ID :
151429
Sat, 11/27/2010 - 23:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/151429
The shortlink copeid
Cabinet members at the ready ahead of military drill in Yellow Sea
TOKYO, Nov. 27 Kyodo -
All members of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet were on standby Saturday to
respond to possible developments in North Korea before a four-day joint
military drill from Sunday by South Korea and the United States in the Yellow
Sea.
Cabinet members have been ordered by Kan to stay in Tokyo until Wednesday and
be at their ministry offices within an hour in the event emergency situations
develop, following Pyongyang's bombardment Tuesday of a South Korean island
that put the Japanese government under attack from opposition parties for what
they argue was a slow response.
Kan spent the whole day at his official residence except for vacating it twice
to have lunch and dinner.
At midday, he had lunch with his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama at a Chinese
restaurant nearby to discuss how to deal with domestic and diplomatic issues
including tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Kan also left the residence at night to have dinner with fiscal policy minister
Banri Kaieda at a Japanese restaurant a 20-minute drive from the residence,
which is located in the same premises as the prime minister's office.
The opposition camp has called into question the government's crisis management
ability in connection with the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island along a
disputed western sea border.
In a Diet session Thursday, a lawmaker of the main opposition Liberal
Democratic Party grilled Kan, saying that no lawmaker was at the crisis
management center's information coordination office for 70 minutes after it was
set up in the prime minister's office.
In an article posted on his own website Saturday, Kan introduced how the
government responded to the firing of artillery barrages by North Korea in
apparent defense against the criticism.
Kan's comment made to reporters on the North Korean attack was ''faster than
any other national leaders,'' the article said.
It also noted that Kan arrived at the prime minister's office after ''holding
consultations with the people concerned'' on how to deal with the situation
''based on the sufficient information'' obtained from South Korea.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported Friday, quoting a Pentagon spokesman, that the
U.S.-South Korea joint exercises are aimed at deterring North Korea from
another attack and not directed at China.
''It's important for us to state publicly that this exercise and the ones we've
done in the past are not directed at China,'' Capt. Darryn James was quoted as
saying. ''As with the previous exercises, these have been designed to
strengthen deterrence against North Korea.''
Reuters also reported Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military's
Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying in an interview with CNN that North Korean
leader Kim Jong Il is ''not a guy we can trust.''
Mullen was also quoted as saying in the interview, which will be aired on
Sunday, ''And that's why the leadership aspect of this from China is so
important, because if any country has influence in Pyongyang, it's China.''
==Kyodo
All members of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet were on standby Saturday to
respond to possible developments in North Korea before a four-day joint
military drill from Sunday by South Korea and the United States in the Yellow
Sea.
Cabinet members have been ordered by Kan to stay in Tokyo until Wednesday and
be at their ministry offices within an hour in the event emergency situations
develop, following Pyongyang's bombardment Tuesday of a South Korean island
that put the Japanese government under attack from opposition parties for what
they argue was a slow response.
Kan spent the whole day at his official residence except for vacating it twice
to have lunch and dinner.
At midday, he had lunch with his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama at a Chinese
restaurant nearby to discuss how to deal with domestic and diplomatic issues
including tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Kan also left the residence at night to have dinner with fiscal policy minister
Banri Kaieda at a Japanese restaurant a 20-minute drive from the residence,
which is located in the same premises as the prime minister's office.
The opposition camp has called into question the government's crisis management
ability in connection with the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island along a
disputed western sea border.
In a Diet session Thursday, a lawmaker of the main opposition Liberal
Democratic Party grilled Kan, saying that no lawmaker was at the crisis
management center's information coordination office for 70 minutes after it was
set up in the prime minister's office.
In an article posted on his own website Saturday, Kan introduced how the
government responded to the firing of artillery barrages by North Korea in
apparent defense against the criticism.
Kan's comment made to reporters on the North Korean attack was ''faster than
any other national leaders,'' the article said.
It also noted that Kan arrived at the prime minister's office after ''holding
consultations with the people concerned'' on how to deal with the situation
''based on the sufficient information'' obtained from South Korea.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported Friday, quoting a Pentagon spokesman, that the
U.S.-South Korea joint exercises are aimed at deterring North Korea from
another attack and not directed at China.
''It's important for us to state publicly that this exercise and the ones we've
done in the past are not directed at China,'' Capt. Darryn James was quoted as
saying. ''As with the previous exercises, these have been designed to
strengthen deterrence against North Korea.''
Reuters also reported Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military's
Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying in an interview with CNN that North Korean
leader Kim Jong Il is ''not a guy we can trust.''
Mullen was also quoted as saying in the interview, which will be aired on
Sunday, ''And that's why the leadership aspect of this from China is so
important, because if any country has influence in Pyongyang, it's China.''
==Kyodo
