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PP RUEHFK
DE RUEHKO #1927 1930359
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110359Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5788
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
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RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA// PRIORITY
RUHBANB/OKINAWA FLD OFC US FORCES JAPAN CP BUTLER JA PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/USFJ PRIORITY
INFO RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 8825
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 2557
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4340
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2417
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0331
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0742
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS TOKYO 001927
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - SIX-PARTY TALKS AND
IRAN'S TEST LAUNCH OF BALLISTIC MISSILES
1. LEAD STORIES: Top stories this morning included the
resumed six-party head-of-delegation meeting in Beijing
on Thursday, as well as Toyota's plan to temporarily
halt auto production at three plants in the U.S.
2. "Do Not Compromise on Verification Regime" The top-
circulation, moderate Yomiuri editorialized (7/11):
"North Korea's nuclear declaration was incomplete in
that it failed to include data on the number of nuclear
weapons and their whereabouts. While Pyongyang claims
to have extracted about 30 kg of plutonium, vigorous
scrutiny of this claim is required in order to learn
the entire picture of North Korea's nuclear program.
Sloppy verification could provide North Korea with a
loophole that would allow it to maintain a nuclear
arsenal."
3. "Establish Verification Regime with No Loopholes"
The business-oriented Nikkei editorialized (7/11):
"Given that the U.S. lowered the bar and accepted an
incomplete nuclear declaration from North Korea, it is
a matter of course to establish a verification regime
that does not have any loopholes. If the six-party
talks fail to conduct a thorough verification of the
declaration, concerns will mount that North Korea may
again employ nuclear blackmail."
4. "Stringent Verification Needed" The liberal Asahi
asserted in an editorial (7/11): "North Korea has
submitted a massive amount of operation records from
its nuclear facilities. The U.S. should carefully
analyze the documents in order to ascertain the volume
of plutonium extracted.... The Bush administration in
its final months appears to be in a hurry to realize
some sort of 'accomplishment.' It must not forget the
final goal of denuclearizing North Korea."
5. "Loophole-Free Verification System Needed" The
liberal Mainichi insisted (7/11): "...Whoever takes the
helm, the next U.S. president needs to review his
predecessor's foreign policy. It is not certain whether
the next U.S. administration will prioritize North
Korea. U.S.-DPRK dialogue aimed at averting a crisis on
the Korean Peninsula started with the 1994 Agreed
Framework. Given that the world has been plagued by
North Korean threats over the past 14 years, the Bush
administration is called upon to set a roadmap toward
North Korea's denuclearization during its remaining
tenure."
6. "Concerns about Mounting Iranian Crisis" On Tehran's
recent test-launch of ballistic missiles, the
conservative Sankei stated (7/11): "What is concerning
is that the escalation of tensions between Iran and
Israel and between Iran and the U.S might bring
unpredictable consequences.... Under the current
situation, a military option would be too risky. Such a
scenario would throw the Middle East into complete
chaos. An additional surge in petroleum prices would
also be nearly inevitable, as Iran has the
second-largest oil reserves in the world."
SCHIEFFER