[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
Aso, Lee confirm cooperation on N. Korea
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Sunday to intensify joint efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programs and urged North Korea to abide by a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning its recent nuclear test.
Lee arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for a day of talks as part of the shuttle diplomacy designed to build closer relations between the two nations, after bilateral ties soured during the tenure of Lee's predecessor, the late Roh Moo Hyun.
"Japan, South Korea and the U.S. must work in coordination," Aso said.
"We must unite and properly handle the matter" to get Pyongyang to drop its nuclear programs and become part of the international community, Lee replied at the outset of the meeting as reporters watched.
North Korea has remained confrontational, announcing it will proceed with its uranium enrichment program for military use, even though the U.N. has condemned the hermit state's May 25 nuclear test.
Sunday's meeting was the eighth the two leaders have had since Aso took office last September, with a Foreign Ministry official describing the frequent shuttle diplomacy as a sign of a "mature partnership."
"This was not a visit to resolve a pending matter, but an occasion for the two heads of state to speak frankly," the official said.
Even so, responding to North Korea's belligerence topped the agenda.
The two sides agreed that implementing the U.N. resolution is a vital step in facing the threat.
Aso and Lee exchanged opinions on holding a meeting with the U.S., China and Russia to discuss the future of the six-party talks, which have been at a stalemate since Pyongyang's withdrawal earlier this year.
They also agreed to consider arranging a meeting of the five countries apart from North Korea to explore ways to break the diplomatic impasse, Aso said.
"North Korea's nuclear and missile issues are serious threats to the security of the region," Aso said during a joint news conference after the meeting.
"We also agreed that collaboration with China is imperative" to urge the North to abandon its nuclear programs, Aso said.
He said Japan and South Korea will hold a working-level meeting Wednesday to revive talks on a free-trade agreement, which have been stalled since 2004 due to disagreements on trade barriers.
"A free-trade agreement is in line with the global trend," Lee said. "There is a chance that we could reach an agreement sooner than expected."
According to a Foreign Ministry official, Aso and Lee avoided touching on thorny historical disputes during their closed-door meeting, and they did not discuss the territorial dispute over Takeshima Island, known as Dokdo in South Korea.
The officials said Aso asked Lee to support Japan's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Lee replied he would relay the message to the parties concerned in his country, adding it would be favorable for South Korea if the Games are held in Japan.
During their news conference, Lee said he asked Aso to grant Korean residents in Japan the right to vote in local elections.
Many permanent residents of Korean descent, mostly descendants of Koreans who came to Japan before or during World War II and had Japanese citizenship, have long demanded that they should be allowed to vote in local elections while retaining their postwar Korean citizenship.
"Considering their historical background, I requested active cooperation from Prime Minister Aso," Lee said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
Finding U.S. landing site faces delay
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) A candidate site for a permanent facility in Japan for U.S. warplanes to practice landing on aircraft carriers will not be selected by the primary deadline of July, according to Japanese and U.S. sources.
The training is currently being conducted on a provisional basis on Iwojima, or Iwoto as it is now named, by U.S. naval aircraft stationed at the Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture. Iwoto is about 1,200 km from Honshu.
The May 2006 agreement between Japan and the United States on the realignment of U.S. military forces specified that a site for the permanent training facility should be selected by next month or at the earliest possible date thereafter.
According to the sources, Tokyo already notified Washington of the delay when it turned down a U.S. request for a site to be selected within 180 km of the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The Defense Ministry and the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which are responsible for the project, have been trying to select a site from a broader area.
Because aircraft activities, including night landing practice, cause serious noise pollution, the selection process for the facility has been hard going.
The Japanese government considered Okurokami Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, Mage Island in Kagoshima Prefecture and the vicinity of Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, as candidate sites, but the plans were aborted after strong protests.
The U.S. side appears to be unhappy with the delay, according to the sources, because it could affect the schedule for relocating naval aircraft from Atsugi to Iwakuni.
An official in the U.S. Department of Defense reiterated the importance of the training facility and said the selection of a site is a basic premise for the aircraft relocation from Atsugi to Iwakuni.
According to a Defense Ministry source, the training facility issue is considered one of the key but hidden obstacles to the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
LDP hoping to get bills passed fast, call election
(Kyodo News) The Liberal Democratic Party sought cooperation Sunday from opposition parties to get key bills through the Diet as soon as possible.
Senior opposition leaders responded positively, which is expected to make it easier for Prime Minister Taro Aso to dissolve the Lower House soon and call a general election.
"We want to debate important bills promptly," LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said on an NHK talk show.
Hosoda was referring to a bill on inspections of North Korean cargo vessels, an amendment to the Organ Transplant Law, and a bill to provide help for people not yet recognized as victims of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease.
Later in the day, Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama said the DPJ is willing to end deliberations quickly on the transplant and Minamata bills, and his party "will not aimlessly prolong the deliberations" on the ship inspection bill.
Aso told Hosoda on Saturday to try to get the bills passed soon, which was widely interpreted as indicating Aso's intention to dissolve the Lower House in mid-July for a general election.
Hosoda said on NHK that passing key bills will not necessarily be a condition for dissolving the chamber, but added, "It is the minimum responsibility of the Diet to settle (debates on the key bills)."
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
Aso, Lee confirm cooperation on N. Korea
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Sunday to intensify joint efforts to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programs and urged North Korea to abide by a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning its recent nuclear test.
Lee arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for a day of talks as part of the shuttle diplomacy designed to build closer relations between the two nations, after bilateral ties soured during the tenure of Lee's predecessor, the late Roh Moo Hyun.
"Japan, South Korea and the U.S. must work in coordination," Aso said.
"We must unite and properly handle the matter" to get Pyongyang to drop its nuclear programs and become part of the international community, Lee replied at the outset of the meeting as reporters watched.
North Korea has remained confrontational, announcing it will proceed with its uranium enrichment program for military use, even though the U.N. has condemned the hermit state's May 25 nuclear test.
Sunday's meeting was the eighth the two leaders have had since Aso took office last September, with a Foreign Ministry official describing the frequent shuttle diplomacy as a sign of a "mature partnership."
"This was not a visit to resolve a pending matter, but an occasion for the two heads of state to speak frankly," the official said.
Even so, responding to North Korea's belligerence topped the agenda.
The two sides agreed that implementing the U.N. resolution is a vital step in facing the threat.
Aso and Lee exchanged opinions on holding a meeting with the U.S., China and Russia to discuss the future of the six-party talks, which have been at a stalemate since Pyongyang's withdrawal earlier this year.
They also agreed to consider arranging a meeting of the five countries apart from North Korea to explore ways to break the diplomatic impasse, Aso said.
"North Korea's nuclear and missile issues are serious threats to the security of the region," Aso said during a joint news conference after the meeting.
"We also agreed that collaboration with China is imperative" to urge the North to abandon its nuclear programs, Aso said.
He said Japan and South Korea will hold a working-level meeting Wednesday to revive talks on a free-trade agreement, which have been stalled since 2004 due to disagreements on trade barriers.
"A free-trade agreement is in line with the global trend," Lee said. "There is a chance that we could reach an agreement sooner than expected."
According to a Foreign Ministry official, Aso and Lee avoided touching on thorny historical disputes during their closed-door meeting, and they did not discuss the territorial dispute over Takeshima Island, known as Dokdo in South Korea.
The officials said Aso asked Lee to support Japan's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Lee replied he would relay the message to the parties concerned in his country, adding it would be favorable for South Korea if the Games are held in Japan.
During their news conference, Lee said he asked Aso to grant Korean residents in Japan the right to vote in local elections.
Many permanent residents of Korean descent, mostly descendants of Koreans who came to Japan before or during World War II and had Japanese citizenship, have long demanded that they should be allowed to vote in local elections while retaining their postwar Korean citizenship.
"Considering their historical background, I requested active cooperation from Prime Minister Aso," Lee said.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
Finding U.S. landing site faces delay
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) A candidate site for a permanent facility in Japan for U.S. warplanes to practice landing on aircraft carriers will not be selected by the primary deadline of July, according to Japanese and U.S. sources.
The training is currently being conducted on a provisional basis on Iwojima, or Iwoto as it is now named, by U.S. naval aircraft stationed at the Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture. Iwoto is about 1,200 km from Honshu.
The May 2006 agreement between Japan and the United States on the realignment of U.S. military forces specified that a site for the permanent training facility should be selected by next month or at the earliest possible date thereafter.
According to the sources, Tokyo already notified Washington of the delay when it turned down a U.S. request for a site to be selected within 180 km of the U.S. Marine Corps' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The Defense Ministry and the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which are responsible for the project, have been trying to select a site from a broader area.
Because aircraft activities, including night landing practice, cause serious noise pollution, the selection process for the facility has been hard going.
The Japanese government considered Okurokami Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, Mage Island in Kagoshima Prefecture and the vicinity of Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, as candidate sites, but the plans were aborted after strong protests.
The U.S. side appears to be unhappy with the delay, according to the sources, because it could affect the schedule for relocating naval aircraft from Atsugi to Iwakuni.
An official in the U.S. Department of Defense reiterated the importance of the training facility and said the selection of a site is a basic premise for the aircraft relocation from Atsugi to Iwakuni.
According to a Defense Ministry source, the training facility issue is considered one of the key but hidden obstacles to the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Monday, June 29, 2009
LDP hoping to get bills passed fast, call election
(Kyodo News) The Liberal Democratic Party sought cooperation Sunday from opposition parties to get key bills through the Diet as soon as possible.
Senior opposition leaders responded positively, which is expected to make it easier for Prime Minister Taro Aso to dissolve the Lower House soon and call a general election.
"We want to debate important bills promptly," LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said on an NHK talk show.
Hosoda was referring to a bill on inspections of North Korean cargo vessels, an amendment to the Organ Transplant Law, and a bill to provide help for people not yet recognized as victims of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease.
Later in the day, Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama said the DPJ is willing to end deliberations quickly on the transplant and Minamata bills, and his party "will not aimlessly prolong the deliberations" on the ship inspection bill.
Aso told Hosoda on Saturday to try to get the bills passed soon, which was widely interpreted as indicating Aso's intention to dissolve the Lower House in mid-July for a general election.
Hosoda said on NHK that passing key bills will not necessarily be a condition for dissolving the chamber, but added, "It is the minimum responsibility of the Diet to settle (debates on the key bills)."
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