Cablegate: Tokyo Media Reaction - Dprk Nuclear Program

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PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #3022 1840400
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P 030400Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
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UNCLAS TOKYO 003022

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/K, 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 - DPRK NUCLEAR PROGRAM

LEAD STORIES: Tuesday morning's Nikkei front-paged a
dispatch from New Delhi on a joint statement issued
Monday by Japan and India on bilateral cooperation for
energy conservation in India. The daily added that
Tokyo is planning to ask the US and China to separately
strike a similar accord.

1. "Thorough Verification Needed to Ensure Complete
Denuclearization" The business-oriented Nikkei
editorialized (7/3): "North Korea and the IAEA have
agreed on the modalities of the latter's verification
of the shutdown and sealing of the Yongbyon nuclear
complex. Given its track record of broken promises,
however, there is little room to hope that Pyongyang
will comply with this accord. Unless surveillance and
verification are undertaken in a way that fully dispels
the international community's suspicions about North
Korea's nuclear program, trust in the IAEA itself will
be called into question.... While the details of the
DPRK-IAEA agreement are still unclear, inspectors are
expected to begin arriving in mid-July. Though they
should be able to confirm the shutdown and sealing of
the Yongbyon facilities, this alone will not lead
directly to denuclearization. The February six-party
agreement holds that North Korea will discuss with the
other five countries a complete declaration of all its
nuclear programs, and it remains to be seen whether
uranium enrichment will be included. The current
consensus of the international community is that North
Korea's complete denuclearization should be pursued
through the six-party framework. This is a good thing.
But at the same time, it appears that the international
community is still being manipulated by Pyongyang."

SCHIEFFER

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