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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 002237 
 
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:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/25/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Japanese, US defense chiefs agree on Japan's share of 710 
billion yen or 59% of total cost to move Marines to Guam 
 
(2) Okinawa welcomes Japan-US agreement on cost sharing as a 
"step forward"; Inamine on hot seat; Japan, US in final stretch 
for producing final report 
 
(3) Okinawa welcomes bilateral agreement on cost sharing for Guam 
relocation; May affect Futenma relocation 
 
(4) "US-Japan Alliance and Turbulent Northeast Asia" symposium: 
CSIS senior vice president calls for acceleration of US force 
realignment 
 
(5) Editorial: Minshuto's victory in Lower House by-election to 
bring tension back into politics 
 
(6) Qatar planning to immensely increase LNG output holds key to 
Japan's energy resource strategy 
 
(7) "We will now get down to the work of lifting the US beef 
import ban," says agriculture minister 
 
(8) FTC releases report calling for fair competition 
 
(9) Thoughts on income disparity (Part 1); Argument that 
structural reforms have widened economic divide lacks grounds 
 
(10) South Korean president's statement makes improvement in 
strained Japan-South Korea relations more difficult 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Japanese, US defense chiefs agree on Japan's share of 710 
billion yen or 59% of total cost to move Marines to Guam 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Slightly abridged) 
April 25, 2006 
 
Defense Agency (JDA) Director General Fukushiro Nukaga visited 
the US and reached an agreement with his US counterpart Rumsfeld 
on Japan's share of the cost of relocating Okinawa-based Marines 
to Guam. When he left for the US, no arrangement had been made 
for a defense summit. Nukaga engaged in direct negotiations "with 
his political life on the line." 
 
Nukaga met US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld at the Department of 
Defense on the night of April 23, local time. The two defense 
chiefs agreed that Tokyo would pay 6.09 billion dollars (about 
710 billion yen) of the total 10.27 billion dollars (about 1.21 
trillion yen) cost. It is now highly likely that a conclusion 
will soon be reached on the realignment of US forces in Japan as 
Tokyo and Washington have already reached board agreement in 
areas other than the Guam cost. 
 
The two countries plan to hold a Japan-US Security Consultative 
Committee meeting of defense and foreign ministers (2+2) in 
Washington on May 2, in which both sides expect to formally agree 
on the contents of a final report on US force realignment. 
 
"Businessman" Ambassador Schieffer serves as stage assistant 
 
TOKYO 00002237  002 OF 010 
 
 
 
On the evening of April 23, US Ambassador to Japan Schieffer and 
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Lawless greeted Nukaga when he 
arrived by car at the main entrance of the Defense Department. 
Rumsfeld was not there. 
 
When Nukaga left Tokyo on April 21, a meeting with Rumsfeld had 
not been arranged. Although Rumsfeld proposed meeting him on 
April 24 due to his planned business trip for the weekend, the 
deadline for Nukaga was the evening of April 23 in view of the 
Diet schedule. 
 
It was feared that if no agreement was reached during Nukaga's 
stay in the US, the 2+2 meeting on May 2 would be cancelled. 
Despite such a possibility, Lawless, the responsible official on 
the US side, had insisted: "Japan should pay 75% of the total 10 
billion dollar cost." Judging that it would be impossible for 
both sides to step away from their conventional positions in 
working-level talks, Nukaga was determined to meet directly with 
Rumsfeld. 
 
It was Ambassador Schieffer who arranged the defense summit. 
Making use of his close ties with President Bush, who used to be 
his business partner, Schieffer took Rumsfeld out to meet Nukaga. 
 
Many observers take the view that Schieffer played the role of 
"stage assistant" to bring about the agreement on Japan's share 
of the Guam relocation cost. The ambassador had been meeting 
secretly with Nukaga over the past year. Japanese officials had 
 
SIPDIS 
high expectations of him, a senior JDA official remarking: "Since 
he used to be a businessman, he is sensible in negotiations on 
matters related to money." 
 
Washington began to call on Japan to foot 75% of the 10 billion 
dollars bill in early March. In response, Tokyo proposed a 30% 
share in an attempt to lower the percentage to less than 50%. But 
the US took an uncompromising position. On March 23, Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) Executive Council Chairman Fumio Kyuma met 
with Lawless and proposed that Japan would finance the 
construction of housing for troops' families under a government 
loan arrangement, saying: "Japan will find it difficult to obtain 
public understanding for any plans to finance portions other than 
those used also by Self-Defense Force troops, such as joint 
training." Difficult negotiations were continuing even after 
that, but early on the morning of April 11, when Nukaga met with 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Aso in 
the Diet building, Aso said: 
 
"It is inconceivable that the US will agree to Japan's proposal 
for a 50% share. I suggest that Japan and the US should disburse 
one-third of the total cost each from their respective state 
coffers and that Japan bear the remaining portion under a low- 
interest loan arrangement." 
 
The US had come up with this proposal first. Nukaga switched his 
"trump card" to the formula of allocating the relocation cost to 
Japan's fiscal spending, US fiscal spending, and the loan 
formula. On April 20, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told 
Nukaga, who visited his official residence: "In order to 
strengthen the Japan-US alliance and reduce Okinawa's base 
burden, Japan will have to defray some of the cost." The prime 
minister left the ultimate power of attorney in his hands. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002237  003 OF 010 
 
 
The meeting between Rumsfeld and Nukaga, for which two hours had 
been set, lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes. 
 
Key points in Japan-US agreement 
 
    Japan should pay 6.09 billion dollars or 59% of the 10.27 
billion dollar cost to relocate Okinawa-based Marines to Guam. 
    The Japanese government should disburse 2.8 billion dollars 
as expenses to construct barracks, a Marine command building, 
schools, and the like; invest 1.5 billion dollars in a newly 
established third-sector body for constructing housing for US 
troops' families; and pay the remainder in loans as expenses 
related to housing and social infrastructure, including 
electricity and sewage facilities. 
    US should disburse 3.18 billion dollars from its coffers. 
 
(2) Okinawa welcomes Japan-US agreement on cost sharing as a 
"step forward"; Inamine on hot seat; Japan, US in final stretch 
for producing final report 
 
OKINAWA TIMES (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
April 25, 2006 
 
Okinawa residents are welcoming an agreement reached April 24 
between Tokyo and Washington on the two countries' financial 
contributions to the relocation of US Marines from Okinawa to 
Guam. Now that the path for US force realignment has been laid 
d 
out, the two countries are certain to produce a final report that 
would specify a plan to relocate the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air 
Station to Camp Schwab in Nago. Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine will 
be soon pressed to make a tough decision. 
 
An Okinawa official described the settlement of the Guam 
relocation cost-sharing issue as a "major step" toward returning 
US bases in the central and southern parts of Okinawa and 
reducing 8,000 US Marines. 
 
But the Futenma relocation issue still remains as a sticking 
point. Although the Okinawa prefectural government has no 
intention of accepting any new plan, it wants to avoid locking 
horns with the central government because its cooperation is 
essential in reutilizing vacated US military bases in the 
prefecture. 
 
In an April 20 press conference, Inamine described the Futenma 
relocation agreement as a matter only the central government can 
decide on. The governor has visibly softened his stance since 
last October when he rejected the Japan-US interim report as 
totally unacceptable. The prevalent view in Okinawa is that 
Inamine will reject the two-runway plan and support instead a 
plan to build a ground-based helipad at Camp Schwab. 
 
Inamine is expected to convey Okinawa's position to Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi to reflect it in a new cabinet 
decision once a final report is produced. In that instance, the 
focus will be how far Inamine will press the government for 
eliminating the danger of helicopters based at Futenma Air 
Station. 
 
(3) Okinawa welcomes bilateral agreement on cost sharing for Guam 
relocation; May affect Futenma relocation 
 
 
TOKYO 00002237  004 OF 010 
 
 
ASAHI (Page 14) (Full) 
Evening, April 24, 2006 
 
Residents of Okinawa, who have been suffering from the excess 
burden of US bases, are vocally welcoming news on an agreement 
reached between Tokyo and Washington on sharing the cost of 
relocating US Marines from Okinawa to Guam. The agreement will 
set the relocation plan in motion. Yoritaka Hanashiro, director 
of the Okinawa governor's executive office, said: "The transfer 
of US Marine Corps headquarters would result in a smaller base 
burden. I would like to give high marks to the cost-sharing 
agreement that would push the relocation plan to that end." But 
Hanashiro only said this about the specific shares of Japan and 
the US, "I am not in a position to comment." 
 
The Okinawa prefectural government has yet to give its consent to 
the plan to relocate Futenma Air Station to Cape Schwab at Henoko 
in Nago City. The agreement reached between Tokyo and Washington 
on the Guam relocation cost is likely to have a subtle impact on 
Gov. Keiichi Inamine's stance on the Futenma issue. 
 
Mayor Tsuneo Chinen of Uruma, a city hosting Camp Courtney where 
the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force command is based, which will 
be moved to Guam, said perplexingly: "Although the command is 
scheduled to move to Guam, the central government hasn't shown us 
anything. We don't know when the command will move and what will 
happen to the base once the command is gone. There is no clear 
guarantee of the status of those working at the base." 
 
(4) "US-Japan Alliance and Turbulent Northeast Asia" symposium: 
CSIS senior vice president calls for acceleration of US force 
realignment 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Full) 
April 25, 2006 
 
A symposium titled "US-Japan Alliance and Turbulent Northeast 
Asia" was held yesterday at the Nikkei Hall under the co- 
sponsorship of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the US Center for 
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). CSIS Senior Vice 
President Kurt Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary of 
defense, commented on Japan and the US having reached an 
agreement on their financial contributions to the relocation of 
US Marines from Okinawa to Guam: "US force realignment must be 
accelerated in the future as well. It is not possible to rely 
only on the US-Japan alliance for the defense of Asia." Campbell 
underlined the need to split US forward deployment bases to 
multiple locations, including Southeast Asia. 
 
Senior CSIS Adviser Michael Green, a former member of the 
National Security Council, called for implementation of the 
agreement: "Although a variety of plans were issued on base 
realignment, few were accompanied by action." 
 
As a means to break the deadlock in the Yasukuni Shrine issue, 
which has strained relations between Japan and China, Harvard 
University Prof. Joseph Nye urged Prime Minister Junichiro 
Koizumi and whoever succeeds him to refrain from visiting the 
shrine, saying, "They have the right to visit the shrine, but 
they must not exercise it. This way, Japan can rob China of its 
diplomatic card." Nye also proposed a two-stage approach to 
China, stating, "It is important to hedge (against crises) while 
urging it to join the international system." 
 
TOKYO 00002237  005 OF 010 
 
 
 
Senior CSIS Adviser James Kelly, a former assistant secretary of 
state, made this comment on the North Korean issue: "The Bush 
administration is not aiming at regime change in North Korea." 
 
In addition to the panelists, the symposium brought together 
former US Undersecretary of State Arnold Kanter, Brookings 
Institution Senior Fellow Richard Brooks, University of Tokyo 
Graduate School Prof. Akihiko Tanaka, and Japan Center for 
Economic Research Chairman Akira Kojima. 
 
(5) Editorial: Minshuto's victory in Lower House by-election to 
bring tension back into politics 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
April 24, 2006 
 
Kazumi Ota, a former member of the Chiba prefectural assembly 
member who was officially endorsed as a candidate by Minshuto 
(Democratic Party of Japan), won a House of Representatives by- 
election on Sunday in Chiba's No. 7 constituency. Minshuto's 
victory is significant. Chances are now that President Ichiro 
Ozawa will be reelected in the party leadership race in 
September, and in the presidential election of the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) in September, whether candidates have a 
strategy to take on Ozawa will likely become a major campaign 
issue. 
 
The by-election filled a Lower House seat vacant after an LDP 
lawmaker quit to take responsibility for an election law 
violation by his supporters. The main opposition party Minshuto, 
which had been in internal disarray due to the bogus email 
fiasco, recently elected Ichiro Ozawa as its new leader. The by- 
election was the last state-level election under the leadership 
of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has announced that he 
will leave office in September at the end of his term. 
 
The first and last battle between Koizumi and Ozawa drew wide 
attention among the public. It can be said that the Chiba No. 7 
district, comprised of both urban and rural areas, is a miniature 
version of the nation. The election pitted Ota against Ken Saito, 
a candidate officially endorsed by the LDP and recommended by the 
New Komeito. The race was regarded as a leading indicator to 
forecast whether the emergence of a two-party system consisting 
of the LDP and Minshuto be propelled forward in next summer's 
House of Councillors election. 
 
The LDP set the Koizumi reform drive as a major campaign issue, 
but there are no clear issues since the resolution of postal 
privatization. Moreover, the government's reform drive is not 
being recognized for its positive effects but is seen as creating 
a widening social gap. Such issues as a widening income disparity 
and gender inequality became campaign issues in Sunday's by- 
election in Chiba. 
 
Ota, a former local prefectural assembly member, stressed she 
would do her best to eliminate the losers in society and to 
correct distortions created by the reform program. Saito, a 
former trade ministry bureaucrat, stressed that he would make 
efforts to continue to promote the reform policy. During the 
campaign, he had to face up to hard criticism of the Koizumi 
reforms. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002237  006 OF 010 
 
 
There was once a rumor that Minshuto would not field candidate 
because of the email fiasco. With Ozawa's assumption of the party 
presidency, the main opposition party was able to restore 
internal unity. As a result, the party won Sunday's by-election. 
 
The LDP has won all Upper and Lower House by-elections conducted 
over the past two years, taking advantage of support from the New 
Komeito, which is an extremely effective tool to garner votes in 
by-elections, in which voter turnout is usually low. The New 
Komeito obtained about 30,000 votes in the Chiba No. 7 
constituency in last year's Lower House election (proportional 
representation segment). However, Sunday's voter turnout was 
49.63%, which was more than expected. As a result, this worked to 
Ota's favor. 
 
With the victory of the Minshuto candidate in the by-election, 
Ozawa's grip on his party has strengthened. His political career 
overshadows the careers of Taro Aso, Sadakazu Tanigaki, Yasuo 
Fukuda and Shinzo Abe, who are regarded as leading LDP 
presidential contenders. There is no mistake that Minshuto's 
victory will help publicize Ozawa's pet argument that political 
change is real structural reform. Finding a person capable of 
competing with Ozawa will likely become a criterion of selecting 
a successor to Koizumi as LDP president. 
 
Minshuto will likely step up its stance of confronting the 
government and ruling camp at the Diet, as Ozawa advocates, 
replacing the stance of presenting counterproposals. In the final 
stage of the ongoing Diet session, the focus will be on a bill to 
hold a national referendum on the process of amending the 
Constitution, as well as on a bill amending the Basic Education 
Law. 
 
There were many cases that the outcomes of by-elections have had 
an impact on the political situation later. A typical example is 
the Upper House by-election for Iwate prefecture in March 1987, 
which created momentum to stop the introduction of a sales tax. 
 
Minshuto's victory proves that the trend for the emergence of a 
two-party system consisting of the LDP and Minshuto appeals to 
the public. We welcome the return of tension in politics. 
 
(6) Qatar planning to immensely increase LNG output holds key to 
Japan's energy resource strategy 
 
SANKEI (Page 3) (Excerpts) 
April 24, 2006 
 
Qatar, a country equivalent to Akita Prefecture in landmass, is 
pursuing a plan to tremendously increase its production of 
liquefied natural gas (LNG). The country may become the world's 
largest LNG producer in several years. Qatar's goal is to 
establish itself as a stable LNG supplier amid growing 
international attention to natural gasses on the backdrop of 
soaring oil prices. 
 
In the country's capital city of Doha, an International Energy 
Forum (IEF) was held April 23 by bringing together energy 
ministers from about 70 countries. 
 
A meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central 
bank governors held in Washington ended April 21 with the 
issuance of a joint statement sounding an alarm against rising 
 
TOKYO 00002237  007 OF 010 
 
 
oil prices as a potential risk to the robust international 
economy and calling for greater oil output, oil refinery 
capability, and energy conservation. The IEF is a venue to 
discuss all those issues. But Qatar, the host of the IEF, intends 
to expand its natural gas supply to rewrite the global energy 
map. 
 
Qatari Second Deputy Prime Minister and Energy and Industry 
Minister Attiyah said: "Our country will become a major global 
power in the LNG-based chemical industry and the GTL (gas-to- 
liquid) area. 
 
In the year Qatar became an independent country, the Northfield 
gas field was discovered in waters off the Persian Gulf, which 
has 26 trillion cubic meters of reserves -- the third largest 
following Russia and Iran. 
 
The reserve is over ten times greater than the volume Japan 
imports from Indonesia. It is also enough to support Japan's 
natural gas consumption for 300 years. 
 
LNG production began in 1996 in Ras Laffan Industrial City, built 
on the Persian Gulf coast 80 kilometers north of Doha. Several 
tens of thousands of workers from some 30 countries are engaged 
in production there, which is now in its seventh term. Annual 
production capability is expected to grow from the 6 million tons 
in the initial stage to 77 million tons in the next five years. 
The total investment would come to 2 trillion yen. 
 
The annual global LNG production is estimated at 130 million 
tons. Qatar's plan to increase the output by 70 million tons is a 
gamble. But the country thinks the chances are in its favor. 
Demand for natural gasses will overtake that for coal by 2020, 
according to an estimate by an international organization. The 
increased portion can be shipped in liquid form. 
 
Japan has a long association with Qatar for LNG production. 
Mitsui & Co. financed the first project during the 1990s, Chiyoda 
Corp. built its facilities, and Chubu Electric Power Co. and 
other firms concluded long-term purchase agreements. 
 
On April 23, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai 
and Qatari Second Deputy Prime Minister Attiyah signed a joint 
statement at the IEF hall, demonstrating "honeymoon relations" 
between the two countries. With a fierce LNG battle expected to 
occur among major powers, Qatar is likely to hold a key to 
Japan's energy strategy. 
 
(7) "We will now get down to the work of lifting the US beef 
import ban," says agriculture minister 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Full) 
Evening, April 25, 2006 
 
Meeting the press after a cabinet meeting, Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said today that now that 
the government had completed a series of town meetings with 
consumers to exchange views on a resumption of US beef imports, 
"We now want to get down to the work of summarizing (opinions 
presented by consumers) and deciding whether to continue the 
temporary halt (on imports) or lift it." He revealed his 
intention to start working toward removing the embargo. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002237  008 OF 010 
 
 
Tokyo and Washington are scheduled to resume negotiations in 
early May, when the US government is expected to complete the 
inspection of meat packers that are authorized to export products 
to Japan. The probability is that if they reach an agreement on 
conditions for reinstating the beef trade, including the 
implementation of prior inspections, the government will hold 
another round of town meetings with consumers to exchange 
opinions and then formally decide to resume US beef imports. 
 
The government said that it would not make a political decision 
on a resumption of US beef imports. Chances are high, though, 
that it will aim at reaching a settlement before Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi visits the US in late June. 
 
(8) FTC releases report calling for fair competition 
 
ASAHI (Page 8) (Full) 
April 22, 2006 
 
Prior to the privatization of Japan Post in October of next year, 
the Fair Trade Commission officially released a report yesterday 
calling for equal terms for competition between the privatized 
firm and private-sector rivals. 
 
Should Japan Post, while remaining its monopoly in regular mail 
delivery services, launch new businesses, such as international 
parcel delivery, it will become difficult to secure a fair 
competition environment, the report notes. The report stresses 
that "the nation's postal services will be privatized in a truly 
desirable way based on the philosophy of reform," if the terms 
are set for newcomers to be able to compete with the privatized 
firm on an equal footing. 
 
The report calls for easing such strict requirements as setting 
up 100,000 postal boxes for newcomers to start regular mail 
delivery. It also seeks measures to enable other entities to use 
Japan Post's mail delivery network. 
 
(9) Thoughts on income disparity (Part 1); Argument that 
structural reforms have widened economic divide lacks grounds 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
April 24, 2006 
 
The argument that Japan's economic divide is widening has been 
gaining ground. Many have pointed out that changes in the 
corporate society, such as progress in deregulation and the 
introduction of a performance-based pay system, and the ongoing 
structural reforms are contributing to a widening of income 
disparity. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun probed into whether income 
disparity is really widening and the real problems about 
disparities. 
 
Lenient social allowance standards 
 
Is income disparity widening? Economist Kotaro Komiya warned that 
the widening income-disparity argument is taking on a life on its 
own, noting that the definition of the term "income disparity" 
and the way to measure the disparity are unclear. He questioned, 
""Can a difference between those who are lazy and those who work 
hard be called a disparity?" He insists that it would be 
necessary to analyze the issue in a more detailed way. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002237  009 OF 010 
 
 
The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality in income. The 
indicator declined in the high-growth period, reflecting 
equalized income. However, in a survey conducted by the Ministry 
of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), the latest Gini coefficient 
for 2001 rose 0.0263 points to 0.4983 from the level three years 
before. The survey results seemingly indicate that a gap between 
haves and have-nots has widened as the distribution of income 
became uneven. 
 
However, looking at the specifics, an increase in elderly 
people's households account for 64% of the rise in the Gini 
coefficient. An increase in the number of elderly people tends to 
push up the coefficient in any given age, because of a drop in 
income, compared with the amount they earned when they were in 
active service. A decrease in the number of members of one 
household due to an increase in single-member households 
accounted for 25% of the rise in the Gini coefficient. These two 
factors alone account for 90% of the increase in the Gini 
coefficient. Keio University professor Haruo Shimada stressed, 
"It is completely wrong to say that structural reforms have 
widened disparities." 
 
Following various media reports that many students in Adachi 
Ward, Tokyo, receive school expense subsidies from the local 
government, that ward has become a symbol of growing poverty as a 
result of the widening income disparity. 
 
The national average of the ratio of school children receiving 
such an allowance is 12.8% (fiscal 2004). In Adachi Ward, the 
ratio stands at 42.5%, 2.6 times the level of 10 years ago. A 
senior ward official said, "There are many small and medium-size 
companies in the ward. The number of school children who receive 
subsidies has increased due to the economic slump." 
 
In Adachi Ward, four-member households of husband, wife and two 
children with annual income up to 5.8 million yen are eligible 
for school expense subsidies. This income level largely exceeds 
that of the minimum income households who are exempt from paying 
income tax. In a survey of the distribution of households by 
income level conducted by the National Tax Agency in 2003, nearly 
70% of salaried workers were categorized into the annual income 
bracket of less than 5 million yen. 
 
It is true that the socially vulnerable exist. A safety net is 
also necessary. The number of recipients of social security 
allowance has increased. However, who are poor enough to receive 
such an allowance has yet to be proved. 
 
Aftermath of retaining jobs for baby-boomer generations 
 
There are, of course, disparities that cannot be overlooked. 
 
According to a survey by the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Gini 
coefficient of those under the age of 30 rose 0.017 points over 
the past five years starting in 1999. The rate of the rise in the 
Gini coefficient in this age bracket is higher than that of other 
age brackets. 
 
Companies have been forced to cut jobs due to the protracted 
slump. They clung to vested interests by maintaining baby-boomer 
generations' jobs at the cost of recruiting young people. The 
concern now is a portion of such young people will remain as a 
lost generation. 
 
TOKYO 00002237  010 OF 010 
 
 
 
This issue cannot be settled, just by discussing the disparity 
issue. It is necessary to maintain the present economic uptrend 
and create a flexible economy so that those who have failed can 
try again. 
 
(10) South Korean president's statement makes improvement in 
strained Japan-South Korea relations more difficult 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
April 25, 2006 
 
Hayami Ichikawa, Seoul 
 
South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun today issued a statement that 
focused only on relations between his country and Japan for the 
first time. The statement noted that dominion over the Takeshima 
(Dokdo in South Korea) islets is "the symbol of South Korea's 
independence and sovereignty." The president's logic is that if 
South Korea secures the ownership over the islets, it will lead 
to correcting Japan's wrong historical views. The statement can 
be taken as declaring that South Korea will never be able to make 
a friendly settlement with Japan as long as Japan continues to 
claim sovereignty over Takeshima. 
 
Japan analyzes statement as intended to domestic audience 
 
In a speech, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun said regarding 
the Takeshima issue: "As long as Japan beautifies its past deeds 
and continues to claim sovereignty, South Korea and Japan will 
never be able to establish a friendly relationship." A government 
official analyzed the remark as "intended for the domestic 
audience." Meanwhile, a senior Foreign Ministry official said in 
some bewilderment: "The positions of Japan and South Korea are 
different. But the president said that because of their different 
positions, it was impossible for both sides to establish a 
friendly relationship. It is hard to understand his remarks." 
 
DONOVAN