JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/10/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 TOKYO 000532

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TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA

SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/10/09

Index:

1) Top headlines
2) Editorials
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei)

Ozawa in trouble:
4) Fuji Sankei poll shows DPJ head Ozawa's popularity is now shaky
with almost 50 PERCENT of the public calling on him to resign his
post (Sankei)
5) Calls continue in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) for Ozawa
to quit (Sankei)
6) Some in DPJ worried that party might split apart if Ozawa resigns
(Tokyo Shimbun)

Aso not out of trouble:
7) Mood in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to dump Prime Minister
Aso before the election has retreated but remains latent (Asahi)
8) Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma denies remark about LDP not
being prosecuted in political scandal, but Prime Minister Aso still
taking the flak (Asahi)

Nishimatsu Construction scandal:
9) Ozawa's arrested aide may have been involved in bid-rigging
scheme over public works project with firm that provided illegal
political donations (Asahi)
10) Nishimatsu used employees' names and ATM machines to funnel
illegal donations to LDP's Nikai (Yomiuri)
11) Nikai says I am innocent (Asahi)

North Korea problem:
12) Senior Defense Ministry official: Only natural for Japan to
prevent impact of North Korean-launched missile, but if it is a
long-range type, interception difficult (Nikkei)
13) Japan, Republic of Korea lined up on abduction issue (Nikkei)

14) Government sending fact-finding mission to East Timor in
connection with potential assistance projects (Asahi)
15) Nakasone think-tank RIPS proposes a common currency for Asia
(Yomiuri)

Articles:

1) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi:
Ozawa's secretary suspected of involvement in bid-rigging

Mainichi:
LDP, New Komeito compile draft bill to prevent abuse of disabled

Yomiuri:
Nishimatsu pays money to Nikai's fundraising body via ATMs using
employees' names

Nikkei:
Private brand market growing rapidly

Sankei:
Nikkei index drops to 26-year low

Tokyo Shimbun:

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Surplus of special account for agriculture, forestry and fisheries
used for different projects

Akahata:
JCP urges government to correct school expense subsidy cut

2) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) DPJ must overcome the public's distrust
(2) 50th anniversary of Tibet -- the nation cannot be controlled by
power, money

Mainichi:
(1) Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma's remark outrageous
(2) WBC: Let us spread attraction of baseball around the world

Yomiuri:
(1) Pressure on Ozawa builds over donations
(2) U.S., Russian foreign ministers express intention of nuclear
disarmament, but ...

Nikkei:
(1) DPJ, LDP urged to reset politics
(2) Is easing of regulations a mistake?

Sankei:
(1) Voters suspicious about DPJ President Ozawa
(2) Uruma's remark suggests doubts in neutrality and fairness of
prosecutors' investigations

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) LDP, DPJ should not underestimate seriousness of public distrust
in politics
(2) Is Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Uruma suitable for top
bureaucratic post?

Akahata:
(1) Nishimatsu donation scandal: Thoroughly pursue allegations of
politicians

3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei)

Prime Minister's schedule, March 9

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
March 10, 2010

08:55
Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsumoto at the Kantei.

10:00
Upper House Budget Committee meeting.

12:05
Government-ruling parties liaison council meeting at the Kantei.

13:00
Upper House Budget Committee meeting.

16:25
Arrived at the Kantei.

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17:04
LDP executive meeting in the Diet building.

18:51
Summit meeting with Prime Minister Gusmao of Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste at the Kantei. Then dinner hosted by the prime
minister.

20:56
Met with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi at the official
residence.

4) Poll: Ozawa popularity jolted

SANKEI (Page 1) (Abridged)
March 10, 2009

The Sankei Shimbun conducted a joint public opinion survey with Fuji
News Network (FNN) on March 7-8, in which about 80 PERCENT said
Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa has yet
to fulfill his accountability for his fund-managing body's murky
political funds from a second-tier construction company. In the
poll, respondents were asked if they thought Ozawa's recent account
to the press was convincing. In response to this question, "yes"
accounted for 18.2 PERCENT . Respondents were also asked if they
thought Ozawa should resign as DPJ president. To this question,
"yes" added up to 47.4 PERCENT . The DPJ has been aiming for a
change of government with public support and the party has been
expected to take office shortly, so the public's breakaway from the
DPJ is fatal to the party. The Ozawa myth, which has grown with the
DPJ's landslide victory in the 2007 election for the House of
Councillors, is now being suddenly jolted.

"Which one do you think can be trustworthier between Prime Minister
Aso and DPJ President Ozawa?" In response to this question, the
proportion of those who picked Ozawa dropped 12.4 points from the
last survey taken Feb. 21-22. As seen from this result, Ozawa is
obviously down in public ratings. However, this trend has expanded
to public ratings for political parties. The support rate for the
Aso cabinet was 17.0 PERCENT , still remaining low. In the breakdown
of public support for political parties, however, the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party tallied 26.6 PERCENT and edged out the DPJ, which
dropped 2 points to 23.9 PERCENT . Respondents were further asked
which political party they would vote for in their proportional
representation blocs in the next election for the House of
Representatives. In this public preference, the DPJ dropped 6.6
points.

Among those with no particular party affiliation or the so-called
floating voters, a total of 39.2 PERCENT answered in the last
survey that they would vote for the DPJ. In the latest survey,
however, the figure sharply dropped 9.2 points to 30.0 PERCENT . The
floating voters were most sensitive to the Ozawa shock.

5) Calls for President Ozawa's resignation rising in DPJ

SANKEI (Page 5) (Excerpts)
March 10, 2009

Lawmakers close to Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro
Ozawa have begun to suggest that Ozawa voluntarily step down over a

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case of illegal donations received by his fund-management
organization in violation of the Political Funds Control Law. But
Ozawa, who has insisted on his innocence, is expected to indicate in
a party executive meeting today his intention to stay on. Attention
is being focused on what responses party members would make.

Appearing on a TV program yesterday, House of Representatives member
Shu Watanabe of the DPJ indicated that Ozawa could announce his
resignation if the occasion requires it, as a result of the ongoing
investigation by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo
District Public Prosecutors Office. Watanabe said: "I trust what Mr.
Ozawa has said, but if the situation takes a new turn, Mr. Ozawa may
have to make a decision." Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama indicated
a similar view on the 8th, but yesterday, he said: "It is most
desirable for the party to unite in overcoming the current difficult
situation."

Yesterday, Ozawa spent the day at a Tokyo hotel and did not show up
before reporters. An aide to Ozawa commented: "Mr. Ozawa has no
intention to resign as party president. If he steps down now that
the two-party system has settled in, there will be no future
prospects."

It has been reported that Ozawa made a phone call to People's New
Party Acting President Shizuka Kamei on the night of the 8th and
expressed his anger about the fact that the public in the polls were
saying that he should resign or that he has not fulfilled his
accountability.

On these circumstances, Kamei said in a BS news program last night:

"Mr. Ozawa feels keenly that the people do not understand his
explanations. Mr. Ozawa has confidence that he is innocent and that
his secretary did nothing wrong. .. I think Mr. Ozawa has no
intention to take political responsibility at the present point of
time. ... I do not know if he would make an overall judgment as a
politician in the future, setting aside the question of whether he
is innocent."

Given that many respondents in various opinion polls called for
Ozawa's resignation, a senior DPJ member grumbled: "It might be
difficult to turn the tables. If he remains as party head, based on
the logic of Nagata-cho, there may be a heavy price for us to pay in
the next Lower House election."

6) DPJ members hesitant about urging Ozawa to step down, fearing
party split

TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full)
March 10, 2009

Following the arrest of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President
Ichiro Ozawa's top aide over illegal donations by Nishimatsu
Construction Co., party members are taking a wait-and-see attitude
over whether to urge him to step down. Some expect he will decide on
his own to resign as party president, but they have refrained from
calling on him to resign, fearing that the party could split without
Ozawa. Their indecisive attitude also reflects no prospects in sight
for future developments in the ongoing investigation into the
scandal.

Asked about Ozawa's future course by reporters in Yamagata City

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yesterday, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said: "We all want
to trust him. It is most desirable at the present stage for the
party in unity to overcome the current difficult situation." He
indicated a willingness to defend Ozawa, though many in public
opinion polls called for his resignation. He then sought that the
party stand solidly together.

Party members remain unable to predict what would happen to the
party once Ozawa is driven into resignation. One lawmaker pointed
out: "In a party presidential election, the party might be torn
apart. In such a case, it would become totally impossible for the
DPJ to grab political power." If Ozawa steps down, the party could
immediately become disrupted.

The party has greatly depended on Ozawa's skills to lead the party
to a victory in elections, as shown in the House of Councillors
election in 2007. Ozawa has also been taking the initiative in the
next general election campaign. Many members are feeling uneasy
about the resignation of Ozawa at this stage.

In addition to concern about the next general election, some members
worry about the future of the joint struggle with the Social
Democratic Party and the People's New Party in managing Diet
business and election campaigning. A senior Upper House member said:
"Each party has refrained from making a complaint to our party in
part because Mr. Ozawa heads the party."

In the meantime, the investigation into the political fund-raising
scandal reportedly has extended to members of the Liberal Democratic
Party. DPJ members harbor expectations that the headwind against
Ozawa and the party could become less severe. A senior member said:
"It is necessary to carefully watch such a situation. There is no
need to urgently come up with a conclusion at the present stage."

Party members want to defend the "prop and stay" of the party as a
result of having entrusted party management entirely to Ozawa, but
if the party overly sticks to Ozawa, it could lose public
confidence.

In a party executive meeting this morning, Ozawa will explain the
details of the money scandal again, including the question of
whether to resign.

7) LDP policy groups weaken anti-Aso moves

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
March 10, 2009

After the fiscal 2009 budget passed the House of Representatives,
there has been a second "boom" of groups forming in the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Probably motivated by a desire to
take the initiative in selecting a successor to Prime Minister Taro
Aso, anti-Aso moves seen in the first boom late last year have
weakened. Since it is unknown how the political situation will turn
out due to the scandal over alleged illicit political donations
(from Nishimatsu Construction Co.),policy study groups in the LDP
intend to watch the situation.

About 70 House of Representatives members, who were elected to the
Diet three times or less, formed a policy group, Ichinisan no kai,
on March 4. The group confirmed that it would come up with a set of
campaign pledges (manifesto) on its own in April for economic and

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financial revitalization and social security and to present its
manifesto to the LDP leadership. Isshu Sugawara, an LDP deputy
secretary general, who heads the policy group, expressed a sense of
crisis toward the Aso administration, saying: "I don't think the
LDP's severe situation will turn around with the setback of the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)." At the same time, he is desperate
to dispel the group's anti-Aso image.

The group of junior lawmakers to support the Koizumi
administration's effort to implement structural reforms without
sacred cows, formed under the administration of Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi, which had been in a dormant state, resumed its
activities on March 5. Yoshitaka Sakurada, an organizer of the
group, said: "Our group focuses on policies, rather than the
political situation." LDP Election Strategy Council Deputy Chairman
Yoshihide Suga, an aide to Aso, serves as secretary general and
Taimei Yamaguchi, as chief of secretariat. The name of the group was
changed to the young lawmakers' group to support implementation of
structural reforms with no sacred domains, deleting the wording the
Koizumi administration's effort.

Moreover, the volunteer group of lawmakers calling for speedy policy
implementation, which was formed last year as a champion of anti-Aso
forces, held a meeting on March 5. However, about 20 of the 50
members attended the session.

8) Aso retracts remarks defining media reports on Uruma comments as
"inaccurate"

ASAHI (Page 1) (Excerpts)
March 10, 2009

In a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting yesterday
afternoon, Prime Minister Aso retracted controversial remarks he had
made that morning, namely, that "the comments of Deputy Chief
Cabinet Secretary Iwao Uruma were reported inaccurately." In backing
off his earlier claim, Aso said: "What happed was, I believe, there
were discrepancies between what the deputy chief cabinet secretary
recalled (what he said before reporters) and how the reporters
received (his comments)." Uruma reportedly told reporters off
record: "It is unlikely that the investigation into a political
fund-raising scandal involving Nishimura Construction Co. will
extend to members of the Liberal Democratic Party." But Uruma said
in a press conference yesterday: "I do not recall making the
remark."

Speaking before reporters at his official residence (Kantei) last
night, Aso retracted his claim, saying: "I did not mean that the
media reports were erroneous." Even some members in the ruling camp
called "thoughtless" Aso's controversial remarks in defending Uruma
that could direct the criticism to the prime minister. Aso
apparently aimed to get the uproar under control by swiftly
retracting the controversial remarks.

Meanwhile, Uruma told reporters at the Kantei again: "After I
compared my recollections with those of my three secretaries, we
concluded that I did not make such comments." In response to a
question by a reporter, he emphasized, "I do not remember that the
words 'the LDP' were mentioned" in questions by reporters and in my
remarks.

9) Ozawa's former secretary may have been involved in bid-rigging

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ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts)
March 10, 2009

In connection with illegal donations to Rikuzan-kai, a
fund-management organization of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
President Ichiro Ozawa, his former secretary is now suspected to
have been involved in a bid-rigging organization's order-receiving
adjustments for general contractors, an informed source said. A
special investigation taskforce of the Tokyo District Public
Prosecutors Office is believed to have gotten a handle on such a
role of the Ozawa office through its investigation into persons
connected with Nishimatsu Construction Co.

The former secretary is a person who began at the Ozawa office the
practice of coordinating the amounts of donations from Nishimatsu
and their recipients. The former secretary allegedly informed the
Sendai-based Tohoku region bid-rigging organization of the
contractors (the Ozawa office) wanted to see win orders.

The former secretary was replaced by Takanori Okubo, 47, Ozawa's
first state-paid secretary and Rikuzan-kai's chief accountant, who
has been arrested on suspicion of violating the Political Funds
Control Law. The taskforce is conducting investigations, believing
Okubo and others gave favors by using this framework to Nishimatsu
that began illegal donations in the hope of winning orders for a dam
and other projects.

According to several general contractor-connected sources,
Nishimatsu began making donations to the Ozawa side in around 1995
when it set up a dummy political organization named Shin-Seiji
Mondai Kenkyu-kai (New Political Issues Study Association). The
former secretary allegedly set the annual total donation at 25
million yen and allocated it to Rikuzan-kai and Ozawa-led DPJ local
branches.

According to general contractor-connected persons and others,
arrangements were made by each general contractor's Tohoku branch
office and other branch offices ahead of bidding for a large public
works project straddling six Tohoku prefectures. In the process, a
former general contractor executive who was serving as coordinator
announced the companies the Ozawa office wished to win orders. The
former executive was allegedly solely in charge of talks with the
Ozawa office and often consulted with the former secretary up until
around 2001.

10) Nishimatsu Construction annually paid 3 million yen to Nikai
side via ATMs: Names of 60 employees used without permission to
conceal company name

YOMIURI (Top Play) (Excerpts)
March 10, 2009

The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned through a source connected with
Nishimatsu Construction Co., a second-tier general construction
contractor based in Minato Ward, Tokyo has annually transferred 3
million yen to the bank account of a political party's branch office
headed by Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai in
the name of 60 employees or their families via ATMs. The company
transferred 50,000 yen in cash in the name of each employee. It used
the names of those employees without permission in order to disguise
corporate donations as individual donations in order to conceal the

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name of the company. There is strong suspicion of the company
violating the Political Funds Control Law, which bans making
donations in the name of other persons. The Tokyo District Public
Prosecutors Office investigation squad is expected to investigate
how the donations have been made.

According to the same source, the company has made donations in the
name of its employees to (the Liberal Democratic Party's = LDP)
branch office in the Wakayama Prefecture No. 3 Constituency.

Senior officials of the company's general administration department
transferred money in the name of actual employees or their family
members -- 50,000 yen per person, using bank ATMs in Tokyo and
Osaka. The company has transferred 3 million yen a year, using the
names of 60 persons. The cash transfers were made at two locations
-- Tokyo and Osaka, from where 1.5 million yen has been remitted
respectively. The employees and their families whose names were used
were not notified of that.

Under the Political Funds Control Law, political organizations that
received donations exceeding 50,000 yen must enter the names and
addresses of donors and the amount of the donations in their
political fund reports. However, regarding a donation not exceeding
50,000 yen, the recipients are simply required to enter the names of
donors in their accounting books.

The branch's political fund reports for 2006 and 2007 list 3 million
yen as other donations covering total amounts of a small-lot
donation less than 50,000 yen. These are presumably the funds
donated in the name of Nishimatsu Construction employees.

11) Nikai denies any illegality in funds from Nishimatsu

ASAHI (Page 1) (Full)
March 10, 2009

In connection with the question of Nishimatsu Construction Co.'s
dummy political organizations having bought the Nikai faction's
fund-raising party tickets, Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister
Toshihiro Nikai said to reporters yesterday: "I have heard (from a
person in charge of accounting) that they have been filed
appropriately under the Political Funds Control Law." About his
course of action, Nikai said: "I want to carry out my duties calmly
as before. I want to fulfill my responsibilities."

A special investigation taskforce of the Tokyo District Public
Prosecutors Office has reportedly decided to question on a voluntary
basis persons connected with the Nikai office. Nikai emphasized that
there was no illegality in the purchase of his faction's party
tickets (by the Nishimatsu-connected political organizations).

In yesterday's House of Councillors Budget Committee session,
Japanese Communist Party member Yoshiki Yamashita asked Nikai about
the question of Nishimatsu's illegal donations. Nikai replied:
"Political donations have been reported appropriately under the
Political Funds Control Law. I have no recollection of receiving
such funds from the Nishimatsu side."

12) It's only natural to prevent N. Korean missile from landing in
Japan: Defense Ministry official

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged)

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March 10, 2009

North Korea, which is now preparing to launch a missile, released a
statement yesterday claiming that intercepting its missile means
war. Regardless of this statement, the Japanese government will
intercept any missile landing in Japan with its missile defense (MD)
system.

The Defense Ministry takes North Korea's open statement of a "war"
as meaning that North Korea fears that its nuclear weapons and
missiles will be disabled, and that North Korea therefore warned
Japan and the United States against using the MD system. "It's only
natural to defend any missile from landing in Japan," a Defense
Ministry official said.

North Korea has claimed that it would launch an artificial
satellite. However, its launching vehicle is almost the same as a
ballistic missile. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura, meeting the
press yesterday, reiterated: "It will hurt regional stability and
peace, so we will strongly request them to exercise
self-restraint."

The Self-Defense Forces Law allows the SDF to destroy missiles and
the like in the case where they are feared to land in Japan's
territorial soil or waters. The government takes the position that
"missiles and the like" include rockets and artificial satellites.
The key player to intercept missiles is the Standard Missile 3
(SM-3),a sea-based intercept missile mounted on the Maritime
Self-Defense Force's Aegis-equipped destroyers. A U.S. early warning
satellite will detect a missile launch, and an MSDF Aegis destroyer
on stage will catch it and track its path with its radar. If the
projectile is feared to land in Japan, the SM-3 will be used to
destroy it in outer space. If the SM-3 fails to shoot it down, the
Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3),a land-based ground-to-air
guided missile deployed at six bases in Japan, will intercept it.

This time around, however, North Korea is readying a long-range
ballistic missile that may fly far beyond Japan's territorial soil
and waters, observers say. If such a missile is not expected to fall
inside Japanese territory, there are no legal grounds to intercept
it.

Technically, Japan's MD system is designed to intercept
intermediate-range ballistic missiles that range 1,000 kilometers or
so, and is also capable of intercepting missiles flying at an
altitude of up to 300 kilometers or so. It can hardly intercept a
long-range ballistic missile that will fly at a high altitude of
nearly 1,000 kilometers toward such targets as the U.S. mainland.

13) Japan, South Korea to cooperate on abduction issue; Meeting
between Kim and Taguchi family members set for tomorrow

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly)
March 10, 2009

Hideaki Shimatani, Seoul

A meeting will take place in South Korea's Busan on March 11 between
Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean agent, and family members of
Yaeko Taguchi, a victim of abduction. Japan's motivating drive to
place high priority on settling the abduction issue now coincides
with South Korea's intent to play up its commitment to human rights

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to the international community. The Busan meeting can be a symbolic
event of the cooperation of the two countries. Nevertheless, whether
the meeting can uncover new facts is unclear, and North Korea's
strong reaction also can be expected.

Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone expressed yesterday his eagerness
for cooperation between Japan and South Korea to help resolve the
abduction issue, saying: "The governments of Japan and South Korea
would like to continue working together so that abductees will be
able to return to their country at the earliest possible time."

Japan pins expectations on the Busan meeting in the hope that it
will help Japan work closely with South Korea not only in addressing
the nuclear and missile issues but also the abduction issue as well.
"The event will help Japan and South Korea play up their severe
stances toward North Korea," a prime ministerial aide said.

The South Korean government's ostensible stance is that the Busan
meeting is a matter between Kim, who was once sentenced to death,
and the family members of Taguchi. But the upcoming meeting was made
possible in cooperation with the Japanese government. Attaching
importance to human rights issues, President Lee Myung Bak has
repeatedly indicated to Japan that his government would expend as
much cooperation as possible for resolving the abduction issue.

Lee's predecessor, President Roh Moo Hyun, who took a reconciliatory
policy toward the North, often displayed a critical stance toward
Japan that attached importance to the abduction issue in the
six-party talks.

The Lee administration, which was launched in February 2008, takes a
hard-line policy toward the North Korea. It is clear that the Lee
administration aims at "actual benefits" in a wide range of fields,
including the economy, by putting relations with Japan back on track
by working together with Tokyo for resolving the abduction issue.

If the meeting exposes discrepancies with North Korea's
explanations, Japan intends to press the North once again for a
reinvestigation into the fate of the Japanese abductees. Tokyo and
Pyongyang agreed in their working-level meeting last August to
establish a reinvestigation committee, but the North has yet to
begin the reinvestigation.

The Busan meeting, which can be called the fruit of Japan-ROK
cooperation, is certain to irritate the North. Showing signs of
firing a long-range ballistic missile, the North has also displayed
a stern position toward the U.S.-ROK joint military exercise that
kicked off in South Korea on March 9. The North might raise tensions
with the Busan meeting as the excuse. Given the situation, whether
the meeting will help bring a solution to the abduction issue is
uncertain.

14) Japan to send survey mission to East Timor

ASAHI (Page 4) (Full)
March 10, 2009

Prime Minister Taro Aso met yesterday with East Timor Prime Minister
Xanana Gusmao at the Prime Minister's Office. Gusmao sounded out
Japan on the provision of yen loans in order to help improve
infrastructure in his country. Aso then told him that Japan would
send a survey mission to the country to study the possibility of

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such support.

According to a joint statement released after the meeting, Gusmao
expressed appreciation for Japan's such efforts carried out since
1999 before the independence of East Timor as approximately 1.5
billion yen in financial assistance, and the dispatch of a
Self-Defense Forces engineering unit, civilian police and election
monitoring team.

15) IIPS proposes common currency of Asia

YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full)
March 10, 2009

Following the ongoing global financial crisis and economic decline,
the Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS),chaired by
former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, compiled a report titled
"Outlook for International Economy and Financial System with Eye on
2030s." The report proposes that the Asian region should contribute
in cooperation to the stabilization of the global economy, by
introducing a common currency like the euro or the dollar.

As an immediate measure to emerge from the economic crunch, the
report proposes expediting capital injection and the purchases of
non-performing loans in the early 2010, positioning that timeframe
as a period for the intensive write-offs of bad loans. It also
points out the need to consolidate an international financial
oversight system.

Viewing that the global economic crisis has exposed that the U.S.
alone cannot undergird the global economy, the report indicates a
perception that reviewing the U.S.-led international system is a
pressing issue. It also notes that it is necessary for each region
to consolidate an efficient and effective market monitoring system
and an assistance system to deal with an economic crisis.

To be precise, the report proposes introducing a common currency of
Asia in the 1930s or later. To that end, it urges Japan, China,
South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
should press ahead with efforts to reach an agreement in the 2010s
to introduce such a common currency. Then, it calls for the
establishment in the 2020s of a common currency that enables the
comparison of the values of Asian currencies, based on trade
liberalization and the strengthened economic cooperation.

The report underscores a view that the envisaged new international
currency will not cause the dollar to plunge, noting that the
existence of the U.S. dollar as a key currency is important for the
stable development of the global economy and that Asia's common
currency will supplement the dollar-based currency system.

Proposals by IIPS (Gist)

? The ongoing financial crisis could change the current global
economy and financial system led by the U.S.
? It is impossible for the U.S. alone to undergird the global
economy. It is necessary for each region to consolidate
market-monitoring functions and an assistance system to deal with an
economic crisis.
? For the development of Asia, a common currency should be formed in
the region so that it can complement the dollar-based currency
system along with the euro.

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ZUMWALT