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Viewing cable 06TOKYO1415, JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/17/06

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TOKYO1415 2006-03-17 00:55 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tokyo
VZCZCXRO2016
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1415/01 0760055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170055Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9846
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 7808
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 5176
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 8316
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5202
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 6359
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1172
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7362
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 9339
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA; 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST 
DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 03/17/06 
 
Index: 
 
1)   Top headlines 
2)   Editorials 
3)   Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
Ambassador's diplomatic schedule: 
4)   Ambassador Schieffer tours with parents of Megumi Yokota the 
  Niigata coastline spot where North Korean agents abducted the 
  child 
5)   Commenting on Schieffer tour of abduction site, Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Abe calls it "significant," saying he wanted 
him "to share the same feelings we have" 
 
6)   Koizumi Cabinet support rate recovers with a 3.9-point rise 
  to 47.1% in Jiji's poll 
 
Defense and security issues: 
7)   Deputy Under Secretary Lawless unhappy with priority by 
  Japan to local considerations in USFJ realignment, flexible on 
  revising Futenma relocation plan 
8)   Four cabinet members agree to slightly revising Nago City's 
Futenma relocation plan 
9)   Working-level paper to be presented to US on force 
realignment this month, anticipating delay in 2 plus 2 meeting 
10)  JDA chief tells Diet committee that cabinet decision on 
Futenma relocation plan will be next month 
11)  Mayor of Iwakuni City tells JDA to retract jet relocation 
plan 
12)  LDP's Kyuma willing for Japan to bear the $7.5 billion share 
of burden of relocating Marines to Guam 
13)  Pseudonyms used for most SDF personnel in listing those 
punished for crimes 
14)  Foreign Minister Aso joins US, Australian counterparts 
tomorrow for strategic talks and discussion of timetable for GSDF 
pullout from Iraq 
 
15)  Former chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda meets ROK 
  President Roh in effort to prepare way for better bilateral ties 
  after Prime Minister Koizumi leaves office 
 
16)  Ebihara selected as next ambassador to Indonesia 
 
17)  Japan to start negotiating FTAs with Gulf states in the 
  Middle East this July 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Deregulation on marketing activities to sell school textbooks; 
special designation system that bans business entertaining to be 
abolished; Fair Trade Commission official: "It's the trend of the 
times"; Industry notes that decision will affect textbook 
selection 
 
Mainichi: Tokyo Shimbun: 
Usen seals business tie-up with Livedoor; Usen president 
personally obtains Fuji TV's stake in Livedoor worth 9.5 billion 
yen 
 
 
TOKYO 00001415  002 OF 011 
 
 
Yomiuri: 
SDF withholds names of 90% of personnel subjected to disciplinary 
punishments, including those arrested and discharged; 421 persons 
in six months through February 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
Supply-demand gap resolved in Oct-Dec quarter for first time in 
eight years: Personal consumption leads the way out of deflation 
 
Sankei: 
Futenma relocation: Four ministers agree to revise plan in line 
with Nago proposal 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1)  Usen president braves danger in purchasing Livedoor stocks 
(2)  Pension integration: Completely eliminate gaps 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)  Fake email scandal; Settle the issue quickly to normalize 
Diet session 
(2)  Establishment of UN Human Rights Council: Foreign policy 
that makes best use of its functions needed 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)  Major construction companies: Do not water down their 
determination to stop bid-rigging 
(2)  US deficit: Potential risk should be avoided in advance 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)  Construct airports that will boost international 
competitiveness 
(2)  District court is mistaken in denying people's right to know 
 
Sankei: 
(1)  US ambassador inspects abduction site: Ties with US should 
be strengthened 
(2)  Attorneys and delays in hearings: Delay will incur distrust 
in trials among public 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)  Political situation in Thailand becoming tense 
(2)  Traffic safety program: Various measures needed for the 
elderly 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, March 16 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
10:29 
Arrived at Kantei. 
 
11:59 
Met Canon President Fujio Mitarai, Dentsu Supreme Advisor Yutaka 
Narita, journalist Soichiro Tawara, and others at the Hotel New 
Otani. 
 
13:24 
 
TOKYO 00001415  003 OF 011 
 
 
Arrived at Kantei. 
 
14:00 
Met Secretary General Takebe and Hokkaido Governor Harumi 
Takahashi. 
 
15:03 
Met Fuji Xerox Chairman Yotaro Kobayashi, New Japan-China 
Friendship 21st Century Committee Chairman on the Japanese side, 
and others. 
 
16:00 
Met Ambassador to Iraq Yamaguchi and Foreign Ministry's Middle 
Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Director General Yoshikawa. 
Later, attended an event for opening "Dispatch from Tokyo, Japan 
Fashion Week" 
 
17:00 
Met Cabinet Intelligence Director Kanemoto, JDA Defense 
Operations Yamazaki, the Intelligence Headquarters head. 
 
18:10 
Attended a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy 
 
19:34 
Met Lower House Budget Committee Chairman Oshima, principal 
executive board member Kaneko and others, with Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Abe present. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
4) US envoy visits place where Megumi Yokota was abducted to send 
strong message to North Korea; "Injustice cannot be allowed to 
stand" 
 
SANKEI (Page 28) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer yesterday visited the 
site in Niigata City where North Korean agents abducted 13-year- 
old Megumi Yokota in 1977. Schieffer's visit was the first by a 
high-ranking American official to an abduction site. The tour was 
the result of the US envoy's intention to "send a message to 
North Korea." Megumi's mother, Sakie, 70, is scheduled to testify 
on the abduction issue before the US House of Representatives 
later this month. Schieffer's tour is likely to stir up public 
opinion in the US. 
 
Schieffer arrived at Niigata City Yorii Junior High School at 
around 10:30 a.m. yesterday, the school Megumi was attending 
before she was kidnapped. The envoy then toured an intersection 
near the school believed to be the abduction site, the former 
Bank of Japan housing where Megumi lived with her family, and the 
seashore where a North Korean vessel is believed to have been 
awaiting. Megumi's parents, Shigeru, 73, Sakie, and others 
accompanied the ambassador. 
 
Walking down on the school route, Schieffer asked the Yokotas and 
others many questions through an interpreter, such as, "Was she 
with her friends until this point?" Sakie commented: 
 
"I have visited (this area) so many times, but I still feel 
awful. I want to let the ambassador know exactly what happened 
here." 
 
TOKYO 00001415  004 OF 011 
 
 
 
Upon winding up the tour, the US envoy said: 
 
"(What the Yokotas told me) is one of the saddest stories I have 
ever heard. I think anyone who has walked these streets as I have 
would be touched. I was able to feel firsthand that this dreadful 
thing really happened here. Abductions go against everything that 
a civilized society believes in, and this injustice cannot be 
allowed to stand." 
 
The ambassador also said to Sakie and others, "I will raise the 
issue with President Bush when I see him next time." 
 
President Bush visited Japan November 15 last year. Reportedly, 
the president learned from his aide on his plane to Japan that 
Megumi had been abducted that day many years ago. In a press 
conference after his talks with Prime Minister Koizumi, Bush 
said, "We share concern about the abductions by North Korea." 
Sakie and others are scheduled to make strong appeals for the 
need to settle the abduction issue at the US Congress later this 
month. 
 
Shigeru noted in a positive tone: 
 
"The ambassador indicated that as long as he remains in his post, 
he will make efforts to resolve the issue and broach the 
abduction issue in talks with North Korea. I believe that will be 
a strong supporting force for resolving the issue." 
 
5) Abe: I hope the US will share our same sentiment 
 
SANKEI (Page 28) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo 
Abe highly praised US Ambassador Thomas Schieffer's tour of the 
site where North Korean agents abducted Megumi Yokota. Abe said: 
 
"The visit was significant for the resolution of the abduction 
issue, because it signals both to Japan and the world that the 
United States has interest in the issue. I hope the US will share 
our sentiment." 
 
6) Poll: Koizumi cabinet's support rate rebounds to 47.1% 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Abridged) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The Koizumi cabinet's approval rating in March was 47.1%,up 3.9 
percentage points from the preceding month's survey, according to 
findings from a Jiji Press poll released yesterday. The 
disapproval rating was 35.3%,up 0.4 points from the previous 
month. The Koizumi cabinet's support rate, which was down for a 
seventh straight month in February, picked up in the latest poll. 
 
In the breakdown of public support for political parties, the 
ruling Liberal Democratic Party stood at 26.0%,up 0.1 points from 
the last survey, with the leading opposition Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) at 8.8%,up 0.8 points. The New Komeito 
party, a coalition partner of the LDP, was at 4.1%,up 0.8 points. 
Among other parties, the Japanese Communist Party was at 2.2%,up 
0.1 points. The Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) and the 
 
TOKYO 00001415  005 OF 011 
 
 
People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) were respectively at 
1.3% and 0.1%,both leveling off from the last survey. None of the 
respondents picked the New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon). 
 
7) Realignment of US forces in Japan: In interview, US deputy 
under secretary of defense expresses discontent with Japan's 
prioritizing local consideration, flexible about modifying 
Futenma relocation plan 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
By Yoichi Kato, Washington 
 
The Asahi Shimbun interviewed US Deputy Under Secretary of 
Defense Richard Lawless on March 15. Asked about the ongoing 
talks on the realignment of US forces in Japan that have entered 
the homestretch, Lawless expressed discontent with the Japanese 
government's attitude, noting: "The question is why the focus of 
discussions tends to easily shift to minor concerns of local 
residents who would be affected by the planned relocation of 
(bases and troops)." He revealed that Washington has asked Tokyo 
to explain to the public the importance of the ongoing 
realignment for the future of Japan. 
 
Lawless indicated displeasure with Japan's attitude of 
prioritizing local consideration, saying: "Our concern is that 
most Japanese officials involved might not have correctly focused 
on the strategic necessity of the alliance." 
 
Describing the relocation of the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan 
City, Okinawa Prefecture, the redeployment of US Marines from 
Okinawa to Guam, and the return and consolidation of bases in 
Okinawa as three outstanding issues, Lawless stated: "An 
appropriate will and attitude could resolve these issues in next 
few weeks." Referring the Futenma relocation issue, Lawless 
pointed out that the efforts to obtain local understanding "have 
now seemed to run into difficulties." In order to break the 
impasse, "The United States is ready to constructively discuss 
modification of the relocation plan," he said, indicating a 
positive stance about revising the so-called coastal plan Japan 
and the US agreed on last fall. He also showed flexibility about 
the end-of-March deadline for the compilation of the Agreed 
Implementation Plan (AIP). 
 
Lawless reiterated that the cost of the transfer of US Marines to 
Guam has been estimated at 10 billion dollars, or approximately 
1.18 trillion yen, the amount that has incurred a negative 
reaction from Japan, and that the US has asked Japan to pay 75% 
of the cost. He explained that the US is planning a massive 
expansion of the facilities in Guam. Given the asymmetric 
structure of the Japan-US alliance, this level of cost-sharing 
would be "extremely reasonable," he said. 
 
8) Futenma relocation: Four cabinet ministers agree to Nago 
proposal 
 
SANKEI (Top play) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, 
Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga, and Environment 
 
TOKYO 00001415  006 OF 011 
 
 
Minister Yuriko Koike met in Tokyo yesterday evening to discuss 
issues over the planned realignment of US forces in Japan. In the 
meeting, the four cabinet ministers consulted on the government's 
plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in the 
city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to a coastal location on the 
premises of Camp Schwab, a US military base in the island 
prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago. They agreed to 
present the United States with a modified plan that is close to 
Nago's proposal of changes to the government's coastal plan. Nago 
has proposed building an offshore facility to take over the 
airfield's heliport functions. 
 
Japan and the United States will hold intergovernmental working- 
level consultations in Tokyo on March 23-24, with their senior 
officials attending, where the two governments hope to reach a 
broad agreement. Before that, however, the Japanese government 
needed to conduct political coordination among the four cabinet 
ministers in order for the prime minister's office and other 
government offices to be aligned on Japan's standpoint. 
 
The biggest point was whether or not to modify the coastal plan, 
which has run into opposition from Okinawa and Nago. 
 
On March 8, an official of the Nago City municipal government 
said the city would respond to consultations with the government 
if the coastal plan were modified along with the city's proposal 
for changes to that plan. In its statement, the Nago municipal 
government proposed moving the coastal construction site to the 
seaside and building an offshore facility that is contiguous to 
the cape of Camp Schwab from the sea. There were positive views 
about Nago's overtures not only in the Japanese government and 
ruling parties but also in the US government. However, the 
Defense Agency, which had initiated the coastal plan, was 
negative about Nago's proposal, and the government could not find 
a way out of the impasse. 
 
In yesterday's meeting of the four cabinet ministers, Nukaga 
softened his attitude and basically consented to the idea of 
moving the planned coastal construction site to the seaside by 
moving closer to Nago's proposal. The Japanese government, based 
on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision, is now expected 
to finalize its course of action with minor changes added. 
 
Another focus of the four cabinet ministers' meeting yesterday 
was on the issue of footing the cost of Marine relocation to 
Guam. The US government has asked the Japanese government to pay 
75% of the relocation cost estimated at approximately 10 billion 
dollars (equivalent to approx. 1.175 trillion yen). However, the 
Japanese government has proposed loan-based funding cooperation 
on housing and other necessary expenses. The four cabinet 
ministers yesterday agreed that the US proposal was unacceptable. 
 
In addition, the four cabinet ministers also discussed the US 
government's negative stance about holding a 'two-plus-two' of 
the two countries' intergovernmental security consultative 
meeting at a time when the Japanese government still remains 
unable to obtain local consent. The four ministers confirmed that 
they would continue to make efforts for a final agreement in late 
March. 
 
9) Realignment of US forces in Japan: Circulation of document 
with cabinet-level talks postponed; Japan to propose to US 
 
TOKYO 00001415  007 OF 011 
 
 
creating document before end of month 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, 
and Defense Agency (JDA) Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga 
gathered late yesterday and confirmed this policy line: At the 
working-level talks of foreign and defense officials from the two 
countries on the realignment of US forces in Japan, which are 
scheduled to reopen next week, Japan would propose to the Untied 
States that working-level officials create a joint document 
before the end of the month. By using the document as a final 
agreement, the government will accelerate the efforts of 
coordination with relevant local governments, including Okinawa 
Prefecture. 
 
Japan intended to hold a cabinet-level meeting attended by 
foreign and defense ministers of the Japan-US Security 
Consultative Committee (2+2) at the end of the month, but the US 
is reluctant to do so. Japan will thus postpone holding the 2+2 
until April or after. 
 
The US has estimated the cost of the relocation of US Marines in 
Okinawa to Guam at 10 billion dollars, or approximately 1.18 
trillion yen, and asked Japan to pay 75% of the cost. The three 
Japanese officials said Japan "cannot accept such a share." They 
agreed to reject that request. 
 
10) Cabinet decision to be made next month on Futenma relocation 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
At a House of Representatives Security Committee session, Defense 
Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga revealed yesterday that 
the cabinet would make a decision in April on the relocation of 
the US Marine Futenma Air Station (located in Ginowan City, 
Okinawa Prefecture) based on a final report to be compiled by the 
governments of Japan and the United States at the end of March. 
 
By making a new cabinet decision, the government will scrap the 
1999 cabinet decision that an airport for joint military-civilian 
use will be built off Camp Schwab in Nago City, and the plan to 
construct heliport facilities on the coast of Camp Schwab will 
become the government's formal decision. 
 
11) Iwakuni mayor also calls on JDA to call off relocation plan 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Mayor Katsusuke Ihara of Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 
yesterday visited the Defense Agency (JDA) and called on the JDA 
to drop the planned relocation of US carrier-based aircraft to 
Iwakuni, a plan that is part of the realignment of US forces in 
Japan. Referring to the outcome of the recent plebiscite on March 
12, in which a majority of citizens voted against the planned 
relocation, the mayor requested: "I'd like you to respect the 
wishes of local residents and take proper action. I hope thorough 
discussions with local residents will take place." The 
Secretariat's Planning Officer Masaomi Oka, who met with the 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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mayor, asked for his understanding about the planned relocation. 
 
12) LDP's Kyuma: Japan could pay 7.5 billion dollars 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Liberal Democratic Party General Council Chairman Fumio Kyuma 
indicated yesterday that Japan should accept America's request to 
pay 7.5 billion dollars, or about 885 billion yen, for the 
relocation of US Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Kyuma said: 
 
"It's a good opportunity, and Japan should bear the cost no 
matter how expensive it is. If Japan can do away with host nation 
support, we could make a lump-sum payment. Guam is an appropriate 
spot for the US to maintain its deterrent capability against an 
armed attack on Japan in accordance with the Japan-US Security 
Treaty." 
 
13) SDF withholds true names of 90% of personnel subjected to 
disciplinary punishments, including those arrested and 
discharged; 421 persons in six months up to end of February 
 
YOMIURI (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The Defense Agency (JDA) and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) 
recently released a report on disciplinary actions during a six- 
month period up to the end of this February. However, this paper 
has learned that 90% of the names of personnel who were subject 
to disciplinary punishments were withheld, with pseudonyms used. 
Even internally, even the ages and ranks of those who were 
subject to punishments were withheld in many cases in order to 
prevent their identity from being known. SDF noted that the cases 
of disciplinary actions should be released in principle in the 
form of withholding the identification of concerned persons. 
However, they withheld even the names of those who were arrested 
or dismissed in disgrace. The stance of the JDA and SDF as 
organizations that are tasked with key official responsibilities 
will likely be questioned. 
 
According to the JDA, 453 personnel of the Ground Self-Defense 
Force (GSDF), the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the Air 
Self-Defense Force (ASDF) and 28 administrative officials 
totaling 481, were subject to punishments in a period from Aug. 
15 through the end of February this year and the cases were 
released. However, the names of 421 were withheld. Only the names 
of 55 SDF personnel and 5 administrative officials were revealed. 
It appears that most of these personnel whose names were revealed 
had already been released at the time of arrests by police. A 
sergeant who stole a safe that contained 630,000 yen from an 
office at the GSDF Camp Koriyama was discharged in disgrace. The 
GSDF house police arrested him, and yet his name and background 
were withheld. The ages of those who were suspended for driving 
under the influence of alcohol were not released, either. 
 
An associate professor at the Defense Academy, 37, was dismissed 
this month for sexually harassing a female student. In this case, 
his brief background was at first withheld so that the victim 
could not be identified, but the Defense Academy did not even 
inform this student of the disciplinary action against him. A 
senior GSDF officer at the JDA Technical Research and 
 
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Developments Institute, who was arrested over molestation, was 
suspended. The rank of this level is normally released, but in 
this case, his rank was just mentioned "field-grade officer 
rank." 
 
14) Japan, US, Australia to hold talks on timing of GSDF 
withdrawal from Iraq 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso will arrive in Australia to attend for 
the first time a cabinet-minister-level strategic dialogue with 
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and US Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice. The dialogue will take place on March 18 
in Sydney. Aso is expected to exchange views on the timing for 
Japan to withdraw its Ground Self-Defense Force troops stationed 
in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah with his Australian and US 
counterparts. 
 
The Japanese government had planned to pull them out before the 
end of March in line with the withdrawal of British and 
Australian forces that have maintained public order in Samawah. 
 
However, following the delay of the inauguration of the new Iraqi 
government, and Iraq's deteriorating security due to the 
intensifying sectarian strife, the Japanese government is unable 
to construct a scenario for withdrawing the GSDF troops. Japan, 
the US, and Australia will analyze the current Iraqi situation. 
 
15) Fukuda, South Korean president in meeting focus on 
improvement in bilateral ties after Koizumi leaves office 
 
ASAHI (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
March 17, 2006 
 
Kimitaka Nishiyama, Seoul 
 
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and former Prime 
Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, now visiting South Korea, met with 
President Roh Moo Hyun at the President's Office yesterday, in 
which both sides confirmed the need for the two countries to make 
efforts to improve the now-strained relations between Japan and 
South Korea. Fukuda stressed: "We must develop relations at the 
top level in a revolutionary way," indicating the necessity to 
break the impasse by resuming bilateral summitry. President Roh 
said: "My aides told me not to do so, but I want to visit 
Yushukan, the exhibit hall of Yasukuni Shrine and see its 
'Chronology of Modern Japanese Military History.' If the Japanese 
government approves it, I would like to visit there." He then 
criticized Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to the shrine. 
 
Fukuda and Nakasone arrived in Seoul to attend a joint general 
meeting of the Japan-South Korea Cooperation Committee and the 
South Korea-Japan Cooperation Committee. The South Korean side 
delivered a strong message expressing a desire to repair 
relations with Japan to Fukuda, who has been regarded as a 
potential successor to Prime Minister Koizumi. In the talks, both 
sides focused their attention on a scenario after Koizumi steps 
down. 
 
According to a Japanese government source, Roh indicated that 
 
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Japan and South Korea should try to mend the damaged bilateral 
relations through private-level exchanges, saying: 
 
"There are difficult problems pending between Japan and South 
Korea, but it is necessary to break the impasse in a rational 
way. Should it be impossible to attain it at the government 
level, it would be possible to do so efforts at the private 
level." 
 
In response, Fukuda said: "Some people in Japan have the 
impression that 'the president is hard on Japan,' but I have 
received a considerably different impression of you. Can't you 
visit Japan to speak directly to the Japanese people?" 
 
Roh also lashed out at the prime minister's visits to Yasukuni 
Shrine: 
 
"His visits have become blocked the process of social and 
economic development..... There must never again be hegemonism, 
under which one nation bears down or rules another country. It is 
undesirable for one nation to take a unilateral stance on past 
events." 
 
16) Foreign Ministry blocks intervention by Prime Minister's 
Official Residence in the appointment of Shin Ebihara as 
ambassador to Indonesia 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The government has appointed Shin Ebihara, former assistant 
deputy chief cabinet secretary, as ambassador to Indonesia. 
Although aides to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Prime 
Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) officials voiced strong 
objections to Ebihara's appointment as ambassador to Indonesia, 
the Foreign Ministry rejected such calls. 
 
Ebihara served only one year in the post of assistant deputy 
chief cabinet secretary, after serving as the director general of 
the Foreign Ministry's North American Affairs Bureau. Hiroyasu 
Ando, former consul general in New York, replaced him. Ebihara 
was scarcely able to meet with Koizumi because he did not get 
along with Koizumi's aides. A government official said: "He was 
excluded from decisions on important diplomatic issues. He 
therefore was sacked in effect." 
 
A Kantei source explained the reason why Ebihara was treated 
coldly: 
 
"It was because of the rumor that Mr. Ebihara was letting it be 
known that he would become the next administrative vice foreign 
minister, as well as for other personal problems. These matters 
upset the prime minister's aides." 
 
Many officials in the Foreign Ministry felt sympathy for Ebihara 
and they engaged the Kantei in negotiations to award Ebihara with 
an ambassador's post, but Kantei officials objected to the 
ministry's view. "The ambassador to Indonesia is an important 
post since that country receives the second largest allocation in 
Asia of Japanese official development assistance funds, following 
India," said an aide to Koizumi. Some Foreign Ministry officials 
raised objections, with one senior official saying, "It is 
 
TOKYO 00001415  011 OF 011 
 
 
abnormal for the Kantei to intervene in ambassadorial 
appointments." 
 
Ebihara was regarded as a potential candidate for administrative 
vice minister, along with current Vice Minister Shotaro Yachi, 
but it is now uncertain whether he will ever be able to get the 
post given the enmity of the prime minister's aides. A senior 
ministry official, however, thought that with his appointment as 
ambassador to Indonesia would pave the way for him to land the 
vice minister's post. 
 
17) Government to start FTA negotiations with Gulf nations 
possibly in July 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Full) 
March 17, 2006 
 
The government decided yesterday that it would start negotiations 
on concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf 
Cooperation Council (GCC) composed of six Arab nations on the 
Persian Gulf coast. The government will promote negotiations on a 
FTA on trade in goods, instead of an economic partnership 
agreement (EPA), in a bid to secure stable resources supply by 
strengthening relations with the Gulf nations. 
 
The GCC is composed of six nations - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, 
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman. Japan has imported about 
75% of its crude oil from these countries. Given such uncertain 
factors as Iran's nuclear development problem, it is imperative 
for Japan to cement ties with the countries out of the need to 
secure resources in preparation for an emergency. 
 
Japan, however, has gotten a slow start, compared with China, the 
European Union (EU), which have already started FTA talks with 
the GCC. In addition, the GCC is looking into a plan to promote a 
free trade zone concept with the US. Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Shinzo Abe indicated that Japan would accelerate FTA talks with 
the GCC, saying: "If conditions are met, it will be significant 
to forge ahead with talks focusing on an FTA." Foreign Minister 
Taro Aso also said: "It is our important partner in terms of 
energy security." 
 
According to Japanese negotiators, the GCC side is also positive 
stance about holding negotiations in hopes of an expansion of 
investment from Japan. Keeping such a stance of the GCC in mind, 
the government plans to hold a preparatory meeting in May and 
start negotiations in July, though it usually conducts joint 
research for about a year before starting negotiations. 
 
SCHIEFFER