Japanese editorial excerpts -3-

Japan Policy & Politics, July 22, 2003

TOKYO, July 15 Kyodo

Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

CROSSING A THIN LINE (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published July 13)

Japan should be able to do much more to thwart the distrust that is growing between the United States and North Korea.

Having first raised tensions with its nuclear development program, it now seems North Korea has gone beyond the red line drawn by the United States. U.S. officials say they believe North Korea has begun reprocessing spent uranium fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The U.S. television network NBC has reported traces of radioactive gas unique to the nuclear fuel rod reprocessing have been detected near Yongbyong.

If the reports are correct, North Korea has committed an outrage that erases its framework agreement with the United States-the only route to solving the problem, although it had already been rendered moot. North Korea's actions could also wipe out all the diplomatic efforts made by Japan, South Korea and China. North Korea must immediately cease reprocessing nuclear fuel rods.

The scale of the reprocessing program is not known, but if all the roughly 8,000 fuel rods held by North Korea were reprocessed, the plutonium extracted would be enough for six or eight nuclear weapons.

Is this North Korea's expression of determination to build its own nuclear weapons? Or is it a bid to provoke the United States in the face of wrangling over one-on-one or multilateral talks? Even if North Korea has the latter intent, it is gravely disconcerting.

President George W. Bush's administration, which has insisted it will not negotiate with North Korea, even if it talks with North Korea, might harden its already unyielding policy unless North Korea completely abandons its nuclear program. As hard as it is to accept that the actions by North Korea would directly provoke a military crisis, the United States will now press harder to have the U.N. Security Council denounce North Korea, suspend construction of two light-water nuclear reactors for North Korea, and step up efforts to place economic sanctions on North Korea.

The New York Times recently reported on U.S. intelligence information about experimental facilities in North Korea for producing smaller nuclear warheads. Disclosure of the nuclear fuel reprocessing information by the United States could be part of the government effort to establish an international coalition against North Korea.

North Korea's actions should be harshly condemned. But the international community must be cool-headed in its response. The nations of the world now face the question of how to open a way for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program without rising to North Korea's provocation. They need to work out ways to engage North Korea in multilateral negotiations with China acting as intermediary.

South Korean officials have said North Korean counterparts have informally sounded them out during recent ministerial-level talks in Seoul, asking with a straight face whether the Americans really would negotiate with North Korea if North Korea abandons its nuclear program. Japan should be able to do much more to thwart the distrust that is growing between the United States and North Korea.

Japan can never tolerate North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons. But a military solution to the problem would demand far too high a price. It is time for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to act. He should press Bush to be more flexible in dealing with North Korea. He should also cooperate with South Korea and China, clarifying their shares of the burden, while pressing North Korea to change its reckless nuclear policy.

(July 15)