In reality, it is
impossible to find a breakthrough in the situation at the local
level.

(6) Interview with METI Minister Nikai: Mid-term goal to cut
greenhouse gasses; Importance should be attached to feasibility,
burden on households

ASAHI (Page 7) (Full)
June 3, 2009

Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Minister Toshihiro Nikai in an
interview with Asahi Shimbun underscored his view that priority
should be given to feasibility and the resultant national burden
when setting a mid-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He
said, "This is not simply a matter of aiming high." He indicated his
eagerness to compile the goal in the run-up to formal adoption by
the government early this month.

Cautious toward 15 PERCENT cut

The government in April presented six options for a goal to cut
greenhouse gas emissions to be achieved by 2020. Environmental
groups want to see a 25 PERCENT cut from the 1990 level adopted.

TOKYO 00001245 006 OF 008


Environment Minister Saito also claims that a 15 PERCENT cut is
feasible. The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and key
labor unions are in favor of a 4 PERCENT increase on the basis of
the negative impact of emissions cuts on Japan's international
competitiveness and employment.

Nikai indicated a cautious stance to the adoption of a 15 PERCENT
cut as a mid-term goal, noting, "We must think about feasibility and
how much burden households can bear."

The 4 PERCENT increase supported by Nippon Keidanren is achievable
with the same level of reduction efforts as before. There is a
deep-rooted view that this option is lenient towards industrial
circles. In view of deteriorating business performance in the wake
of the global economic crisis, Nikai showed understanding, "I hear
business leaders complaining that under the present economic
situation, they cannot shoulder any more burdens (emissions cuts)."
He also sought further efforts from industrial circles, saying: "We
must have industrial circles do their utmost. Otherwise, it will be
difficult for Japan to maintain its honorable status in the
international community. We must have their cooperation."

The growing view among government officials is that a 7 PERCENT cut
is most likely to be adopted. This figure is based on the long-term
energy supply-demand outlook released by METI last year. Nikai
steered clear of citing a specific target figure, saying, "It is not
appropriate for me to give any specific percentage."

He also criticized countries with high emission volumes, such as the
U.S. and China, that are not members of the Kyoto Protocol, saying,
"There is a hole in the agreement." Touching on Japan's pursuit of
technical cooperation with the U.S. and China in the
energy-conserving and environment areas, Nikai said, "Such
cooperation will lead to the development of new technologies." He
thus indicated his stance of persuading the U.S. and China to join
the post Kyoto Protocol framework.

(7) Appointment of Roos as U.S. ambassador to Japan: Sign of mature
relations with Japan

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
Evening, June 2, 2009

Tsuyoshi Sunohara, editorial staff member

Japan and the United States are allies in security policy but rivals
in the economic field. U.S. President Barack Obama has entrusted the
great responsibility of mediation between the two countries as
ambassador to Japan to an obscure lawyer, John Roos. What sort of
"change" will this appointment bring to the bilateral relationship?

Roos is said to have virtually no acquaintances in Japan, but he
actually has a little-known "connection" with Japan. Roos, an ardent
Democratic supporter, once backed former senator Bill Bradley as a
presidential candidate. Bradley was one of the most prominent
experts on Japan in Congress who was repeatedly regarded as a strong
candidate for president in the early 1990s.

U.S. ambassadors to Japan have belonged to three main categories:
(1) "heavyweights" who had had rich experience in the U.S.
administration or Congress; (2) scholars or bureaucrats who were
knowledgeable about Japan-U.S. relations; and (3) businessmen or

TOKYO 00001245 007 OF 008


lawyers with personal connections to the president.

A typical example of category one is Mike Mansfield (Senate floor
leader) who once stated unequivocally that the Japan-U.S.
relationship is "the most important bilateral relationship in the
world." Walter Mondale (vice president),Thomas Foley (speaker of
the House of Representatives),and Howard Baker (Senate floor
leader) all fall under this category.

Representatives of the second category are Dr Edwin Reischauer, who
worked very hard to strengthen the Japan-U.S. relationship during
the Kennedy administration, and former under secretary of state
Michael Armacost, who was nicknamed "Mr Gaiatsu (foreign pressure)"
in the 1980s. Our memories of Thomas Schieffer, who succeeded Baker
during the second Bush administration and who has just left his
post, are still fresh. He belonged to the third category.

Many people both in Japan and the U.S. regard Roos as belonging to
the third category. Roos offered his support to Obama and not
Hillary Clinton (incumbent secretary of state) in last year's
presidential election and is unmistakably a "personal connection."

However, the Bush-Schieffer relationship was backed by a long
history of co-managing a Major League baseball team through thick
and thin. It is hard to say that the same kind of close relationship
in which he could call the president's office "directly" (Schieffer)
whenever he felt like it also exists between "a supporter and a
presidential candidate."

A U.S. administration official explains that Roos's appointment also
has the elements of a fourth category, the "British and French
model." Ambassadorial appointments to the UK and other European
allies traditionally have a strong element of a "reward." The
appointment of "Ambassador Roos" was made in part because the
Democratic Party "ran out of heavyweights" (senior Obama
administration official),and this is viewed as a combination of the
third and fourth categories.

U.S. relations with Britain and France, where there are no serious
bilateral problems despite occasional differences in opinion and
where social interaction is an important factor, is essentially
different from U.S. relations with Japan. On the other hand, there
is also no denying that the "stability" in the U.S. relationship
with Britain and France is absent in the Japan-U.S. relationship. In
other words, the appointment of "heavyweight ambassadors" in the
past was also a sign of the immaturity of the bilateral
relationship.

Former ambassador Howard Baker, who still takes an interest in the
Japan-U.S. relationship, declares that "heavyweight ambassadors are
no longer necessary for mature Japan-U.S. relations."

It can be said that with the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S.
Security Treaty approaching next year, President Obama's desire to
upgrade the Japan-U.S. relationship to a level similar to U.S.
relations with Britain and France is also a factor behind the
appointment of the ambassador.

(8) Rare metals: METI drafts strategic plan to use ODA for stable
supply

NIKKEI (Page 1) (Full)

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Evening, June 3, 2009

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on June 3 drafted
a comprehensive strategy for stable supply of rare metals, which are
indispensable for the manufacturing of steel products and electronic
home appliances, on the domestic market. According to the draft
plan, major supply sources will be the active use of official
development assistance (ODA) for infrastructure development in areas
around mines overseas and the recycling of mobile phones. Demands
for rare metals are increasing also in the energy-conserving and
environment areas. METI will use all measures from the perspective
of strengthening the international competitiveness of domestic
industries.

Reserves of rare metals, which include 31 kinds of metals, such as
nickel and platinum, are scarce. METI will formally adopt the plan
as early as July, after presenting the draft at a meeting of the
subcommittee on mining industry of the Advisory Committee on Natural
Resources and Energy to be held today.

The draft cites as efforts involved in a strategy to secure rare
metals: (1) securing overseas natural resources; (2) recycling; (3)
development of alternative materials; and (4) stockpiling. Since
rare metals are often found in developing countries, the draft
incorporates the use of ODA for infrastructure development in areas
around mines. The aim is to secure interests through the provision
of yen loans for the building of infrastructure, including the
construction of power generation plants, railroad systems, ports and
harbors, in those areas. As a first case of such a project, METI is
looking into the possibility of assisting with yen loans road
construction in areas around mines located in northwestern Vietnam.

Concerning recyclable rare metals, the draft stresses that securing
natural resources through recycling should be characterized as a key
policy. It points out that it is important to create a system of
recycling mobile phones and digital cameras, which use a lot to rare
metals. Accordingly, the draft notes that adjustments of views
should be made with the possibility of setting a policy direction
regarding the recycling of mobile phones before year's end.

In an effort to technically eliminate concern over dwindling rare
metal supplies, METI will put a lot of work into the development of
alternative materials. To be precise, the draft cites promoting
cooperation among industry, government and academia. Regarding
stockpiling of rare metals, the draft points out that unloading and
stockpiling should be made in a flexible manner, based on
supply-demand trends.

ZUMWALT