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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 002627 
 
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 06/12/07 
 
 
Index: 
1) Top headlines 
 
2) Editorials 
 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule 
 
4) GOJ panel backs collective self-defense for US naval vessels 
 
5) Panel discusses defenses for US naval vessels, favors collective 
defense 
 
6) DPJ stands above LDP in Asahi poll with this summer's House of 
Councillors election ahead 
 
7) Foreign Minister Aso says Japan, Russia must give way to each 
other on northern territory issue 
 
8) Prime Minister Abe's special advisor to join race for House of 
Councillors seat 
 
9) GOJ deregulatory panel to focus on labor, farm markets in its 
year-end report 
 
10) Ex-MOFA bureaucrat appointed Grand Chamberlain to H.M. the 
Emperor 
 
11) Prime Minister Abe to set up 3rd-party panel on unpaid benefits 
for pensioners 
 
12) Successive health, welfare ministers to be on the hot seat 
 
13) British daily reports Kim Jong Il cannot walk more than 30 
meters 
 
14) Pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan 
(Chongryun) sold its headquarters' landed property to ex-PSIA 
chief's investment advisory company 
 
15) Tokyo to start radio program for North Korean people 
 
16) Bomb maniac arrested 
 
Articles: 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Goodwill to withdraw from nursing care market 
 
Mainichi: 
Chongryon sold in late May to investment management firm led by 
former Public Security Intelligence Agency chief 
 
Yomiuri: 
24 North Korean defectors in Japan remain stateless 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
LDP seeks tax break on inheriting family businesses 
 
Sankei: 
Metropolitan Police search medical services firm on suspicion of 
violating Medical Parishioners Law 
 
TOKYO 00002627  002 OF 010 
 
 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Abe orders top priority be given to crosschecking 14 million pension 
payment records not entered in SIA computers 
 
Akahata: 
Koike calls for greater investigation to resolve "lost pension 
issue" 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1)Tight tobacco regulations essential for reducing cancer risk 
(2)Heavy debtors need assistance 
 
Mainichi: 
(1)Political Funds Control Law revision raises question about prime 
minister and ruling camp's commitment 
(2)Japan-Australia relations: Japan must explain its strategic 
intention 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1)More research vital for reducing suicide rate 
(2)MD in Europe: Russia needs cool response 
 
Nihon Keizai: 
(1)Comsn users need continuous services 
(2)Continued GDP growth 
 
Sankei: 
(1)We do not want to see another Comsn 
(2)Embryonic stem cells: Japan needs to nurture basic technology 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1)School buildings need greater quake resistance 
(2)Police scandals undermine public trust 
 
Akahata: 
(1)Politics responsible for profit-driven Comsn operations 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, June 10 & 11 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2)  (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
-- 10th 
11:46: 
Met Secretary General Nakagawa at his official residence. 
16:20: 
Arrived at his private residence in Tomigaya. 
16:56: 
Took a walk for about 20 minutes around his residence with his 
wife. 
 
-- 11th 
08:31: 
Attended a meeting of the Decentralization Reform Promotion 
Headquarters at the Kantei. 
09:00: 
Called at the Crown Prince's Palace to sign his name on the get-well 
 
TOKYO 00002627  003 OF 010 
 
 
book for the Crown Prince. 
09:16: 
Met at the Kantei with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Suzuki. 
11:00: 
Attended an Upper House plenary session. 
12:05: 
Attended a government and ruling camp liaison conference at the 
Kantei. Later, met Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki, Internal 
Affairs and Communications Minister Suga, and Health, Labor and 
Welfare Minister Yanagisawa. 
13:00: 
Attended an Upper House's Accounts Committee meeting. 
16:12: 
Met at the Kantei with Environment Ministry's Earth Environment 
Bureau Director General Minamikawa and Assistant Deputy Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Saka. Followed by Economic and Fiscal Policy 
Minister Ota, Special Advisory Nemoto, and others. Ota stayed 
behind. 
16:45: 
Met Shiozaki and Ota. 
17:01: 
Attended an executive meeting in the Diet building. 
17:33: 
Attended an informal gathering at the Kantei on reconstructing a 
legal basis for security. 
19:48: 
Dined with Nippon Keidanren executives, including Chairman Mitarai, 
at a French restaurant in the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. 
21:40: 
Met Lower House members Keiji Furuya and Masahiro Imamura at the 
hotel. 
22:13: 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) Blue-ribbon panel leans toward allowing SDF to exercise 
collective defense right in response to attack on US warship 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
June 12, 2007 
 
The government's blue-ribbon panel on the legal foundation for 
national security, chaired by Shunji Yanai, met yesterday to discuss 
the Maritime Self-Defense Force's response to an attack on a US 
vessel operating on the high seas. The dominant view was that the 
SDF should be allowed to exercise the right to collective 
self-defense to strike back not only in response to an direct armed 
attack on Japan, in which the SDF is allowed to strike back by 
exercising its right to individual defense, but also in highly tense 
situations and peacetime. 
 
An attack on a US warship in international waters is one of the four 
scenarios Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented to the panel 
concerning the right to collective defense. The SDF launching 
counterattacks in joint exercises or in tense situations, such as 
contingencies in areas surrounding Japan, is likely to be regarded 
as an act of exercising the right to collective defense. For this 
reason, many indicated that only the collective defense right rather 
than an expanded individual defense right can explain the SDF's 
response and that the current interpretation falls short of US 
expectations. 
 
Some on the panel also concluded that in the event Japanese and US 
 
TOKYO 00002627  004 OF 010 
 
 
troops are on the same mission, the SDF should be allowed to 
exercise the collective defense right irrespective of the nature of 
the situation, and that troops of friendly nations, such as 
Australia, should be included in the SDF's scope of defense. 
 
5) Panel discusses defense of US ships; Most members support 
collective defense 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
A government advisory panel to study the right of collective 
self-defense met yesterday at the prime minister's office. In the 
meeting, the panel, as directed by Prime Minister Abe, discussed 
whether the Self-Defense Forces should be allowed to fight back if 
and when US naval vessels come under attack in international waters. 
The panel met with former Ambassador to the United States Shunji 
Yanai presiding. According to Yanai, most of the panel opined that 
it would be natural to explain this case as an act of exercising the 
right of collective self-defense. 
 
At the outset of the panel meeting, Abe stressed: "From the 
perspective of the alliance between Japan and the United States, 
it's extremely helpful to study counteractions for our country's 
vessels." The government specified five cases in which the US 
military could come under attack, such as: 1) when an SDF vessel is 
refueling a US naval vessel at sea in bilateral joint training 
exercises; 2) when an SDF vessel is sealifting logistic supplies for 
US naval vessels; and 3) when an SDF vessel is inspecting ships at 
sea. 
 
The government has so far taken the position that Japan will base 
its response on the right of individual self-defense. However, one 
of the panel's members said it would be difficult for the SDF to 
make a judgment on the spot. Another panel member noted, "What Japan 
can do within the scope of the government's constitutional 
interpretation might fall short of the United States' 
expectations." 
 
In the last meeting of the panel, the prime minister suggested the 
need for the government to define a brake on SDF activities. 
Concerning this suggestion, one panel member insisted: "If we 
reinterpret the Constitution to exercise the right of collective 
self-defense, that should be based on a political judgment." Another 
said, "The government will have to ask for the Diet's judgment as 
well as the people's judgment in the process of making a law to 
stipulate guidelines for Japan to exercise the right of collective 
self-defense." 
 
The panel is scheduled to hold its next meeting on June 29 and 
discuss what to do about a ballistic missile that may be headed for 
the United States. 
 
6) Poll: DPJ stands at 29 percent, LDP at 23 PERCENT 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Abridged) 
June 12, 2007 
 
Ahead of this summer's election for the House of Councillors, the 
Asahi Shimbun conducted its fifth telephone-based serial public 
opinion survey to ask respondents which political party they would 
vote for in their proportional representation blocs if they were to 
 
TOKYO 00002627  005 OF 010 
 
 
vote now. In response to this question, 29 percent picked the 
leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto), with 23 
percent choosing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The DPJ stood 
above the LDP for the first time. The LDP was at 28 percent, 31 
percent, 26 percent, 24 percent, and 23 percent in the five serial 
polls so far, while the DPJ was at 21 percent, 21 percent, 25 
percent, 23 percent, and 29 percent. The DPJ stood above the LDP in 
the survey this time, with less than a month before the election's 
official announcement. The support rate for the cabinet of Prime 
Minister Abe was 34 percent. The Abe cabinet's support rate, which 
continued to drop over the past two weeks up to the last survey (30 
percent), appears to have leveled off. 
 
The serial survey is conducted every weekend on a computer-aided 
random digit dialing (RDD) basis. In the survey this time, valid 
answers were obtained form 1,038 persons (60 percent). 
 
7) Foreign Minister Aso: Japan, Russia should make compromise on 
Northern Territories 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
June 12, 2006 
 
Foreign Minister Taro Aso, referring to the disputed Russia-held 
islands off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan, at a foreign policy 
forum held on June 10 in the city of Sendai stressed his view that 
Japan and Russia should compromise to resolve the Northern 
Territories issue. He stated: "Russia should compromise in some 
fashion and Japan should do so. The two countries should find ways 
to meet halfway." 
 
Aso also said: 
 
"Japan has asserted for 60 years that unless the issue of the four 
islands is resolved, Japan will do nothing with Russia. But this 
policy has not produced any achievements. Japan should take 
advantage of its strong points, including its economic strength." 
 
The foreign minister indicated that Japan would be able to extract 
compromises on the territorial row from Russia by supporting the 
Russian economy. He, however, said, "Japan has to continue insisting 
that it is violation of international law that the four islands were 
seized after the end of World War II." 
 
Aso referred last December to the idea of setting a boarder between 
the two countries by dividing the entire area of the four islands. 
 
8) Nakayama to seek proportional representation seat 
 
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party decided yesterday to field Kyoko 
Nakayama, 67, special advisor to the prime minister on the abduction 
issue, for the proportional representation segment in this summer's 
House of Councillors election. Nakayama, meeting the press at LDP 
headquarters, cited her strong desire to bring back Japanese 
abductees from North Korea to Japan as her reason for deciding to 
run in the race, adding that she would remain as the prime 
minister's advisor. 
 
9) Deregulation panel to focus on labor, agriculture in second 
 
TOKYO 00002627  006 OF 010 
 
 
deregulatory package 
 
ASAHI (Page11) (Excerpts) 
June 12, 2007 
 
The government's Council for Regulatory Reform, chaired by Nippon 
Yusen K.K. Chairman Takao Kusakari, plans to grapple with reforms in 
labor, agriculture, independent administrative corporations, and 
other areas that will unavoidably meet resistance from relevant 
government agencies. The panel intends to incorporate these tasks in 
its second package of recommendations due out later this year, 
though it sidestepped such challenges in its first report released 
late last month. An adverse wind, though, is blowing against 
regulatory reform recently, so it remains to be seen whether the 
panel will be able to win the public over. 
 
The panel was just inaugurated this January. In its first report, 
the panel focused on the areas on which Prime Minister Abe places 
emphasis, such as a "second chance" program. 
 
In discussion on the second package, the panel is likely to give 
priority to measures to ease restrictions in the labor market, such 
as a review of the Worker Dispatch Law, to expand the management of 
hospitals by joint-stock companies, and to reform agricultural 
cooperatives. 
 
In reviewing the Worker Dispatch Law, a measure to abolish 
restrictions on the period of dispatch has been proposed, but many 
are opposed to it, arguing that the measure would lead to the 
permanent use of temp staff. The panel was also forced to put on 
hold a measure to introduce a white-collar exemption system due to 
fierce public reaction. 
 
10) Yutaka Kawashima named new grand chamberlain to the Emperor 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Slightly abridged) 
June 12, 2007 
 
The Imperial Household Agency has informally decided to appoint 
Grand Master of the Ceremonies Yutaka Kawashima, 65, to be the 
successor to Grand Chamberlain to the Emperor Makoto Watanabe, 71, 
who will retire voluntarily. The appointment of Kawashima will be 
formally decided at a cabinet meeting soon and it will be announced 
on June 15. 
 
Kawashima, a former administrative vice foreign minister, entered 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1964, after leaving the law 
faculty of the University of Tokyo in mid-course. He became 
administrative vice minister in August 1999, after serving in such 
posts as director general of the Foreign Policy Bureau and 
ambassador to Israel. In August 2001, however, he was sacked by 
Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka with whom he locked horns. He was 
also forced to take responsibility for a series of scandals in the 
ministry, including the secret diplomatic funds embezzlement. He has 
been serving as grand master of the ceremonies since July 2003. 
 
11) Prime minister: Third-party panel will be set up on unpaid 
benefit cases this month 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
 
TOKYO 00002627  007 OF 010 
 
 
Prime Minister Abe announced yesterday that the government would set 
up a third-party committee in the Internal Affairs and 
Communications Ministry by the end of June to examine cases of 
unpaid benefits. The panel, composed of lawyers, licensed tax 
accountants, and other experts, will set up consultation service 
counters at regional offices across the nation. Based on data 
submitted by policyholders, the panel will judge whether benefits 
should be paid or not. More than 20,000 people are expected to file 
applications. 
 
In a government and ruling parties liaison conference yesterday, the 
prime minister explained the third-party panel plan, stressing, "We 
would like to establish an organ that can restore public trust." In 
a meeting of the House of Councillors' Account Committee the same 
day, Abe indicated that the government would not insist on the need 
for evidence, remarking: "Even if people are told to bring receipts 
issued 20 or 30 years ago, they usually cannot. If explanations are 
rational, we will take responsible measures." 
 
In special consultations conducted by the Social Insurance Agency 
during the period between August of last year and March of this 
year, about 20,000 declared they paid insurance premiums, but 
payments were rejected on the basis that there were no records. 
 
12) Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary: "Successive welfare ministers' 
responsibility should be clarified" over pension fiasco 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
In a press conference yesterday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Hirofumi Shimomura revealed that the Internal Affairs and 
Communication Minister's panel to examine the cause and 
responsibility for the sloppy management of pension records would 
clarify the responsibilities of not only the Social Insurance Agency 
directors general and officials but also the relevant cabinet 
ministers, saying, "The successive cabinet ministers are no 
exception." The panel will survey the circumstances around 1997, 
when the agency introduced a single policy number system. The focus 
of study is likely to be on the responsibilities of former Prime 
Minister Koizumi, New Komeito Vice President Tsutomu Sakaguchi, and 
Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) Acting President Naoto Kan. 
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa said in 
a press briefing yesterday, "There must not be any taboo." Prime 
Minister Abe told reporters at the Kantei last night: "A thorough 
study will be conducted first. Later, we must consider political 
responsibility." 
 
Date of assumption of office Name of cabinet minister (Cabinet) 
 
      Jan. 1996      Naoto Kan 
      (Hashimoto) 
      Nov. 1996      Junichiro Koizumi 
      (Hashimoto) 
      July 1998      Sohei Miyashita 
      (Obuchi) 
      Oct. 1999      Yuya Niwa 
      (Obuchi, Mori) 
      July 2000      Yuji Tsushima 
      (Mori) 
Dec. 2000  Tsutomu Sakaguchi 
      (Mori, Koizumi) 
 
TOKYO 00002627  008 OF 010 
 
 
      Sept. 2004     Hidehisa Otsuji 
      (Koizumi) 
      Oct. 2005      Jiro Kawasaki 
      (Koizumi) 
      Sept. 2006     Hakuo Yanagisawa 
      (Abe) 
 
13) Is North Korean leader Kim healthy? 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 7) (Abridged) 
June 12, 2007 
 
Kyodo, London 
 
A British daily, the Sunday Telegraph, reported from Beijing on June 
11 that government officials from Western countries have reported 
that North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong Il has fallen ill and 
that he is unable to walk even 30 yards (27 meters) without a rest. 
 
Kaname Fukuda, Seoul 
 
According to South Korea's Yonhap News, the South Korean National 
Intelligence Service (NIA) yesterday referred to rumors that North 
Korean leader Kim Jong Il has fallen ill and said, "He has chronic 
illnesses, such as heart ailments and diabetes, and a decline in his 
physical strength because of aging cannot be ruled out." But it 
stressed, "There is no evidence that his chronic illnesses are so 
aggravated that he cannot get around." 
 
The NIA gave this account in a discussion with political desks of 
major South Korean media. 
 
14) Chongryon found to have sold its headquarters and land to 
private company headed by ex-PSIA chief 
 
MAINICHI (Top play) (Full) 
June 12, 2007 
 
The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) had 
sold its headquarters building and land (at Fujimi in Chiyoda Ward, 
Tokyo) at the end of May, sources revealed. The buyer was an 
investment management company headed by a former chief of the Public 
Safety Intelligence Agency (PSIA), a government body tasked with 
monitoring Chongryon. This deal is certain to give rise to doubts as 
to process and background of the purchase. 
 
According to the registers for land and buildings, the land (some 
2,390 square meters) and the 10-story concrete building with two 
basement levels (whose floor space totals 11,700 square meters) were 
sold on May 31. The new owner of this property is Tokyo-based 
Harvest Toshikomon KK (Harvest Investment Management Company). 
According to the corporate register, this company was founded last 
September for such business purposes as investment management and 
moneylending. 
 
On April 19, one month before the sale of the property, the 
representative director of the company was changed from a man living 
in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, to Shigetake Ogata (73), former PSIA 
director-general. On that day, the company's address also shifted 
from Tokyo's Chuo Ward to the address of Ogata's residence in Meguro 
Ward. 
 
 
TOKYO 00002627  009 OF 010 
 
 
Given the local government tax on the headquarters' property (some 
42 million yen annually including the city planning tax), the 
assessed value of fixed assets is likely to exceed 2 billion yen. 
Even after the sale of its property, the headquarters continues to 
operate in the same place. The headquarters' property had been given 
the same treatment as that given to foreign diplomatic missions and 
had been exempted from the local government tax on property. The 
Tokyo metropolitan government decided to impose the tax on the 
headquarters, but Chongryon failed to pay the tax by the due date. 
The metropolitan government seized the land and the building. 
Opposing this action, Chongryon brought a case seeking the reversal 
of taxation. The case is on trial. Meanwhile, Chongryon paid the tax 
in several installments. The metropolitan government released the 
property on April 26 before the sale. 
 
Chongryon has since November 2005 been ordered by the Resolution and 
Collection Corporation (RCC), which took over bad loans from 16 
credit unions affiliated with Chongryon, such as the now-defunct 
Chogin Tokyo Credit Union, to pay back 62.8 billion yen in 
borrowings. The Tokyo District Court is to hand down a ruling on 
June 18 to Chongryon. 
 
Ogawa became a public prosecutor in 1960, and after serving in such 
posts as public prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office 
and director of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office's Public 
Safety Department, he served as director-general of the PSIA for two 
years beginning in July 1993. He retired as superintendent public 
prosecutor at the Hiroshima High Public Prosecutors' Office. He is 
now a lawyer. The Mainichi Shimbun yesterday asked for an interview 
with Ogata via his lawyer's office or his relatives, but no answer 
was obtained as of today. Chongryon has refused to comment. 
 
15) Japan to start radio broadcasting toward DPRK to step up 
pressure 
 
SANKEI (Page 30) (Excerpts) 
June 12, 2007 
 
As part of the efforts to deal with the abduction issue, the 
government will begin shortwave radio broadcasts aimed at North 
Korea in July, sources revealed yesterday. The Investigation 
Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to N. Korea has been 
authorized by the government to send messages on shortwave from 
Japan, and North Korean defectors living in South Korea have "Radio 
Free North Korea." Radio Free North Korea will open a Japan office 
in Tokyo in late June as a base to collect information. The radio 
offensive against North Korea is likely to be further strengthened. 
 
The government intends to appropriate 134 million yen for this 
broadcasting project. The government's plan is to create its own 
programming and broadcast it via a third country's radio station 
with which the government will contract. The 30-minute program will 
be produced in Japanese and Korean and will be broadcast twice a 
day. 
 
The program will include encouraging words toward abductees living 
in North Korea and information from other countries, as well as 
messages from abductees' families living in Japan. The contents of 
the program will be updated every week. 
 
16) Man arrested on suspicion of producing bombs at home 
 
 
TOKYO 00002627  010 OF 010 
 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 29) (Full) 
July 12, 2007 
 
The Public Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police 
Department yesterday arrested Yoshihiro Terasawa, 38, on suspicion 
of violating anti-explosives regulatory rules (production and 
possession). The Public Security Bureau believes that Terasawa may 
have produced bombs as a hobby. Terasawa is unemployed. 
 
According to the police, Terasawa allegedly bought such chemical 
agents as acetone and ethanol, raw materials for bombs, over the 
Internet in April and May. He also allegedly produced at his home 
about 96 g of an explosive called triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and 
kept the explosive in a glass bottle. He reportedly has admitted to 
the charges. 
 
The Public Security Bureau had investigated Terasawa based on 
information that he purchased materials for handmade bombs. Police, 
seizing other chemicals, will try to determine whether he had tried 
to make more explosives. 
 
According to the bureau and other sources, TATP is a highly 
efficient explosive used for suicide bombings overseas. TATP was 
used in July 2002 by someone to blow up part of the platform at 
Kokusai-Tenjijo-Seimonmae Station in Tokyo. The force of the 
explosive Terasawa made this time around reportedly is three-times 
stronger than what was used in 2002. Since it is possible to make 
such a bomb by chemicals available in the market, the bureau has 
been on alert. 
 
According to the bureau, Terasawa, single, lives with his family and 
has worked at a supermarket, a telecom company, and at other jobs. 
 
SCHIEFFER