AMERICAN EMBASSY, TOKYO
PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION
OFFICE OF TRANSLATION AND MEDIA ANALYSIS
INQUIRIES: 03-3224-5360
INTERNET E-MAIL ADDRESS: tokyoots@state.gov
DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS
April 17, 2001
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INDEX:
(1) KEDO: Gap between U.S., ROK; Japan sees the problem as if it were other
countries' affair
(2) Prospects for relocation of Futenma Air Station five years after agreement
reached on return of the airfield; "Time limit on use of an alternate facility"
remains stumbling block; Focus of attention now on what response the next prime
minister will make
(3) Distrust of LDP growing also in farm districts, accelerating "LDP's strongholdcollapse" domino phenomenon; Terata reelected as Akita Governor
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ARTICLES:
(1) KEDO: Gap between U.S., ROK; Japan
sees the problem as if it were other countries'
affair
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full)
April 15, 2001
Developments connected with North Korea
recently have become imperceptible on the surface, as
symbolized by the impasse in normalization talks
between Japan and North Korea. That is because
certain moves are taking place behind the scenes.
One example is the Korean Energy Development
Organization (KEDO) project to build light-water
reactors in North Korea as sponsored by Japan, the
U.S., and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Preparatory work, such as the leveling of
ground in the Hamgkyong-Nando Kumho District in
the eastern part of North Korea, is almost over.
However, the future course of the project remains
unclear with the U.S. Bush Administration searching
for a way to convert the plan into a thermoelectric
power plant, and the ROK Government wishing to
continue the original plan. Sparks have been flying
between the two countries on the issue even before
the Bush Administration came into office.
A certain expert on Asia with a strong
influence on Republican Party policy-making and
who is now a policy advisor to the Bush
Administration, visited South Korea last December.
In a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, the specialist probe the
idea of converting the KEDO plan from light water
reactors to a thermoelectric power plant. He cited the
following reasons: (1) the time and cost of
construction could be reduced; and (2) there is
concern that plutonium, a material for nuclear
warheads, can be extracted from light water reactors.
The ROK opposed the proposal on the
grounds that switching the plan to the construction of
a thermoelectric power plant at the present stage
would bring no benefit in terms of shortening the
length of construction and cost. Regarding concern
over a possible conversion of fuel at the planned
facilities into nuclear weapons material, the ROK was
adamant: "Spent fuel can be sent to third countries."
On March 28, the head of the ROK
Government's Light Water Reactors Project Support
Planning Team, which has jurisdiction over KEDO,
openly argued at a symposium that he had many
problems with the idea of changing the project to a
thermoelectric generator plant. He thus dampened
the move to review the KEDO project emerging in
the U.S.
According to a certain South Korean diplomat
involved in secret negotiations on the KEDO project,
there is another reason why the ROK is sticking to
construction of light water reactors. There is a longterm calculation that if the South and the North unite
into one country in the future, the light water reactors
installed in North Korea would help supply energy to
the entire Korean Peninsula.
Last year's summit meeting between Seoul
and Pyongyang has given impetus to efforts to further
promote relations between the South and North. It is
the ROK's top priority now. That is why the ROK is
positive about supporting North Korea's request for
the supply of electric power in a separate framework
from the KEDO project.
On the other hand, the Bush Administration is
taking a fresh look at the former Clinton
Administration's North Korea policy. For example, it
views with much concern the notion that there has
been a decline in North's Korea's military threat and
is alert to the possibility that the South's providing
electrical power as assistance to the North would
support a military build-up by the North. The gap
between the U.S. and the ROK this remains wide.
The issue should be a serious matter of
concern for Japan as well, for it is obliged to shoulder
1 billion dollars out of the 4.6 billion dollars needed
by KEDO to construct the light water reactors.
However, the reply given by Foreign Minister Kono
at the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee
sounded as if he were talking about the affairs of
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some other country. He noted, "The proposed
conversion of the light water reactor plan into a
thermoelectric power plant plan should not be
decided by the U.S. alone. Such a decision may not
be reached soon."
While the U.S. and the ROK are trying to
tackle individual problems, including the KEDO
issue, by setting long-term targets, Japan's stance
remains visibly passive.
Many in the ROK think: "The new U.S.
administration will outline its North Korea policy in a
couple of months. North Korea will then make a
move," as one senior official remarked. A sense of
tension continues, making contrast with the case of
the Mori Administration, which has effectively
become a lame duck.
It appears then that Japan's next government
will be pressed to come up with a policy line of
finding common ground with the U.S. and the ROK,
now separated by a widening gap on this issue.
(01041603yk)
(2) Prospects for relocation of Futenma Air
Station five years after agreement reached on
return of the airfield; "Time limit on use of an
alternate facility" remains stumbling block;
Focus of attention now on what response the
next prime minister will make
YOMIURI (Page 12) (Full)
April 16, 2001
Analysis
Five years ago, the governments of Japan and the
United States agreed to the relocation of Futenma Air
Station in Okinawa. In order to bring the relocation
plan to fruition, there are still a number of hurdles to
clear.
[Tadashi Toriyama, reporter of
Department residing in Naha City]
the
Political
In order to facilitate the process of relocating
the Futenma airfield, the central government and the
local municipalities last August launched a panel to
discuss an alternate facility. Full discussion of a
basic relocation plan began but the panel soon
encountered a major bottleneck: the issue of
responding to the request by Okinawa Prefecture and
Nago City, the relocation site, to place a 15 year limit
on use of an alternative facility.
Placing a time limit on use of site was a
campaign pledge made during the 1998 gubernatorial
election by candidate Keiichi Inamine, now governor
of Okinawa. In 1999, he presented this as one of the
conditions for local government acceptance of the
alternative facility.
The notion later received
approval from the central government. But the timelimit issue remains unresolved, holding up progress
on the site.
Because both governments initially voiced
strong objections to setting a time limit on use of the
military facility, most observers believe it will be too
difficult to bring the idea to any fruition. However,
the central government accepted the locality's request
because it then was under strong pressure to quickly
decide where to relocate the airfield, there not being
much time not left before the 2000 Okinawa Summit
which U.S. President Clinton attended.
The central government, taking every
occasion of bilateral talks at various levels, including
summit talks, has conveyed the time-limit request to
the U.S. side. But it has yet to make any move on its
own to resolve the issue. This is perhaps because,
according to one Foreign Ministry source, "The
Japanese Government finds it difficult to bring up the
issue in view of uncertainties in the international
situation, beginning with the Korean Peninsula."
U.S. officials, too, object to any setting of a
time limit that could limit military operations. In fact,
in the recent Japan-U.S. summit meeting on March
19, President Bush stated that setting a time limit on
use would be difficult. He made it clear that there was
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no change in the U.S. position, even under a new
administration.
Meanwhile,
the
Okinawa
prefectural
government and the Nago city government cannot
easily yield. They fear that if they allowed the issue
to be shunted aside, they might then come under
heavy fire from prefectural residents.
To dissolve the impasse among the three
parties concerned, efforts have continued behind the
scenes to find a point of compromise.
These efforts have generated several ideas.
One, for instance, is the notion of the central and
local governments exchanging a memorandum setting
a time limit by categorizing it as a domestic problem.
Another is for the governments of Japan and the U.S.
to engage again in negotiations in 10 years or 15
years after the alternate facility comes on line. And
still another suggestion is to invite officials from the
Okinawa government and other quarters as observers
to government-level talks in order to reflect the
opinions of the local populace.
However, some assert that it is difficult to
settle the issue as a domestic matter with no
participation of the U.S. Others point out that in such
a case, a resolution of the issue may be even further
delayed. No clear path toward bring the issue to a
settlement has yet come into sight.
Another unresolved problem is
construction method for the alternative facility.
the
There are three construction methods
proposed: 1) reclamation; 2) a quick installment pier
method (QIP); and 3) a mega-float design. Of the
three, the reclamation plan is now most likely, but
concern remains that it might be rejected not only by
the anti-relocation group but also by the prorelocation group who back another construction
method.
Political leadership is needed to resolve these
challenges, which were already evident when the
relocation site was picked. But Prime Minister Mori,
who has little interest in the Okinawa issue and
whose political base is not stable, has remained
reluctant to display any sign of leadership in dealing
with the issue.
The eyes of residents in Okinawa Prefecture
and Nago City are now focused on who will win the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election.
They have the high hopes that the new prime minister
will break the impasse.
Of the four presidential candidates, Ryutaro
Hashimoto, state minister in charge of Okinawa, who
in April 1996 while in office as prime minister,
decided to relocate the Futenma base, is well
informed on the issue. The other three, including
former health and welfare minister Junichiro Koizumi,
have yet to make noteworthy comments on the issue.
How the Futenma relocation issue will be
handled will greatly affect the Japan-U.S. security
alliance. Whoever takes the helm of state cannot
avoid this issue. A new prime minister will indeed
have to make a difficult judgment, caught in between
relations with the U.S. and complications at the local
level.
(01041604ku)
(3) Distrust of LDP growing also in farm
districts, accelerating "LDP's strongholdcollapse" domino phenomenon; Terata
reelected as Akita Governor
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Excerpt)
April 16, 2001
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) defeated in the
Akita gubernatorial election yesterday, amid the LDP
presidential election campaigning. Incumbent Akita
Governor Sukeshiro Terata (60) was reelected,
defeating two contenders. One of them was Kaneyuki
Muraoka (43), the eldest son of LDP General Council
Chairman Kanezo Muraoka who was backed by the
ruling coalition. Akita Prefecture is a so-called LDP
stronghold, with all the five lawmakers representing
this prefecture belonging to the LDP. Following the
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cases of Nagano, Tochigi, and Chiba prefectures,
Akita has thrust a big "no" at the LDP. The domino
phenomenon of LDP strongholds collapsing one by
one thus has accelerated.
In a rice-producing district in the southern
part of the prefecture -- the home turf of Executive
Council Chairman Kenzo Muraoka – one farmer (55)
who cultivates 6 hectares of land voted for Terata,
even though he is an LDP member. He said:
Farmers are now irked the LDP for lacking
any kind of an agriculture policy. The Akita
Prefecture Agricultural Cooperative and Politics
League (chaired by Shoichi Komatsu, with about
3,000 members), a political organization that has
served as the driving force of this "LDP stronghold,"
backed Terata for the first time. It did so because it
highly evaluated his specific agricultural policy
measures.
On the other hand, the Akita Prefecture Soil
Improvement Political League supported Muraoka.
But many of its executives belong also to the
agricultural cooperative league.
The soil
improvement league has promoted paddy-expansion
projects, of which many farmers have voiced
criticism. A decision on which candidate they should
vote for was entrusted to their judgment.
"Rice prices shot up in the nation's
high economic growth era. There was
the myth that as long as we supported
the LDP, everything would get better.
Believing it, we expanded our paddies.
But now, we cannot afford to pay back
the debts we owe."
A farmer in his 60's who owns an a large track
of farmland that he inherited from his ancestors
grumbled:
"Although we have loyally followed
the LDP, we can no longer hold out."
Another farmer (65) who possesses 5 hectares of land
in Noshiro City stated:
"Many farmers are now aware that
there have been deceived by the LDP."
In Akita Prefecture, rice farmers have
received a double punch -- rice price reductions and
production adjustment (rice-paddy reductions).
Approximately 70,000 farmers -- 30 percent of all the
households in the prefecture -- cultivate more than 30
ares of land on average. Rice production is the
lifeline of the prefectural people. In the case of the
brand rice "Akita Komachi," the average direct-sales
rice price per 60 kilograms, which remained at an
over 20,000-yen level, has skidded to the lowest ever
price of 15,778 yen. Meanwhile, the reduced ricecultivation acreage in the prefecture for this year will
be 42,476 hectares, an increase of 4,000 hectares over
last year.
Adverse effect of pressure
General Council Chairman Muraoka was the
owner president of a local construction company and
his son Kaneyuki once sat on its executive board.
Reflecting the fact that 66 percent of construction
expenses used in Akita are for public works projects,
the LDP has exerted its influence also in the
construction industry, but significant changes are
occurring also here.
The Akita Prefecture Construction Industry
Association recommended Muraoka, but views were
not necessarily monolithic in the industry.
A
construction company executive coolly commented:
"It is inconceivable that Muraoka, who
has been bounded by long-standing ties
[with the LDP], will be able to deal
successfully
with
the
ongoing
impenetrable economic slump."
The LDP sent big-wig or popular lawmakers
to Akita, such as Ryutaro Hashimoto, Junichiro
Koizumi, Taro Aso, Hiromu Nonaka, Makoto Koga,
Yuko Obuchi, Seiko Noda, as well as Land,
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi.
Such an approach, however, only brought about a
negative impact.
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A Muraoka's campaign office member
analyzed that the visits of such big-wigs in the central
government to Akita only added to the bad image the
party already had.
The adverse wind against the LDP at the
center of the nation is now blowing across farm
districts as well.
Hashimoto
faction
remains
powerless;
Presidential election likely to be affected
The outcome of the Akita gubernatorial
election is likely to affect the LDP presidential race
and the July Upper House election.
The liquidity of conservative votes now is
analyzed to be a global-scale trend. The outcome in
Akita also can be taken as signs of LDP members
breaking with their organizations.
The successive defeats of the candidates
backed by the ruling coalition in the Nagano, Tochigi,
Chiba and Akita gubernatorial elections indicate that
the coalition under the LDP-New Komeito-Hoshuto
will not be able to win the Upper House election on
their own.
Former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro
Koizumi told a press conference last night:
"A strong headwind is blowing
against the LDP. The problem lies not
in the candidate himself but in the
LDP. The election result stemmed
from (the candidate's) facing the
adverse wind against the LDP. We
need to take seriously the successive
failures of the candidates we endorse."
Lower House member and former Hashimoto
faction chief of secretariat Hosei Norota, in addition
to Kanezo Muraoka, a senior member of the
Hashimoto faction, also comes from Akita Prefecture.
As it stands, the prefecture is defined as an
impregnable fortress for the Hashimoto faction, but
its pressure hardly worked effectively.
(01041604ys)
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