TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - G7, NORTH KOREA, AND

UNCLAS TOKYO 000959 SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - G7, NORTH KOREA, AND SWINE FLU ¶1. LEAD STORIES: Top stories on Monday morning included the apparent spread of swine flu around the world and Sunday's election of a DPJ-backed candidate in the Nagoya mayoral race. ¶2. "U.S., Europe Should Dispose of Non-performing Loans" On Friday's G7 financial ministerial in Washington, the liberal Asahi editorialized (4/26): "Granted that nobody expected the assembled ministers to come up with a panacea that would swiftly contain the current financial crisis, the meeting still failed to produce any accomplishments.... The meeting could have included frank discussions on the core issue of toxic bank assets in the U.S. and Europe, which need to be dealt with.... A world economic recovery will be impossible unless the U.S. and Europe thoroughly dispose of non-performing loans." ¶3. "North Korea Drawing Attention to Nuclear Programs" The top-circulation, moderate Yomiuri reported from Seoul (4/26): "North Korea's resumption of nuclear reprocessing was primarily aimed at drawing global attention away from its missile launch to its nuclear programs.... Given that Pyongyang is likely to continue its brinkmanship for the time being in order to enhance its negotiating leverage, it will not be easy to jumpstart the Six-Party Talks." ¶4. "Swift International Coordination Imperative to containing Swine Flu" The business-oriented Nikkei asserted in an editorial (4/27): "The World Health Organization called for its member states to enhance monitoring in order to ascertain the number of patients who have contracted unusual types of flu. Enhanced cooperation among countries around the world would make it possible to contain the spread of swine flu to a minimum." ¶5. "WHO Concerned about Potential Fallout" On the WTO decision to hold at pandemic alert phase 3 for now, the liberal Mainichi speculated (4/27): "In reaching the decision, the WTO may have focused on concerns about the magnitude of potential international repercussions caused by moving to phase 4." ZUMWALT