DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 03/26/09

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000684 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 03/26/09 INDEX: (1) Government to issue missile destruction order on March 27 (Nikkei) (2) Petition against Guam relocation passed by majority (Okinawa Times) (3) Defense Ministry submits Guam relocation report to lower house (Okinawa Times) (4) Rift now obvious in DPJ (Mainichi) (5) Decentralization Committee meeting: Participants criticizes prime minister as having watered down recommendation report submitted by panel; One member even calls on Chairman Niwa to quit (Sankei) (6) Special board meeting to elect IAEA director general to start today (Mainichi) (7) TOP HEADLINES (8) EDITORIALS (9) Prime Minister's schedule, March 25 (Nikkei) ARTICLES: (1) Government to issue missile destruction order on March 27 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) March 26, 2009 In anticipation of a possible launch of a "satellite" as announced earlier by North Korea, though other countries believe the North plans to launch a long-range ballistic missile, the government decided yesterday to issue a "destruction order" possibly tomorrow. A launched projectile is expected to fly over Japan about five to ten minutes after it is launched. Assuming the fired rocket could fall in an area near Japan, Prime Minister Taro Aso will give prior approval so that destruction measures, using the missile defense (MD) system, will be taken flexibly. Aso will instruct Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada in a meeting of the Security Council of Japan tomorrow to prepare for intercepting an incoming projectile. Later, Hamada will issue the destruction order. Pyongyang announced it planned to launch a rocket between April 4 and 8. Aso told reporters last night: "The government will naturally take the utmost care, including giving information to the public, because there are some local areas where people are concerned (about the launch)." The order will be issued based on Article 82-2 of the Self-Defense Forces Law. These two procedures are provided for in issuing an order under the law: (1) when a launched projectile is feared to land in Japan, the defense minister will issue an order with a cabinet decision (Paragraph 1); and (2) the defense minister will issue an order in advance without making it public in preparation for an emergency (Paragraph 3). The government's conventional interpretation of these paragraphs is: When a launched projectile is considered likely to land in Japan, a decision should be made at a TOKYO 00000684 002 OF 008 cabinet meeting and the public should be informed of it; and when a launched projectile is unlikely to land in Japan but preparations for an emergency are judged necessary, the public should not be informed of it. North Korea has already announced that the rocket to be launched will fly over Akita and Iwate prefectures. Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, however, stated: "If what North Korea said is true, there is a slim possibility (of the rocket falling to Japan)." It is also necessary to assume that a North Korean rocket may get out of control and fall down, so the government judges it is proper to issue an order under Paragraph 3. If the issuance of the order is not publicized, it will not uselessly irritate North Korea. Even so, many Japanese people now know that the North is planning to launch a satellite. If the public are not informed of what policy the government intends to take about interception, they will inevitably become anxious. Many in the government and the ruling camp take this view: A cabinet decision is necessary in order to clarify the government's policy of intercepting an incoming projectile. Under such a situation, the government has decided to hold a meeting of the Security Council of Japan, though holding such a meeting is not required legally. In it, the prime minister will issue an order for interception. It has also been decided that the government side will publicize the defense minister's issuance of the order through press briefings and other forums. The government has decided to take a compromise plan under which the prime minister will grant (the defense minister) the authority to take destruction measures prior to the announced date of launching a rocket and then the public will be informed of the destruction measures. Even so, whether the nation's MD system is technically capable of intercepting an incoming projectile is totally another question. Many experts see it difficult to shoot down debris from a rocket. (2) Petition against Guam relocation passed by majority OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Abridged) March 26, 2009 The Okinawa prefectural assembly held a plenary meeting of its members yesterday, the last day of its current regular session, and passed a petition with a majority approval opposing the ratification of a pact concluded between Japan and the United States on relocating U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam. Six opposition parties, which presented the petition, and Katsuhiro Yoshida, an independent, voted for the petition. The petition says the people of Okinawa Prefecture are against building a new base along the coast of Henoko (in Nago City as an alternative for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station). The Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed to move U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam in a package with the planned relocation of Futenma airfield's heliport functions. The petition raises an objection to this package agreement. Representatives from the prefectural assembly will come up to Tokyo in early April and will ask the government not to ratify the pact. Among those in favor of the petition, Masaaki Maeda, a member of the Japanese Communist Party, stated: "The plan has changed from the sea-based heliport to the V-shaped facility, but there is no change in Okinawa's public opinion against building a new base." Sueko TOKYO 00000684 003 OF 008 Yamauchi, a member of the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto),also said: "The construction site (for Futenma relocation) has yet to be finalized. This shows something irrational about the plan. It's important that we remain determined without being at the mercy of the Japanese and U.S. governments." Kiyoki Nakagawa, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was among those opposed to the petition. He stated: "It has been 64 years since the war ended, but the base issues still remain unresolved. Diplomatic rights are not vested in Governor (Hirokazu) Nakaima but in the Japanese and U.S. governments. For the relocation of troops to Guam and for the return of facilities south of Kadena, the agreement should be ratified. That will help alleviate Okinawa Prefecture's base-hosting burden." In addition, the prefectural assembly took up the recent outbreak of a stray bullet incident in Kin Town's Igei district. On this issue, the assembly adopted a protest resolution and a petition calling for the U.S. military to suspend its live-fire training until its cause is located. The assembly also discussed the recent occurrence of fuel spills at Futenma airfield and adopted a protest resolution and a petition in pursuit of clearing up its cause and preventing such an accident from recurring. (3) Defense Ministry submits Guam relocation report to lower house OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Full) March 26, 2009 The Defense Ministry submitted a report to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in a meeting of its directors yesterday regarding the planned move of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam. The report, however, blacks out such data as costs estimated by a private contractor of the Defense Ministry for the construction of facilities in Guam. The opposition parties raised an objection, urging the Defense Ministry to disclose the report in its entirety. The Defense Ministry accounted for not disclosing the estimated construction costs, according to one of the committee's directors who attended the meeting. This committee director said: "The report contains information that the Japanese government has obtained from the U.S. government on the assumption that the information will not be disclosed. The report also contains figures that the Japanese government calculated out on its own to insist on its standpoint in its future talks with the U.S. government. That's why." The report describes studies and blueprints relating to costs for the planned construction of such facilities as headquarters, billets, and family housing, which will be built at Japan's expense. However, their figures and other portions are blacked out. Akira Kasai, a House of Representatives member of the Japanese Communist Party, showed an outline of the report when the committee met on March 13. Kasai then asked the Defense Ministry to come up with the report. In that committee meeting, the government and the ruling parties accounted for presenting the Guam relocation pact in an aim to enter into deliberations on it. But the opposition parties raised an objection to that account. The ruling bench has therefore forgone deliberations. The ruling and opposition parties are expected to continue coordination over the committee's entry into deliberations TOKYO 00000684 004 OF 008 on March 27. (4) Rift now obvious in DPJ MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) March 26, 2009 Following the indictment of his first state-paid secretary, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro Ozawa (on the evening of March 24) expressed his intention to remain in his post. However, party executives, who endorsed Ozawa's bid to continue serving as party leader, were busy yesterday drumming up support for him, since anti-Ozawa group members were openly calling for Ozawa's early resignation. Ozawa remarked that whether his continued leadership would be a plus or minus depended on how the public would take it. This has triggered a sense of alarm that he might suddenly quit, and no one is sure whether he might step down soon or later. With the heightening confrontation between the anti- and pro-Ozawa groups, a rift has been opened in the main opposition party. Yesterday in the Diet building, former DPJ policy chief Yoshito Sengoku blasted Ozawa before the press corps: "I would like (Ozawa) to wage a legal battle, but he should not involve candidates (for the next general election) who are engaged in their own desperate struggles." Sengoku called for a quick exit by Ozawa, saying: "The party head should make a political decision voluntarily." Earlier, DPJ House of Councillors member Reiho questioned the decision of party leaders in a meeting of the DPJ Upper House caucus. She said: "With the issue of politics and money, the public is now suspicious of the DPJ. I need to hear from party executives (why they approved Ozawa's decision to remain in his post)." Lower House member Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, who belongs to the party's "liberal group," urged Ozawa on March 24 to quit his post. Yesterday, he called on the leadership to have Ozawa give a better explanation of the donation scandal. Bearing the brunt of such criticism, party leaders have become perplexed. Last evening in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama gave a speech to support the gubernatorial campaign of a candidate backed by the party. He expressed his party's determination to work to revise the Political Funds Control Law. "The people want the DPJ to become cleaner about the issue of politics and money," he said. Many in the group supporting Ozawa's continuing to serve as party leader have reacted coolly toward the anti-Ozawa group's call for his early resignation. One lawmaker said: "Only a few members are making a fuss. We don't care about them." However, Ozawa was adamant in a press conference on the 24th: "I don't have any regrets about assuming the posts of party leader and then prime minister." He underscored that public support would become a precondition for his continued leadership. He then told some around him: "I've become tired, anyway." Speculation is rife that Ozawa might quit all of sudden, depending on the outcome of the next round of public opinion polls and of the upcoming gubernatorial election in Chiba Prefecture. Ozawa's declaration to remain in his post has prompted the speculation among party members about when he will resign and it has caused worries and doubts to arise in the DPJ. TOKYO 00000684 005 OF 008 (5) Decentralization Committee meeting: Participants criticizes prime minister as having watered down recommendation report submitted by panel; One member even calls on Chairman Niwa to quit SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) March 26, 2009 The government's Decentralization Reform Promotion Committee, chaired by Uichiro Niwa, chairman of Itochu Corporation, held a meeting on March 25. Many participants expressed their dissatisfaction that the road map for reform of the central government's local branches, which the government adopted on the 24th, ignores key proposals included in the committee's second recommendation report. One participant questioned the leadership of Prime Minister Taro Aso, who has put off a conclusion on the specific form of the organizations until the year-end compilation of a reform outline (decentralization reform promotion program). Another participant even called on Niwa, who praised the road map, to step down. The road map includes neither a proposal for combining and consolidating six local branches of the central government into a local development bureau and a regional works bureau, both tentative names, nor a numerical target for reducing the number of officials at local branches by about 35,000. Committee member Naoki Inose, vice governor of Tokyo, criticized the road map, saying, "The road map is disappointing because Prime Minister Aso said he would abolish local branches. Why on earth have our proposals been watered down to this extent?" Junichi Tsuyuki, mayor of Kaisei Town, Kanagawa Prefecture, loudly complained: "Prime Minister Aso's tongue wags too freely. I wonder whether he can continue to serve as prime minister." Niwa was also made the target of criticism. He attended a meeting of the Decentralization Reform Promotion Headquarters on the 24th, where the road map was adopted. He said he had highly evaluated the road map right before the eyes of the prime minister. Tsuyuki furiously said, "I am extremely dissatisfied with you, Mr. Niwa. I almost want to thrust a letter of resignation at you." Niwa rebutted, saying, "It is important to realize reform proposals. The road map stipulates that the points of the recommendations made by the panel should be included in the reform outline proposals in concrete terms." In the end, participants agreed that the committee calls on the government to include the panel's proposals for consolidating and reorganizing local branches and a goal of reducing officials by 35,000. However, a feeling of powerlessness permeated the meeting with one participant saying, "Discussing decentralization reform under the Aso administration leaves us with an empty feeling." (6) Special board meeting to elect IAEA director general to start today MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) March 26, 2009 Interview with candidate Ambassador Yukiya Amano: Determined to protect confidence in the NPT Takuji Nakao, Vienna TOKYO 00000684 006 OF 008 A special meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),attended by 35 countries, will assemble in Vienna to elect the next director general will start in Vienna. Prior to the meeting, Japanese Ambassador to the Delegation to International Organizations in Vienna Yukiya Amano (61) gave an interview to Mainichi Shimbun. Asked about Iran's nuclear development problem, the ambassador indicated a desire to settle the issue if he won the election: "There has to be a way to work this out, if we come up with ideas, while listening to what it has to say." He expressed his resolve toward nonproliferation, stressing, "I will make sure that confidence is maintained in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty." The ambassador noted: "If I am elected director general, I will deal with matters fairly instead of representing the interests of a specific group." Referring to Iran, he pointed out, "Iran, a country of great pride, takes it that it has been treated unjustly by the international community." He continued: "We cannot let a nation that is pressing ahead with nuclear development go unheeded, ignoring the UN Security Council's resolution. I will tenaciously hold a dialogue with that country. Leave it to me." Touching on the situations in Asia and the Middle East, he said, "The security of countries is being threatened by the nuclear weapons possessed by neighboring countries. India and Pakistan raced to become nuclear powers. Japan is alarmed about North Korea. (Iran and Arab nations) in the Middle East are sensitive about Israel (possibly possessing nuclear weapons." He noted, "We must not allow an increase in regions being destabilized by the spread of nuclear arms. Amano noted that the NPT only allows permanent members of the UNSC to possess nuclear arms. He added this view: "Although the NPT has been pointed to as an unfair treaty, it nonetheless is being supported because it is useful for protecting the security of the world." He underscored, "I would like to do my utmost to make sure that confidence in the NPT is maintained." South African Ambassador Abdul Minty (69) to the IAEA Board of Governors is also running in the election. The candidate winning two-thirds of the valid votes will be elected to the post. (7) TOP HEADLINES Asahi: Shinagawa Ward to adopt unified education system for kindergarteners and children at daycare centers Mainichi: 1000 elderly people receiving welfare benefits from Tokyo moved to facilities in other areas in Kanto District over past year Yomiuri: Nishimatsu Construction paid for office rent of METI Minister Nikai Nikkei: Electronics firms cancel or postpone planned mass-production of next-generation flat-screen panels Sankei: North Korea starts placing missile on launch pad TOKYO 00000684 007 OF 008 Tokyo Shimbun: Ruling parties' panel drafts bill to enable state subsidies to go to international schools Akahata: Many parts that lack common sense left in Welfare Ministry's new review plan for standards for care-need certification (8) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) WBC: Fresh breeze for Asian baseball now blowing (2) Judgment in lawsuit on recognition of A-bomb victims: Government's negligence accused Mainichi: (1) North Korea's "satellite:" Take every possible step, including response with MD system (2) Samurai Japan in WBC: Move us again in the Olympic Games Yomiuri: (1) Hurriedly purchase non-performing loans from troubled U.S. banks (2) Agreement between government, labor representatives: Carefully gauge effect of job-protection measures Nikkei: (1) Expectation for and concern about U.S. plan to buy up toxic assets (2) Limited-time gift tax cut might bring about positive effect Sankei: (1) Ruling for Akita child killer: Questions left about avoidance of death sentence (2) Japan retains WBC title, with unity as driving force Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Measures agreed on between government and labor representatives must be quickly turned into reality (2) Japan's victory in WBC shows us how interesting baseball is Akahata: (1) Ruling over school sex education: Desirable education possible for first time when original ideas respected (9) Prime Minister's schedule, March 25 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) March 26, 2009 07:32 Took a walk around the official residence. 10:15 Met with public affairs officer Ogawa at the Kantei. 11:02 Met with Shigeo Sugiura, chairman of his supporters' association in his home district, and others. TOKYO 00000684 008 OF 008 12:00 Handed letters of recommendation at the party headquarters to a person who will run for the gubernatorial election in Ibaraki Prefecture. Secretary General Hosoda and Election Committee Chairman Koga. Then met with senior officials of local chapters in Tokyo and other prefectures in the Kanto region, including Chairman Sakuma of his supporters' organization in Saitama Prefecture. 13:10 Met with Chairman Ishida of the LDP National Liaison Council of LDP Secretaries General. Then met with State Minister for Administrative Reform Amari, Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarter head Chuma and Chairman Ishihara of the Public Servant System Reform Committee. 13:38 Met with Otsuji, head of the LDP Caucus in the Upper House Upper House Upper p 14:12 Met with Cabinet Councilor Kusaka. 15:18 Met with former members of the Hokkaido Junior Chamber, such as Hideaki Kaneko. 16:17 Met with participants in the meeting of ambassadors to Asian and Oceanian countries, such as Ambassador to China Miyamoto. Assistant Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi and Foreign Ministry Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Takagi were present. 19:03 Met with Ukraine Prime Minister Tymoshenko. Then joint press relief. 20:26 Dinner hosted by the prime minister and his wife. 21:55 Arrived at the official residence. ZUMWALT