Tongil Korea

FOCUS: N. Korea closely watches Hatoyama’s diplomatic skills
Saturday, September 12, 2009 10:04 PM

PYONGYANG, Sep. 12, 2009 (Kyodo News International) — Japan’s prime minister in waiting Yukio Hatoyama will be faced with major diplomatic challenges over North Korea as he takes office Wednesday. …

Source: istockAnalyst.com (press release)

DPRK eyes fruitful ties with Japan

TOKYO: The nominal No. 2 leader of Democractic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has called for “fruitful relations” with Japan’s next prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, but ties will depend on how Tokyo tackles issues such as compensation for Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule, Kyodo news agency reported Thursday.

Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, also suggested in an interview that leader Kim Jong-il had no health problems, adding that there had been no discussions on who would succeed him, Kyodo reported from Pyongyang.

“The prospect of (DPRK)-Japan relations will solely depend on the attitude of the Japanese government,” Kim Yong-nam was quoted by Kyodo as saying.

Ties between Japan and the DPRK have been rocky because of issues ranging from Japan’s past colonization to alleged DPRK abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

Tokyo imposed an array of sanctions on the DPRK after a series of missile and nuclear tests, while Pyongyang’s official media are routinely scathing in their criticism of Japan.

Hatoyama, who is expected to take office on September 16, advocates closer ties with Asian neighbors but his party has promised to take firm measures to urge the DPRK to abandon its nuclear program with help from the international community.

Kim Yong-nam criticized the “hostile” stance of the outgoing conservative Liberal Democratic Party government of Prime Minister Taro Aso, a relatively hawkish leader who pushed a tough line on the DPRK.

On media reports on a potential successor to leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Yong-nam said they were “groundless”, Kyodo said.

Kim Yong-nam said foreign media ran such reports “in an attempt to stifle our rise and prosperity.”

Reuters-AFP

Source: China Daily – September 11, 2009

Japan Should Cut ‘Useless’ Missile Defense, DPJ Official Says

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa

September 11 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s new government will likely cut missile defense spending because it isn’t effective in thwarting attacks from countries such as North Korea, a senior Democratic Party of Japan official said.

“Missile defense is almost totally useless,” said Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, a Lower House lawmaker who served as the party’s deputy defense spokesman prior to its Aug. 30 election victory. “Only one or two out of 100 are ever effective,” he said yesterday in an interview in his Tokyo office.

Reducing missile defense would come as North Korea, Japan’s closest military threat, boosts its nuclear and missile capability. Yamaguchi, the author of a book on the U.S.-Japan defense alliance, said trimming military expenditures is necessary to offset Prime Minister-designate Yukio Hatoyama’splans to increase social welfare spending and tuition aid.

Japan is developing a missile shield using the land-based Patriot PAC-3 system and the Standard Missile-3 used on Aegis- equipped destroyers, both built by Raytheon Co., the world’s largest missile maker. The defense ministry requested a 58 percent increase on missile defense to 176.1 billion yen ($1.9 billion) next year, as part of 4.85 trillion yen budget, up three percent from this year.

‘No Number’

“Regardless of the threat from North Korea, defense specialists must know that no number of SM3s or PAC3s can directly protect us,” Yamaguchi, 54, said.

North Korea, which in May tested a second nuclear device, last week said it’s in the final stages of weaponizing plutonium and can either engage in negotiations or accelerate its program. The communist country has also tested several short and medium- range missiles this year, and in April walked out of disarmament talks involving the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

Any reduction in missile defense development would contrast with the outgoing administration of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for all but 10 months since 1955. The party in June suggested Japan consider possessing the capability to attack enemy bases after North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan in April.

Hatoyama said on Aug. 11 that the DPJ “doesn’t intend to increase the defense budget significantly.” He is set to become prime minister in a special parliamentary session on Sept. 16.

“We’ll probably cut” the overall defense budget, said Yamaguchi, who holds a Ph.D. in international politics from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “There’s so much else we have to do, such as child-care allowance, education, health care and pensions.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net; Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: September 11, 2009 02:09 EDT

Source: Bloomberg

Japan, N Korea need new accord to improve ties: North envoy

Pyongyang, September 11 (Kyodo) — Japan and North Korea need a new agreement to improve bilateral relations, and Pyongyang is ready to hold talks with the incoming Japanese administration of Yukio Hatoyama, who advocates closer ties with other Asian nations, a senior North Korean official said Friday.

Source: Kyodo News