Cablegate: Part 1 of 4 -- Asd (Apsa) Gregson Participates In

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PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHKO #1879/01 2260704
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 140704Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5437
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI PRIORITY
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA PRIORITY
RHOVVKG/COMSEVENTHFLT PRIORITY
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHKO/USDAO TOKYO JA PRIORITY
RHMFISS/USFJ PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 TOKYO 001879

SIPDIS

DOD FOR OSD/APSA -
GREGSON/MITCHELL/SCHIFFER/HILL/BASALLA/ARAKEL IAN
JOINT STAFF FOR J5 - MILLER
STATE FOR EAP, PM/ISN
PACOM FOR J00/J01/J5
USFJ FOR J00/J01/J5
USFK FOR J00/J01/J5

E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN REUNIFICATION
TAGS: PREL PARM MARR MNUC KN KS JA
SUBJECT: PART 1 OF 4 -- ASD (APSA) GREGSON PARTICIPATES IN
JULY 16-17 U.S.-JAPAN-ROK DEFENSE TRILATERAL TALKS

REF: 08 SECDEF 8291

Classified By: James P. Zumwalt, Charge d'Affaires, a.i.; reasons 1.4 (
b/d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (S) The Assistant Secretary-level U.S.-Japan-ROK Defense
Trilateral Talks convened July 16-17 in Tokyo. The U.S.
interagency delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Asia and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) Wallace Gregson,
and the Japanese and ROK delegations, led by Japanese
Ministry of Defense (MOD) Director General for Defense Policy
Nobushige Takamizawa and ROK Ministry of National Defense
(MND) Deputy Minister for Policy LTG Kim Sang-ki,
respectively, discussed a broad range of security topics and
briefed each other on their national policies, including
updates to other extant trilateral and multilateral
initiatives. The agenda topics comprised: 1) response to
the DPRK's destabilizing actions, including cooperative UNSCR
1874 implementation and strategic communication; 2) national
defense strategies and defense reform plans; 3) information
security; 4) counter-piracy operations and cooperation; and
5) DTT forward development.

2. (S) All parties reaffirmed the usefulness of the role of
the DTT in providing a forum for policy-level discussion on
defense and security issues, as well as in acting as the
""control tower"" for other trilateral initiatives among the
three governments. They made a number of recommendations for
working-level staff to discuss and implement, including
standing up a trilateral working group on U.S. forces
realignment and base relocation, establishing a UNSCR 1874
action group to report to the next DTT plenary, and including
cyber security as an agenda topic for the next plenary. The
U.S. delegation proposed three ""way ahead"" initiatives -- a
trilateral chiefs of defense (CHOD) meeting via secure video
teleconference (SVTC), a track-1 trilateral workshop on
strategic communication and crisis management at the Asia
Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), and reciprocal
opportunities for Japan and the ROK to observe portions of
the KEEN EDGE and KEY RESOLVE/FOAL EAGLE exercises. They
also proposed trilateral observation of a U.S. ballistic
missile defense test shot to initiate policy-level discussion
on future missile defense cooperation. The Japanese
delegation supported the proposals, while the ROK delegation
-- citing lingering political and diplomatic sensitivities
between the ROK and Japan on the issues of exercise
observation and missile defense -- promised to review all
proposals in Seoul and respond at a later date. The ROK
delegation confirmed it would host the next round of the DTT
in June 2010.

3. (S) Comment: This year's DTT demonstrated considerable
progress over the November 6-7, 2008 DTT in Washington both
in terms of the delegations' willingness to engage and the
relevance of the discussions to their major regional
concerns. While some obvious signs of ROK uneasiness in
discussing defense issues with Japan remain (Korean Peninsula
contingency planning in particular), the South Korean
participants interacted well with their Japanese counterparts
in what might have been the most productive defense and
security discussions among the three governments in six
years. This positive trend, likely connected to North
Korea's recent actions, will probably continue into the next
round of the DTT. End Summary and Comment.

4. (U) From July 16-17, Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD)
for Asia and Pacific Security Affairs Wallace Gregson and an
interagency U.S. delegation participated in the
U.S.-Japan-ROK Defense Trilateral Talks in Tokyo. ROK
Ministry of National Defense (MND) Deputy Minister (DM) for
Policy LTG Kim Sang-ki led the South Korean delegation. The
Japanese delegation was headed by Ministry of Defense Bureau
of Defense Policy (MOD) Director General (DG) Nobushige
Takamizawa. (full delegation list in para 49)

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U.S.-JAPAN BILATERAL MEETING
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----------------------------

5. (C) ASD Gregson opened the July 16 U.S.-Japan bilateral
DTT preparatory meeting praising both government's close
cooperation on the DPRK's recent destabilizing actions,
including responses to the July 3-4 missile launches and the
North Korean vessel Kang Nam I. Both sides summarized their
respective approaches and objectives for each of the DTT
trilateral plenary discussion topics and briefs.

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Response to DPRK:
-----------------

6. (S) MOD Strategic Planning Office Deputy Director Sugio
Takahashi previewed the MOD brief on responding to North
Korea's nuclear test and missile launches. He compared the
current security environment to similar events leading up to
the 1994 Agreed Framework, speculating that internal DPRK
politics surrounding leadership succession may be driving the
DPRK's actions. MOFA Deputy Director General for North
American Affairs Tomita underscored the importance of
implementing UNSCR 1874. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for East Asia Michael Schiffer said the U.S.
Government regarded the current situation with the DPRK as an
""inflection point"" in dealing with North Korea. He added
that current U.S. policy on North Korea focuses on enhanced
cooperation with allies in addressing the DPRK problem.

7. (S) USFJ Commander Lt Gen Edward Rice stressed that the
DTT is a good opportunity to build upon the trilateral
cooperation leading up to, during, and subsequent to the
April Taepodong II (TD-2) launch. He also noted that the
three governments ought to prepare the requisite architecture
for policy and operational coordination, including joint
planning and operations, as well as information sharing. ASD
Gregson proposed that the three sides learn more about each
other's approach to countering the North Korean missile
threat, beginning with trilateral observation of a U.S.
missile defense test shot. DG Takamizawa said the Japanese
side will welcome the U.S. proposal at the plenary, but is
concerned about the apparent lack of interest by the ROK.
ASD Gregson pointed out that PACOM had received some
indication of interest from the ROK and that the U.S.
Government could explore venues where it would be productive
and informative for all three sides.

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National Defense Strategies:
----------------------------

8. (C) ASD Gregson introduced the scope of the U.S.
Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), highlighting that
consultations on the three governments' respective strategic
reviews will be important for identifying areas for
leveraging each side's capabilities and operational
resources. DASD Schiffer introduced the QDR's four primary
issue areas -- irregular warfare, high-end asymmetric
capabilities, global force posture, and strengthening DOD
support to civilian-led operations and activities. He noted
that the review of global force posture ought to be discussed
in depth with the Japanese side, as it includes key questions
on U.S. force posture in the Asia-Pacific region, adding that
the current QDR is the first to provide analysis and guidance
on energy security and climate change.

9. (C) DG Takamizawa presented the overall schedule for
Japan's National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), noting
that although the Cabinet Secretariat will draft the NDPG in
July after incorporating a report from the civilian expert
panel on defense reform (Note: As reported in ref B, this
report was presented to the Prime Minister's Office on August
4. End Note.), the timing of Security Council deliberations
in September could be affected by the August 30 Lower House
elections. The new NDPG focuses on three primary areas --
maintaining national security through effective responses to
a wide range of contingencies, stabilizing the regional
security environment, and improving the global security
environment. MOD plans to make its budget request based on
these three ""pillars,"" which, unlike the 2004 NDPG,
incorporates a regional perspective on Japan's defense
policy.

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Information Security:
---------------------

10. (C) ASD Gregson emphasized that trilateral dialogue on
information security is not meant to duplicate the efforts of
the Bilateral Information Security Task Force (BISTF) and the
July 21-27 interagency security survey visit to Tokyo led by
Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense James Hursch, nor to
reveal to the ROK any sensitive discussions between the
United States and Japan in BISTF channels. Rather, the
trilateral discussion will focus on information security in
broader policy terms, as cooperation in this area is a
foundational element for other forms of trilateral
cooperation. Cyber attacks are particularly relevant to all
three countries, as all three governments face the same
challenges from the same actors. While sensitivities exist
among all three countries, opening a conversation on this
topic could lead to advantages, including a trilateral
agreement on information sharing and cooperation, Gregson
asserted.

11. (C) Takamizawa stressed that bilateral cooperation
between Japan and the ROK on information security is crucial
for strengthening cooperation in nearly every other area,
which also affects the level of trilateral cooperation with
the United States. He pointed out that, to date, bilateral
discussion between Japan and the ROK on information security
has been lackluster, which South Korean officials also
acknowledge. Given difficulties in Japan-ROK bilateral
discussions on the issue, the Japanese side hopes the U.S.
presentation could provide the ""break"" that would allow
Japan-ROK discussions to move forward. MOFA's Tomita echoed
Takamizawa's points, underscoring the need for an
institutional framework for information security discussions
with the ROK. Japan Joint Staff J-5 Director RADM Hiroo
Hatanaka praised the U.S. proposal, adding that trilateral
information security dialogue is timely.

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Counter-piracy:
---------------

12. (C) RADM Hatanaka provided a summary of Japan's
counter-piracy operations near the Horn of Africa and the
Gulf of Aden, including prior legal constraints on protecting
non-Japanese vessels that, as of July 24, will no longer
exist. ASD Gregson reiterated the U.S. Government's
appreciation for Japan's counter-piracy operations. Joint
Staff J-5 Northeast Asia Branch Chief COL Frank Miller
welcomed changes in Japanese law allowing the Japan Maritime
Self Defense Force (JMSDF) to protect non-Japanese ships and
urged Japan to consider joining CTF 151. Working under a
single command structure could allow for more effective
operations, Miller noted.
ZUMWALT

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