FOCUS: Okada faces task of delving into secret Japan-U.S. nuclear pact+

TOKYO, Sept. 16 Kyodo - As the foreign minister in the new government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, Katsuya Okada is expected not only to play a major role in implementing the country's foreign policies but also to investigate the purported secretive
aspects of Japan-U.S. security cooperation that have been guarded by senior Japanese bureaucrats for decades.

Reactions among ministry officials have been mixed to having the 56-year-old
lawmaker as their boss, with some expecting him to exercise powerful leadership
in a positive way and others concerned about how their work may be affected by
his often-uncompromising position on policy issues.
''He seems to be studying hard and is well-versed in issues,'' a top-level
Foreign Ministry official said in recalling his recent exchanges with Okada,
who is also a leading candidate to become a future prime minister.
But it remains to be seen whether Okada will be capable of fully realizing the
DPJ's pledge to ''get to the bottom'' of a purported secret Japan-U.S. pact of
1960 under which Japan would allow stopovers in its territory by U.S. military
aircraft or vessels carrying nuclear weapons. If such tacit approval is
confirmed, it would reveal Japan's oft-touted ''three nonnuclear principles''
as a mere facade.
U.S. diplomatic documents have already confirmed the existence of the deal
agreed upon in the Cold War era, but the issue drew renewed attention earlier
this year following testimonies to the media by former Japanese vice foreign
ministers who said the information had been passed down and managed among key
bureaucrats.
During the latest House of Representatives election campaign, the DPJ stressed
the need for investigation into the issue, apparently to highlight its
difference from the government led by the Liberal Democratic Party which has
denied the existence of any secret deal. The DPJ is also eyeing cooperation
from the United States in the investigation.
The issue is a sensitive one for Japan, the only country that has suffered
nuclear attacks. It claims to have maintained since 1967 the three principles
of not possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons
into Japan.
Under the secret deal, which the two countries agreed on in revising the
Japan-U.S. security treaty in 1960, Tokyo would give tacit approval for
stopovers by U.S. military aircraft or vessels carrying nuclear weapons,
although the treaty stipulates the need for Washington to hold prior
consultations with Tokyo before bringing nuclear weapons into Japan.
Before the Aug. 30 general election, which resulted in an overwhelming victory
for the DPJ, Okada indicated that he would take a tough line in investigating
the secret pact issue.
''The foreign minister must tell the vice foreign minister to submit (related
documents). If not turned in, it will be against (the bureaucrats') obligation
to follow the orders of their superiors,'' Okada told an interview with Kyodo
News in July.
Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka has expressed his willingness to
cooperate with the DPJ-led government, but concerns linger that any development
on the issue could sour relations between the new minister and bureaucrats.
''I don't think such an investigation can benefit us in terms of diplomacy. It
will just cause confusion within the ministry,'' one Foreign Ministry official
said.
Regardless of how the issue is settled, Jiro Yamaguchi, a professor at the
Hokkaido University School of Law, said that issuing an instruction for an
investigation itself will be ''an achievement'' for the DPJ-led administration.
''If a change of government had not taken place, there would not have been a
move toward disclosure of information in the first place,'' Yamaguchi said.
''To change the tendency to hide things is a very basic aspect of
democracy....And I think Mr. Okada should clash with bureaucrats (if he has to)
to show that the new administration will not compromise,'' he added.
But he also admitted that the issue could open up to further difficult
discussions on whether Japan can truly uphold the nonnuclear principles today.
In 1991, after the Cold War ended, U.S. President George W. Bush announced he
would withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from U.S. vessels, making the secret
pact with Japan obsolete. But Japan relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for
protection -- a policy some argue contradicts the nonnuclear principles.
Although the DPJ, through the secret pact issue, appears to be hoping to create
a symbolic case of policy formation that no longer relies on bureaucrats but is
instigated by politicians themselves, some analysts warn that it should be
handled carefully.
''If the DPJ wants to investigate whether nuclear weapons have been brought
into Japan in the past, it should propose the issue to U.S. President Barack
Obama after thinking very carefully about what kind of settlement is possible
(for both countries),'' Yukio Okamoto, a foreign policy analyst, said.
Should the party launch such an investigation without fully thinking about how
to resolve the problem, it will ''mean that Japan-U.S. relations (under the
DPJ) will start off with a complicated and difficult problem,'' he said.
So far, Okada has been careful not to ruffle relations with Japan's closest
ally, the United States, as seen in his talks with U.S. Ambassador to Japan
John Roos on Friday during which he refrained from discussing potentially
sensitive issues in depth, such as Japan's refueling mission in the Indian
Ocean.
Some in the United States are wary that Okada, dubbed a ''fundamentalist'' for
his perceived stubbornness, may not take a flexible approach to the secret pact
issue and bilateral security matters.
But Yamaguchi, the professor, said that Okada is an ''appropriate'' person to
be foreign minister especially amid the growing worldwide momentum toward
nuclear disarmament.
''He has a sense of stability and has also been working hard to abolish nuclear
weapons...Collaborating with the United States on nuclear disarmament is a kind
of diplomacy I think the Japanese people have been wishing for,'' he said.
In May, a DPJ Diet members group, headed by Okada, announced in New York a
scheme to make a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia by signing a treaty
between North Korea, Japan and South Korea. The treaty would also call on the
United States, China and Russia not to launch or threaten to launch nuclear
attacks against the three Asian countries.
''It's not a notion that can easily be realized. But it is important that
Japanese leaders continue to say such things...And what is most important is to
let the world know that Japan has changed (through the new administration),''
Yamaguchi added.
While it is not known how Okada will actually manage the ministry, bureaucrats
seem to be willing to start afresh under the new administration.
''It would be offensive for us to be called a chameleon...but I guess what is
important for us is to accept the new minister with an open mind,'' a senior
Foreign Ministry official said.
==Kyodo
2009-09-16 22:49:57