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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7035

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 005294 
 
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 11/20/07 
 
 
Index: 
 
1) Government reconfiguring North Korea policy, viewing that US 
removal of DPRK from list of states sponsoring terrorism is now 
inevitable (Sankei) 
 
Diet affairs: 
2) With Upper House stalled by DPJ's pursuit of defense scandal, 
strong possibility that Diet will be extended again in order to pass 
antiterror bill (Nikkei) 
3) Prime Minister Fukuda to meet other party heads on 22nd and ask 
for cooperation on new antiterrorism special measures bill (Yomiuri) 
 
4) Alarmed by loss of symbolic Osaka mayoralty race, ruling camp is 
now reassessing its election campaign system (Yomiuri) 
 
Defense scandal: 
5) Yamada Yoko Corp. had a 1.1 billion yen slush fund that it could 
tap to court defense officials and lawmakers (Mainichi) 
6) Tokyo prosecutors question as witness GE executive in connection 
with the Yamada Corp. defense procurement case (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
Finance Minister Nukaga on the hot seat: 
7) Contradicting Moriya testimony, Nukaga denies in Diet reply being 
wined and dined by arrested defense contractor (Mainichi) 
8) Asahi scoop: Nukaga charged with playing intermediary role in 
2003 in awarding contract for Yamagata defense construction project 
(Asahi) 
9) Three more Okinawa communities awarded USFJ-realignment connected 
subsidies (Mainichi) 
 
Trade winds: 
10) Japan-ASEAN reach agreement on an EPA (Tokyo Shimbun) 
11) Japan's EPA with ASEAN could still be derailed by political 
turmoil in Tokyo, cries for protection from Japanese farmers 
(Nikkei) 
12) METI Minister Amari: Difficult to obtain an WTO agreement this 
year (Nikkei) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) Government urged to revamp strategy, on premise of US delisting 
North Korea 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 20, 2007 
 
In the Japan-US summit on Nov. 16, the two leaders discussed the 
issue of whether the US would delist North Korea as a state sponsor 
of terrorism. But the government remains tight-lipped about the 
contents of the discussion. 
 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda just told reporters at his official 
residence yesterday: "President Bush and I sufficiently discussed 
the issue. The president is fully aware of the circumstances (in 
Japan)." 
 
A senior Foreign Ministry official, however, revealed yesterday that 
the president did not declare in the summit that the US would not 
take North Korea off its blacklist. The officer added: "He probably 
means that the US will delist the North if US-Japan relations 
permit," implying that delisting is unavoidable. 
 
TOKYO 00005294  002 OF 009 
 
 
 
A senior government official also hinted at the necessity of 
revamping its strategy toward North Korea, premised on Washington's 
removal of North Korea from the blacklist, remarking: "If the US 
delists North Korea, Japan will lose one of its levers in 
negotiations with Pyongyang (over the abduction issue)." 
 
Behind the government's silence on the delisting issue is the fear 
that since "delisting is Washington's established policy decision," 
as said by a Foreign Ministry source, if Japan, citing the issue of 
Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, raises opposition to the 
policy, Japan-US relations might be strained. A senior government 
official has already said, taking precautions: "Even if the US 
decides to delist the North, it will not represent a failure of 
Japanese diplomacy." 
 
Meanwhile, one government source takes this view: "North Korea is 
feeling like jumping at Japan's economic cooperation by normalizing 
bilateral diplomatic ties. But as long as the abduction issue 
remains unresolved, Japan will never normalize relations with North 
Korea. It is North Korea that will be perplexed by the current 
situation." The source indicated the view that even if the US 
delists North Korea, the abduction issue will not be left behind. 
 
President Bush's refusal to rule out delisting during the meeting 
with Fukuda will inevitably allow Pyongyang to take advantage of 
Japan's weak situation in the future. Although the Fukuda 
administration is emphasizing a policy of dialogue, North Korea may 
press the administration to make more concessions. 
 
2) Calls for re-extension of Diet session becoming stronger; 
Party-head talks on Nov. 22 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
There is a growing call for extending again by about one month the 
current Diet session, which will run until Dec. 15, in the 
government and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The reason is that 
deliberations on a bill to resume the refueling activities by the 
Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) in the Indian Ocean have been 
delayed. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will meet separately with the 
heads of ruling and opposition parties, including New Komeito leader 
Akihiro Ota and Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ or Minshuto), on Nov. 22 when he returns home from 
Singapore to ask their support for an early passage of the new 
refueling bill. 
 
When asked by the press before his departure for Singapore yesterday 
whether he intended to enact the refueling bill even by extending 
the ongoing session, Fukuda responded: "That depends on the Diet 
schedule." In a CNN interview aired on the 18th, he hinted the 
possibility of re-extension of the session, saying: "Whether the 
bill is enacted or not will be decided in one or two months." 
 
The dominant view is in the ruling coalition, mainly in the LDP 
Upper House executive, that the government should again extend the 
current Diet session. The House of Councillors will hold 
deliberations on the refueling bill on Nov. 26 or after. The Upper 
House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense opens two sessions 
every week. In the backdrop of the growing calls for a re-extension, 
the government has no choice but to extend again the session because 
 
TOKYO 00005294  003 OF 009 
 
 
the Diet schedule is tight until the Dec. 15 end. 
 
If the current session is extended again, it will have an impact on 
the compilation of state budget for next fiscal year. If so, the 
Finance Ministry will discuss the matter with other ministries and 
agencies, but it will be difficult for cabinet ministers to secure 
time for negotiations since the Diet is now in session. As a result, 
the state budget for FY2008 will inevitably be compiled early next 
year as a cabinet decision will be made after negotiations by 
cabinet ministers. The New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, is 
cautious about a re-extension idea because the party doesn't favor 
an earlier dissolution of the House of Representatives to call for a 
snap election. 
 
In case the session is extended again, chances are that the ruling 
camp will readopt the new refueling bill in the Lower House, which 
the ruling bloc dominates. The possibility cannot be denied that if 
the ruling parties take a second vote on the bill in the Lower 
House, the opposition camp will submit to the Diet a censure motion 
against the prime minister. As a result, the focus will be on 
whether Fukuda decides to dissolve the Lower House to call a general 
election. 
 
DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said in a speech deliberated 
yesterday at the Japan National Press Club: 
 
"If (the bill) is not enacted by Dec. 15, it is unthinkable that it 
will be killed there. I'm sure that (the government) will again 
extend the session." 
 
He then said how his party would respond to that: 
 
"I wonder whether 60 days are needed. I think the bill should be put 
to a vote after thorough deliberations are carried out. The practice 
of spending time without holding deliberations should be ended 
because such will render useless the Upper House debates." 
 
3) LDP, DPJ leaders to hold talks on Nov. 22; Fukuda to ask Ozawa 
for cooperation to enact new antiterrorism bill; If talks end in 
failure, current Diet session may be extended again 
 
YOMIURI (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and main opposition 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) agreed yesterday to hold 
a meeting on Friday between Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, president 
of the LDP, and DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa. The LDP asked the 
opposition parties to hold party-head meetings in which Fukuda will 
explain his visit to the United States and discuss how the Diet 
should be managed in the future. The DPJ accepted the offer. The 
Japanese Communist Party also conveyed its acceptance to the LDP. 
Other opposition parties intend to accept the request. Fukuda will 
reveal his intention to aim at enacting the new antiterrorism 
special measures bill by Dec. 15 when the current Diet session is 
over. He will seek the opposition leaders' cooperation for the 
bill's enactment. If the talks end in failure, the government and 
ruling coalition will coordinate to extend again the current Diet 
session. 
 
In a press conference at the Japan National Press Club, DPJ 
Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama commented on a re-extension of the 
 
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TOKYO 00005294  004 OF 009 
 
 
Diet session: 
 
"Rather than taking advantage of the 60-day clause (in the 
Constitution), the bill should be put to a vote after a sufficient 
debate is carried out in the House of Councillors. We should conduct 
serious deliberations." 
 
The Constitution stipulates that if the Upper House does not take a 
vote on a bill within 60 days, the bill will be considered as voted 
down and the House of Representatives can readopt it with a 
two-thirds majority vote. In the case of the new antiterrorism bill, 
which was sent to the Upper House on Nov. 13, the Lower House can 
take a second vote on January 12 or after. So Hatoyama's comment 
indicated the stance of forgoing taking a vote on the new 
antiterrorism legislation before the end of the year. 
 
4) Ruling coalition reconsiders election arrangements 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Because the candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) and New Komeito was defeated in Sunday's Osaka mayoral 
election, some in the parties yesterday called for a review of 
election arrangements. 
 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told the press corps yesterday: "The LDP 
along with New Komeito did made efforts, but the defeat was 
regrettable. Of course, there were regional circumstances." 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura stated: "There will be no 
adverse effect on national elections." Many members in the 
government and ruling camp, however, have taken the view that they 
should learn lessons from the defeat, citing that their candidate 
was older and that municipal assembly members belonging to the LDP 
were not active in supporting the candidate. 
 
One New Komeito member express displeasure, saying: "According to 
exit polls, we were only able to get half of LDP supporters." 
 
Most LDP-backed or sponsored candidates have been defeated in the 
mayoral elections of such major cities as Kita-Kyushu, Sapporo, and 
Hiroshima held since 2006. Some members in the ruling camp are 
concerned about the Osaka gubernatorial election in January and the 
Kyoto mayoral election in February. Since there is a possibility 
that the results of these elections will have an impact on the next 
House of Representatives election, LDP Election Committee Chairman 
Makoto Koga told reporters yesterday: "It is only natural for us to 
rebuild election arrangements so that there will be no impact on the 
Lower House election." 
 
5) Yamada Yoko pools 1.1 billion yen: Tokyo prosecutors ask for 
investigative cooperation from US 
 
MAINICHI (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Mainichi Shimbun has learned that Motonobu Miyazaki (69), former 
executive director of Yamada Yoko, a defense equipment trader, and 
several others have pooled approximately 10 million dollars 
(approximately 1.1 billion yen) in the company's US bank accounts. 
It was also found that apart from about 100 million yen, which 
 
TOKYO 00005294  005 OF 009 
 
 
Miyazaki is suspected of having embezzled, they had transmitted 
slush funds worth about 400,000 dollars (approximately 44 million 
yen) to Japan. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special 
Investigation Department appears to have asked for investigative 
cooperation from US judicial authorities. The special investigation 
department is now investigating Miyazaki on suspicion of bribery, 
suspecting that part of the slush funds might have been used for 
wining and dining former Administrative Vice Defense Minister 
Takemasa Moriya (63). 
 
According to an informed source, Yamada International Cooperation, a 
US subsidiary of Yamada Yoko, has pooled slush funds, pretending to 
pay bonuses to executives. Former President Akiyama (70) was in 
control of the money. In addition to these slush funds, the company 
has also pooled approximately 1.1 billion yen in profits gained on 
the sale of stocks and dividends and used that money to entertain 
lawmakers and Defense Ministry officials who visited the US. 
 
Miyazawa was arrested on suspicion of embezzling corporate funds 
worth about 117 million yen. Now he is suspected of having illegally 
funneled about 44 million yen in slush funds. The special 
investigation department appears to have asked US judicial 
authorities to investigate into five bank accounts held by the 
company. 
 
6) Prosecutors quiz GE employee over excessive treatment 
 
TOKYO (Page 1) (Full) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Takemasa Moriya, 63, former administrative vice minister at the 
Defense Ministry, was overly treated by Motonomu Miyazaki, 69, a 
former managing director of Yamada Corporation, a trading company 
dealing in defense equipment for the Self-Defense Forces. On this 
issue, a task force of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office 
seems to have quizzed a Japan branch executive of General Electric 
Co., a US manufacturer of the engine for the Air Self-Defense 
Force's follow-on cargo aircraft (CX). This executive was once in 
the SDF and negotiated directly with the Defense Ministry and 
Miyazaki. The task force is believed to have questioned him about 
what was behind the transfer of an agent contract. 
 
According to informed sources, the executive is from the SDF. In his 
SDF career, this executive was once assigned to the then Defense 
Agency's Technical Research and Development Institute. He retired 
several years ago and entered GE's Japan branch. He is currently 
with the branch's aircraft engine project division and serves as a 
point of contact with the Defense Ministry. He was in charge of the 
CX engine for the ASDF. 
 
In 2003, when Miyazaki was a managing director of Yamada Corp., the 
then Defense Agency decided to procure the CX engine from GE. At 
that time, Yamada Corp. was a GE agent. In September last year, 
Miyazaki established Nihon Mirise Corporation (NMC), a trading firm 
dealing in defense equipment. NMC then grabbed Yamada Corp.'s agent 
contract with GE. In December last year, when GE was about to enter 
into an agent contract with NMC, a munitions chief from GE 
headquarters in the United States and Miyazaki met with Moriya in 
the vice minister's room for about 50 minutes. 
 
The task force seems to be looking into what was behind the CX 
engine selection and the contract switch, suspecting that Moriya 
 
TOKYO 00005294  006 OF 009 
 
 
might have favored Miyazaki. 
 
GE cancelled its contracts with Yamada Corp. and NMC in late October 
after the scandal was brought to light. 
 
7) Finance Minister Nukaga once again denies his presence at wining 
and dining session: Yamada Yoko purchases fund-raising party tickets 
worth 2.2 million yen 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga during a meeting of the Upper 
House Budget Committee held yesterday afternoon revealed that he had 
Yamada Yoko, a company specializing in military procurement, 
purchase fund-raising party tickets totaling 2.2 million yen over 
six years from 2002 through 2007. Concerning proceeds from the sale, 
Nukaga said, "I have returned the full amount to Yamada Yoko, as the 
matter has become a social issue." He made this statement in 
response to a question asked by Shinkun Haku, a lawmaker belonging 
to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto). Former 
Administrative Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya has testified 
that Nukaga along with former Yamada Yoko executive director 
Motonobu Miyazaki attended a wining and dining session. Regarding 
this testimony, Nukaga said, "I have checked the testimony by day 
and night and found no such record." He thus once again denied his 
presence at the wining and dining session. 
 
Nukaga said that he held four parties a year in the name of 
breakfast study meetings at the time. Yamada Yoko purchased 10 party 
tickets worth 200,000 yen at each session. According to records kept 
by Nukaga's office, 10 study meetings were held from 2004 through 
March 2007. Nukaga said that when he inquired with Yamada Yoko about 
the purchases of party tickets in the period before 2004, he 
received a reply that the company purchased party tickets totaling 
2.2 million yen in a period from 2002 through 2007. 
 
Concerning whether he was present at a wining and dining session 
hosted by Yamada Yoko, Moriya during the summoning to the Upper 
House Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee on Nov 15 testified that 
when former Defense Department Japan Desk chief James Auer, now a 
professor at Vanderbilt University, visited Japan, Nukaga along with 
Miyazaki attended a wining and dining session. Nukaga insisted that 
he telephoned Auer through his attorney on Nov. 16, following 
Moriya's testimony, and received a reply from Auer that he knows 
Nukaga but never dined together. He underscored that he did not 
attend a wining and dining session along with Moriya and Miyazaki, 
saying that he checked the schedule kept by his office, the schedule 
of his official car at a time when he was chief cabinet secretary, 
and his association with Auer. 
 
8) Nukaga associates did favor for bidding: ex-defense bureaucrat 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Abridged) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Nobumasa Ota, 58, a former director general of the Sendai Regional 
Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, an outpost of the Defense 
Facilities Administration Agency now integrated into the Defense 
Ministry, told an Asahi Shimbun reporter in an interview that he was 
asked in March 2000 by associates of then Deputy Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Fukushiro Nukaga to designate a construction company in 
 
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TOKYO 00005294  007 OF 009 
 
 
Yamagata Prefecture for construction works ordered by the DFAA 
Sendai bureau. Nukaga's side totally denied that they did so. Ota 
asserted that he received a report from a senior official of the 
Sendai bureau at that time, quoting this official as saying the 
request was transmitted to the DFAA through former Administrative 
Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya, the then chief of the Defense 
Agency director general's secretariat. Ota is willing to make public 
his diary, which he says recorded the circumstances. 
 
The Asahi Shimbun asked Nukaga if he did anything like doing a favor 
for the construction company or recommending it. In response to this 
question, Nukaga, through his lawyer, answered "no." 
 
Ota, according to his account, received a report from a senior 
official of the DFAA Sendai bureau on the evening of March 2, 2000, 
when Ota was DFAA Sendai bureau director general. Ota says the 
request from Nukaga's associates over the Yamagata-based constructor 
was transmitted to the DFAA in Tokyo through Moriya. In addition, 
Ota quoted this senior official as explaining that there was a 
similar request from Nukaga's associates in 1999. According to Ota, 
the senior official also explained that the DFAA Sendai bureau once 
designated the construction company in fiscal 1999 but the company 
did not become a successful bidder, and that the DFAA Sendai bureau 
thereafter could not designate that company because its rating did 
not match the rank of a construction project. 
 
Ota keeps his diaries on a personal computer. He typed in what 
happened on March 2, 2000, writing: "XX (the position title of a 
person with the DFAA Sendai bureau) came to me. He told me that 
there was a claim from Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nukaga to the 
chief of the (Defense Agency director general's) secretariat. The 
claim was that the DFAA Sendai bureau's moves are bad although he 
(Nukaga) recommended XX (the name of a company) in Yamagata." 
 
Nukaga denies favor 
 
Nukaga's lawyer answered yesterday in written form about a "favor," 
which Ota says Nukaga's associates did. The lawyer responded to an 
Asahi Shimbun interview. 
 
This lawyer totally denied that Nukaga or someone connected with him 
did a favor for a specific construction company, saying: "I also 
asked the construction company about this. But they said, 'That's 
not true.' They also said they didn't meet Mr. Ota in 1999 and 
2000.'" 
 
Nukaga, according to his written answer, did not make any complaint 
to Moriya. Nukaga is also said to have worked on the DFAA Sendai 
bureau chief. On this point, Nukaga answered, "I heard from my 
secretaries that none of them told the company to meet the bureau 
 
SIPDIS 
chief." 
 
9) 3 Okinawa municipalities added to incentive list for USFJ 
realignment 
 
MAINICHI (Page 3) (Full) 
November 20, 2007 
 
The government, in its official gazette dated Nov. 19, designated 
three additional municipalities in Okinawa Prefecture for its 
subsidization of base-hosting localities along with the realignment 
of US forces in Japan. The three additionally designated 
 
TOKYO 00005294  008 OF 009 
 
 
municipalities are Kin Town, Onna Village, and Ginoza Village. The 
three municipalities had announced on Nov. 13 that they would accept 
the US Marine Corps' shared use of Camp Hansen in the island 
prefecture with the Ground Self-Defense Force. The government listed 
a total of 33 municipalities in the nation for its first designation 
announced late last month. However, six municipalities, including 
Kin Town, were off the list because they had not accepted government 
plans. 
 
Futenma airfield relocation and other realignment plans are now 
facing rough going, so the government considered the fact that the 
three Okinawa municipalities have changed their mind to cooperate on 
its realignment plans. The Defense Ministry was in a hurry to 
designate the three municipalities. 
 
10) Talks with ASEAN on scrapping of tariffs reach agreement: EPA to 
be put into effect as early as next year 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Top Play) (Excerpts) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at an 
economic ministerial meeting held yesterday in Singapore confirmed a 
comprehensive economic partnership agreement (EPA) aimed at trade 
liberalization. The result will be reported at a summit to be held 
in Singapore on Nov. 21. This is the first time for Japan to sign a 
multilateral EPA. All concerned countries will sign an agreement 
after completing domestic procedures and aim at putting it into 
effect in time for actually scrapping tariffs before the end of next 
year. 
 
Japan's trade totals 142.6 trillion yen, of which trade with ASEAN 
accounts for 12.7 PERCENT , following the US and China. Most trade 
tariffs within the ASEAN region will be scrapped. It is expected 
that the EPA with ASEAN will significantly promote the advance of 
Japanese companies into the region and the division of labor within 
it. 
 
According to the agreement, Japan will exempt key trade items, such 
as rice, from the abolition of tariffs. Regarding other items, (1) 
customs duties on 90 PERCENT  of imports from ASEAN will be 
abolished as soon as the agreement is put into effect; and (2) those 
on 3 PERCENT  of imports from ASEAN will be scrapped within 10 
years. 
 
11) Japan still lags behind over EPA strategy due to negative 
attitude about agricultural reform 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 20, 2007 
 
(Commentary) 
 
Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) 
finalized negotiations on concluding an economic partnership 
agreement (EPA) yesterday. China and South Korea have already 
brought EPAs with ASEAN into force, going ahead of Japan. In part 
because of growing calls in the ruling camp for more steps to 
protect domestic farmers following its crushing defeat in the July 
House of Councillors election, uncertainty is looming over Japan's 
EPA strategy. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005294  009 OF 009 
 
 
There are more than 500 million people in ASEAN members. Now that 
Japan is faced with sagging domestic demand and a decreasing 
workforce, concluding an EPA with ASEAN will contribute to 
revitalizing its economy in terms of both supply and demand. 
 
However, Japan has lagged behind South Korea and other countries in 
view of trade strategy. China brought a free trade agreement (FTA) 
with ASEAN into force this July, gradually abolishing or lowering 
tariffs. South Korea also agreed this April to sign an FTA with the 
United States. It has also started FTA negotiations with the 
European Union (EU). 
 
The ruling coalition, reflecting on its disastrous defeat in the 
Upper House election, has begun to take an inward-looking attitude, 
delaying agricultural reform. A reform plan compiled this fall by 
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stopped short of 
referring to such reform plans as farmland taxation. An electric 
machinery executive said: "Unless the path of agricultural reform is 
accelerated, Japan will be left further behind South Korea." 
 
12) METI minister: Difficult to conclude WTO trade talks this year 
 
NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 20, 2007 
 
Kazunori Yanase, Singapore 
 
In a press conference in Singapore on the afternoon of Nov. 19, 
Economy, Trade and industry Minister Akira Amari indicated that it 
would be difficult to reach a framework agreement at the new round 
(Doha Round) of global trade talks under the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) by the end of this year. Amari said: "Persons 
involved in the negotiations think it would be difficult to reach a 
conclusion this year. It will be physically difficult." 
 
Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed 
in their economic ministerial meeting on the afternoon of Nov. 19 to 
temporarily set up during this fiscal year the headquarters of the 
East Asia-ASEAN economic research center in Jakarta, Indonesia, 
where the ASEAN secretariat is located. The research center, the 
establishment of which Japan proposed, is the Asian-version 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 
 
SCHIEFFER