-Caveat Lector-
"Fear is mounting that N. Korea is preparing to test-fire a long-range
missile that could reach parts of the United States."
"US Secretary of Defense Cohen held talks with Japanese Prime Minister
Keizo Obuchi and was to leave later in the day for Seoul, South Korea.
Earlier today, Cohen visited American troops stationed at a U.S. Army base
just outside Tokyo.".
N.Korea says Japan plutonium a military ploy
TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - North Korea on Thursday denounced Japanese
shipments of plutonium from Europe as a disguised attempt to turn itself into
a nuclear military power and conquer Asia.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA), monitored in Tokyo, criticised the shipments as a step toward
``nuclear weaponisation and the conversion of Japan into a military power, in
a bid to realise the old dream of the 'Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere.'''
Japan said after invading Asian nations during World War Two that it wanted
to unite Asia in a large ``co-prosperity'' sphere.
``This move of Japan to become a nuclear power by shipping a large quantity
of plutonium from other countries and stockpiling it has now come in for
strong protest and condemnation by the world,'' the spokesman was quoted by
KCNA as saying.
Two ships carrying weapons-grade plutonium recently left Britain and France
for Japan. The move has drawn protests from environmental groups around the
world.
Japan uses the nuclear material for fueling power plants.
The North Korean spokesman also suggested that recent Japanese protests about
North Korea's missile programme are little more than an excuse to re-arm.
North Korea launched a missile that sent shockwaves through Asia last August
when it flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Pyongyang has steadfastly characterised the incident as a satellite launch,
not a missile test.
The two armed British cargo ships loaded with recycled nuclear fuel known as
MOX left the northern French port of Cherbourg for Japan on July 21.
The voyage marks the first transfer of so-called ``direct use'' nuclear
material -- considered easiest to convert into bombs -- since 1992.
07:26 07-29-99
Japan Ships Out for Joint S Korea Military Exercise
Tokyo, Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's navy dispatched three ships for the
nation's first joint military drills with South Korean forces, Agence-France
Presse reported, citing an unnamed official. The vessels are scheduled to
arrive in the South Korean port of Pusan on Monday. The two militaries will
practice ocean- going civilian rescue operations on Thursday, the report
said.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen last week visited Japan to discuss
regional security issues, including the missile threat from North Korea and
strained relations between China and Taiwan.
(AFP, 8/1)
MSDF ships head for 1st joint navy drill with S. Korea
SASEBO, Japan, Aug. 1 (Kyodo) - Three ships belonging to Japan's Maritime
Self-Defense Force (MSDF) left Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture on Sunday
for Pusan, South Korea, to participate in joint search-and-rescue exercises
with the South Korean Navy.
About 60 labor unionists and 15 students gathered at a pier in Sasebo to
protest the departure of the vessels, claiming the joint exercises symbolize
the strengthening of military cooperation.
The exercises come at a time following the Japanese parliament's enactment on
May 24 of a set of bills implementing updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation
guidelines and mounting concern over North Korea's reported preparations to
test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.
The MSDF vessels are scheduled to arrive at a South Korean naval base in
Pusan on Monday.
Japan and South Korea will conduct the exercises on Thursday in the East
China Sea off South Korea's Cheju Island after prior arrangements between
Japan and the South Korean side are completed.
The drills, which will focus on responding to a situation involving a fire
breaking out on a civilian vessel, will mark the first joint military
exercise by the two countries.
The MSDF vessels and South Korean naval vessels will return together to
Sasebo on Friday.
AP-NY-08-01-99 0040EDT
U.S. to work with Seoul on longer missile range
By John Whitesides
SEOUL, July 29 (Reuters) - The United States will work with South Korea to
accommodate its desire to develop longer-range missiles in response to a
threat from North Korea, U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen said on
Thursday.
Cohen spent the day in talks with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and
Defence Minister Cho Sung-tae on how to respond to another possible North
Korean missile launch, and Cho told a news conference afterwards he hoped an
agreement on whether to allow Seoul to develop longer-range missiles could be
reached soon.
Cohen and Cho repeated warnings from Washington, Seoul and Tokyo to North
Korea that any new missile launch by the reclusive Stalinist state would have
serious consequences and put at risk a host of economic and diplomatic
opportunities for Pyongyang.
``We hope the message is being received by the government of North Korea,''
Cohen said.
Washington has urged Seoul to hold off on starting a medium-range missile
programme, fearing it could ignite an arms race in the region.
Since a 1979 agreement with the United States, Seoul is prohibited from
developing missiles with a range greater than 180 km (112 miles).
But it wants to develop a missile with a range of up to 300 km (186 miles), a
limit set by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and begin
researching a missile with an even greater range of up to 500 km (311 miles)
that could reach deep into North Korea.
The United States and South Korea have agreed to working-level discussions on
the issue by experts.
``We support South Korea's interest in becoming a member of the MTCR and
working with them now in order to accommodate their needs as far as their
missile capabilities,'' Cohen said.
Cho added: ``I expect it will not take a long time for a conclusion to be
reached.''
The discussion of extending the missile range follows North Korea's surprise
launch last August of a Taepodong rocket that soared over Japan and landed in
the Pacific Ocean, sending shockwaves through the region.
Pyongyang said it had tested a small satellite.
Concern has grown that Pyongyang will test launch a longer-range missile that
could reach parts of the United States. Cho said he did not believe a new
launch was imminent, but preparatory work was under way at North Korean
missile sites.
President Kim's office said after his meeting with Cohen that the two men had
agreed to continue the working-level discussions on adjusting the missile
range.
He said the best way to counter North Korea's missile programme was for the
United States, South Korea and Japan to maintain a strong alliance.
Japan has said a new missile launch could threaten its contribution to an
international consortium building nuclear reactors for North Korea, part of a
1994 deal aimed at keeping Pyongyang from forging ahead with its nuclear
weapons programme.
The United States has 37,000 troops at several military bases in South Korea.
The U.S.-led United Nations Command fought Chinese-backed North Korea in the
1950-53 war, which ended in an armed truce that has left the two Koreas
technically at war.
Taiwan developing medium-range missiles, A-bomb
HONG KONG, July 29 (Kyodo) - Taiwan is developing medium-range missiles and
the atomic bomb to counter a possible attack by the Chinese military, a Hong
Kong newspaper reported Thursday.
The Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily, quoting Chinese sources, said Taiwan is
developing a Sky Horse missile with a target range of about 600 kilometers
that could reach Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The sources said Beijing has also learned that Taiwan has completed a
computer simulation test of an atomic bomb explosion.
The report came four days after a top aide of Taiwanese President Lee
Teng-hui, Liu Tai-ying, warned Taiwanese troops would retaliate by lobbing
missiles into waters off Hong Kong and Shanghai to create economic chaos in
China should Beijing attack Taiwan.
Liu, an official in charge of the ruling Nationalist Party's investment
management in Taiwan, made his remarks during a speech in Bangkok on Sunday.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated following Lee's
statement on July 9 that cross-strait relations should be redefined on a
''state-to-state'' basis.
Beijing has threatened that military action could be an option to resolve the
status of Taiwan, which it views as a renegade province.
The Sing Tao Daily reported that the new surface-to-surface Sky Horse missile
is an upgraded model of the surface-to-air Sky Bow missile, which had a range
of only 100 km.
Although Taiwanese military authorities denied they were developing
medium-range missiles, since 1991 about 2 billion New Taiwan dollars (60.6
million U.S. dollars) have been granted annually to a research center
affiliated with the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology to study
the weapon, the report said.
The report quoted the sources as saying Taiwan has been secretly developing
nuclear weapons and recently completed a computer simulation of an atomic
bomb blast.
Taiwan has stocked up enough nuclear material to produce more than 10 atomic
bombs and allots more than 3 billion N.T. dollars to study atomic bombs every
year, it said.
Beijing is closely watching the developments in Taiwan and considers them a
serious military provocation, the sources said.
The sources also said the United States has a responsibility to sanction
Taiwan for any attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
Cohen Visits U.S. Troops in Japan
By JOSEPH COLEMAN
.c The Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) - North Korea will jeopardize the chance for closer, beneficial
ties with the United States if it test-fires a ballistic missile, Defense
Secretary William Cohen said today.
Cohen, in Tokyo for security talks with top Japanese officials, said the
impoverished, secretive communist country could benefit by a more
cooperative, peaceful stance.
``We are prepared to work with North Korea to open economic and political
opportunities, and North Korea should seize this chance to build a new and
positive relationship,'' Cohen said at the U.S. Embassy.
``A refusal to show restraint, however, would have serious negative
implications on our relationship, stalling or stopping potential
cooperation,'' he said.
Fear is mounting that Pyongyang is preparing to test-fire a long-range
missile that could reach parts of the United States, and Tokyo and Washington
have been urging North Korea to cancel the launch.
Pyongyang launched a three-stage rocket over Japan and into the Pacific in
August, rattling Tokyo by demonstrating its ability to strike any part of the
Japanese archipelago. North Korea said it test-fired a satellite, and has
since claimed the right to make further launches.
On Monday, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 10 other
countries warned that a North Korean missile test would have a serious impact
on stability in Asia.
China, a longtime ally of North Korea, joined in the warning, and Assistant
Foreign Minister Wang Yi added today that both Koreas should ``not do
anything to threaten peace and stability.''
Cohen met with Japanese Defense Minister Hosei Norota earlier today. Ministry
officials said the two agreed that a North Korean missile launch was not
imminent.
They also agreed to work more closely on exchanging intelligence information
on North Korea's preparations for a launch. They will also cooperate more
closely in the event of a launch, Japanese officials said.
Cohen did not spell out any steps the United States would take against
Pyongyang if it fires a missile, saying only that Washington and Tokyo have
been discussing coordinated moves.
The U.S. defense chief also said that Japan and the United States will soon
sign a memorandum to establish a framework for collaborating on missile
defense research. He also reiterated America's willingness to cooperate in
Japan's spy satellite program.
Cohen spoke to reporters before his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo
Obuchi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka. He was to leave later in
the day for Seoul, South Korea.
Earlier today, Cohen visited troops at Camp Zama, a U.S. Army base just
outside Tokyo. An official at the base said Cohen stayed for about an hour.
Also on the agenda for talks with the Japanese was the fate of Futenma Air
Station, which is to be moved under a U.S.-Japanese agreement meant to soften
opposition to the American military presence on the southern island of
Okinawa. A new site has not been chosen.
Cohen said the United States would like to see a new location found before
Okinawa hosts next year's economic summit of the world's top industrialized
countries in July 2000.
Excerpts from Reuters PRESS DIGEST - Japan - August 1
Following are some of the leading stories in the Sunday morning editions of
Japanese newspapers, as reported by Kyodo News.
U.N. panel to urge international control of light firearms. (Yomiuri)
Defence Agency secretly forecasts damage to Tokyo if hit by North Korean
missile. (Mainichi)
U.S. bomber dropped A-bomb on Nagasaki in violation of order after wasting
fuel. (Asahi)
China seizes Taiwan ship amid dispute. (Yomiuri, Mainichi)
Environment Agency to set up watch posts for dioxin contamination at 4,000
locations nationwide. (Asahi)
01:41 08-01-99
Hiroshima Mayor Fears New A-Bomb Use
By GINNY PARKER
.c The Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) - The world is forgetting the horror of the atomic bomb and
becoming more likely to use it again, the mayor of Hiroshima said Wednesday.
Just days before the Aug. 6 anniversary of the bombing, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba
warned that the world no longer sees nuclear weapons as a serious threat to
humanity.
``The threshold is being lowered,'' he said. ``People are forgetting just how
terrible Hiroshima and Nagasaki were.''
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the southwestern Japanese city of
Hiroshima in the waning days of World War II, killing 140,000 people. It
dropped another bomb on the southern city of Nagasaki three days later.
They are the only cities to have suffered an atomic bombing.
After the war, under U.S. military occupation, Japan banned the production of
nuclear weapons and adopted a pacifist constitution barring it from offensive
military action.
But mounting tensions in Asia - including North Korea's firing of a missile
in August that flew over Japan - have prompted the nation to begin
reevaluating its position in the world.
Akiba, who is 56 and was not in Hiroshima during the bombing, said Japan's
position should be to create cooperation among nations.
Japan also should push the world toward nuclear disarmament, he said, noting
its role as host to a U.N. conference in Kyoto this week on global
disarmament.
Recent fighting between India and Pakistan - the world's newest nuclear
powers - has heightened worries that the world could face nuclear war.
``Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil,'' Akiba said. ``We must abolish
them.''
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