[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Japan will accept U.N. rocket statement: Aso
PATTAYA, Thailand (Kyodo) Prime Minister Taro Aso（麻生太郎） hinted Saturday during a meeting here with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak that Japan will accept a U.N. Security Council presidential statement about North Korea's recent rocket launch in lieu of a resolution.
"If a strong message can be ensured and the international community can swiftly send that message (to North Korea), we think we don't need to stick to a certain format," Aso said at a news conference after meeting bilaterally with Wen and as a trio with Lee.
Aso repeated Japan's position is that it is desirable for the international community to adopt a UNSC resolution, but he also hinted that he and Lee were unable to convince Wen to go along with the matter. China, Pyongyang's biggest ally, has been resisting calls to support a legally binding resolution.
Aso said that it is obvious the launch violated existing Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from conducting ballistic missile activities, such as Resolution 1718.
During the meeting with Wen, Aso asked that the nonbinding statement include a reference condemning the April 5 launch of what North Korea has said was a satellite but what Japan, South Korea and the United States believe was a disguised attempt to test a long-range ballistic missile, a senior Japanese official said.
Diplomatic sources in New York said Japan is expected to withdraw its proposal for the Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on the suspected missile launch during a council meeting to resume Saturday.
In a separate meeting, Aso and Lee agreed to maintain close policy coordination on issues related to North Korea, the official said.
Earlier in the day, the foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea agreed the international community needs to promptly send a "unified and powerful message" on North Korea's launch, reaffirming that it is undesirable for Pyongyang to take action that undermines peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone（中曽根弘文） said he reached the consensus during separate telephone talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan in Pattaya, where a summit meeting of leaders from 13 Asian countries slated for Saturday was canceled by Thai antigovernment protesters.
During talks with Yang, Nakasone repeated Japan's position that the global community should pursue a U.N. Security Council resolution in response to North Korea's launch.
"In order to send a unified and powerful message, we believe it is desirable that the UNSC adopt a resolution," Nakasone told reporters.
Japan, South Korea and the United States have agreed to take a firm stance against Pyongyang. But China and Russia — traditional allies of North Korea and two of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members with veto power — are against a resolution aimed at punishing North Korea.
The foreign ministers had been scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting Saturday morning, but it was canceled after the protesters blocked the front entrance to the conference venue.
Aso, Wen and Lee are in Pattaya to attend a series of regional summits over the weekend, including the so-called ASEAN-plus-three summit Saturday and the 16-nation East Asia Summit on Sunday, which was canceled due to security reasons.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
First 'Japanese' international school debuts
CHIBA (Kyodo) The first international school to adopt the Japanese education system opened its doors Saturday in Chiba's booming Makuhari area.
About 170 children, accompanied by their parents and guardians, attended the entrance ceremony at Makuhari International School. The new facility, which operates kindergarten and elementary school programs, is situated in Mihama Ward, Chiba.
Principal Paul Rogers of Britain said at the ceremony he was proud to be able to welcome the students and that he was aiming to make MIS the best international school in the world.
The school is certified as an educational institution operating under the supervision of the Education, Culture, Sports and Technology Ministry.
Schools that hold classes mainly in English or other foreign languages usually cannot be certified as Japanese education facilities in light of the rigorous curriculum guidelines set by the education ministry.
But MIS has taken advantage of a special deregulation program that allows more flexible application of the guidelines.
Since MIS operates under the Japanese education system, students there will have no trouble switching to regular Japanese schools or moving on to Japanese elementary or junior high schools.
All classes, except Japanese-language courses, are conducted in English to cater to children of foreign nationals working in Japan and Japanese children who have returned from abroad.
The school will accept students aged from 3 to 9, or fourth-graders, in its first year. It plans to add fifth-graders in its second year and sixth-graders from 2011.
Teachers have been recruited from five countries, including Canada and New Zealand.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tally of life-term inmates at 1,710
(Kyodo News)The number of prison inmates serving life terms climbed by 40 to a postwar high of 1,710 at the end of 2008, preliminary Justice Ministry data showed Saturday.
The number of lifers has been rising since around 1985 in line with a tendency toward harsher punishment. But that may drop under a new parole system introduced this month.
The ministry said life terms dipped below 1,000 in 1971 and sank to the 700s in the first half of the '80s before rising again in the latter half and topping 1,000 in 1999, and 1,500 in 2006.
In 2008, 53 people began serving life terms after their sentences were finalized, compared with 89 in 2007, the ministry said. Five life inmates were paroled in 2008.
As of the end of 2008, 80 life inmates had been in prison for at least 30 years.
Under the Penal Code, people sentenced to life imprisonment are eligible for parole, which is granted by regional inmate rehabilitation panels. Inmates who have served at least 10 years can apply for parole, if their prison warden files the request.
Under a new system launched this month, inmates who have served 30 years will automatically become eligible to apply for parole without a warden's request. The system is expected to decrease the number of life inmates because more are expected to be released after serving 30 years.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Japan will accept U.N. rocket statement: Aso
PATTAYA, Thailand (Kyodo) Prime Minister Taro Aso（麻生太郎） hinted Saturday during a meeting here with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak that Japan will accept a U.N. Security Council presidential statement about North Korea's recent rocket launch in lieu of a resolution.
"If a strong message can be ensured and the international community can swiftly send that message (to North Korea), we think we don't need to stick to a certain format," Aso said at a news conference after meeting bilaterally with Wen and as a trio with Lee.
Aso repeated Japan's position is that it is desirable for the international community to adopt a UNSC resolution, but he also hinted that he and Lee were unable to convince Wen to go along with the matter. China, Pyongyang's biggest ally, has been resisting calls to support a legally binding resolution.
Aso said that it is obvious the launch violated existing Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from conducting ballistic missile activities, such as Resolution 1718.
During the meeting with Wen, Aso asked that the nonbinding statement include a reference condemning the April 5 launch of what North Korea has said was a satellite but what Japan, South Korea and the United States believe was a disguised attempt to test a long-range ballistic missile, a senior Japanese official said.
Diplomatic sources in New York said Japan is expected to withdraw its proposal for the Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on the suspected missile launch during a council meeting to resume Saturday.
In a separate meeting, Aso and Lee agreed to maintain close policy coordination on issues related to North Korea, the official said.
Earlier in the day, the foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea agreed the international community needs to promptly send a "unified and powerful message" on North Korea's launch, reaffirming that it is undesirable for Pyongyang to take action that undermines peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone（中曽根弘文） said he reached the consensus during separate telephone talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan in Pattaya, where a summit meeting of leaders from 13 Asian countries slated for Saturday was canceled by Thai antigovernment protesters.
During talks with Yang, Nakasone repeated Japan's position that the global community should pursue a U.N. Security Council resolution in response to North Korea's launch.
"In order to send a unified and powerful message, we believe it is desirable that the UNSC adopt a resolution," Nakasone told reporters.
Japan, South Korea and the United States have agreed to take a firm stance against Pyongyang. But China and Russia — traditional allies of North Korea and two of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members with veto power — are against a resolution aimed at punishing North Korea.
The foreign ministers had been scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting Saturday morning, but it was canceled after the protesters blocked the front entrance to the conference venue.
Aso, Wen and Lee are in Pattaya to attend a series of regional summits over the weekend, including the so-called ASEAN-plus-three summit Saturday and the 16-nation East Asia Summit on Sunday, which was canceled due to security reasons.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
First 'Japanese' international school debuts
CHIBA (Kyodo) The first international school to adopt the Japanese education system opened its doors Saturday in Chiba's booming Makuhari area.
About 170 children, accompanied by their parents and guardians, attended the entrance ceremony at Makuhari International School. The new facility, which operates kindergarten and elementary school programs, is situated in Mihama Ward, Chiba.
Principal Paul Rogers of Britain said at the ceremony he was proud to be able to welcome the students and that he was aiming to make MIS the best international school in the world.
The school is certified as an educational institution operating under the supervision of the Education, Culture, Sports and Technology Ministry.
Schools that hold classes mainly in English or other foreign languages usually cannot be certified as Japanese education facilities in light of the rigorous curriculum guidelines set by the education ministry.
But MIS has taken advantage of a special deregulation program that allows more flexible application of the guidelines.
Since MIS operates under the Japanese education system, students there will have no trouble switching to regular Japanese schools or moving on to Japanese elementary or junior high schools.
All classes, except Japanese-language courses, are conducted in English to cater to children of foreign nationals working in Japan and Japanese children who have returned from abroad.
The school will accept students aged from 3 to 9, or fourth-graders, in its first year. It plans to add fifth-graders in its second year and sixth-graders from 2011.
Teachers have been recruited from five countries, including Canada and New Zealand.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Tally of life-term inmates at 1,710
(Kyodo News)The number of prison inmates serving life terms climbed by 40 to a postwar high of 1,710 at the end of 2008, preliminary Justice Ministry data showed Saturday.
The number of lifers has been rising since around 1985 in line with a tendency toward harsher punishment. But that may drop under a new parole system introduced this month.
The ministry said life terms dipped below 1,000 in 1971 and sank to the 700s in the first half of the '80s before rising again in the latter half and topping 1,000 in 1999, and 1,500 in 2006.
In 2008, 53 people began serving life terms after their sentences were finalized, compared with 89 in 2007, the ministry said. Five life inmates were paroled in 2008.
As of the end of 2008, 80 life inmates had been in prison for at least 30 years.
Under the Penal Code, people sentenced to life imprisonment are eligible for parole, which is granted by regional inmate rehabilitation panels. Inmates who have served at least 10 years can apply for parole, if their prison warden files the request.
Under a new system launched this month, inmates who have served 30 years will automatically become eligible to apply for parole without a warden's request. The system is expected to decrease the number of life inmates because more are expected to be released after serving 30 years.