Okada wants to fast-track bill for North Korea cargo inspections

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Tuesday he wants a bill submitted to the Diet that would allow Japan to carry out strict inspections of North Korean cargo, despite Pyongyang's recent conciliatory moves.

Okada's remarks came after Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano had earlier indicated his reluctance to give the bill fast-track treatment. Hirano later told reporters the government is in "final considerations" about what to do with the bill.

Okada said he told an informal ministerial session, "It's wrong to put off submission of the bill on grounds that North Korea is now taking a conciliatory approach."

He said the bill is aimed at implementing a U.N. Security Council resolution to punish North Korea for its second nuclear test in May.

Okada also told reporters that if the bill is not submitted to the Diet during the extra session that starts next Monday, it should be presented during the ordinary session that convenes in January.

The cargo inspection bill was initially submitted under the previous government in line with the U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution. It was scrapped when the Lower House was dissolved July 21 for the general election.

The bill was designed to enable law enforcement authorities to inspect vessels suspected of carrying North Korea-related cargo on the high seas and elsewhere. It also set rules for the inspections by designating the Japan Coast Guard as the primary agent and the Self-Defense Forces as a backup in special circumstances.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Tuesday he will look at plans to redeploy the Self-Defense Forces to help reconstruct Afghanistan after Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean ends in January.

Kitazawa's remarks add a new dimension to Japan's alternative support plan for the conflict-ravaged country. Until now the government has been focusing on civilian-based aid, including vocational training and farming assistance.

"When I hear international opinions, including those of Europe, I am a little concerned about whether civilian support would be enough for Japan's alternative plan" to help rebuild Afghanistan, Kitazawa said at a news conference.

He said he will try to explore Afghan aid plans involving SDF troops by weighing various suggestions.

Crafting the next defense policy guidelines will be delayed for a year so the new administration can make sure its views are included, officials said Tuesday.

The move, which automatically delays the next medium-term defense buildup plan, was endorsed at a meeting of the Security Council of Japan, the top decision-making panel on defense, involving Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other ministers.

"The government will advance (discussions) on the review of the National Defense Program Guidelines and the medium-term defense buildup plan that will follow the current one and draw a conclusion by the end of fiscal 2010," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters.

The guidelines on basic security policy were to be revised in December along with the current medium-term buildup plan, which stipulates the size of the Self-Defense Forces and related expenses. The timetable was set by the previous administration.

But Hatoyama's government said at a Cabinet committee meeting Friday involving key ministers involved with defense and another gathering involving both ministers and senior ruling coalition lawmakers that the next outline will be delayed until the end of next year.

The government also confirmed plans to create a new expert panel on defense policy and have a Cabinet committee on basic policy, in which the leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan's coalition partners participate as ministers, join in deliberations.

"(The delay approved Tuesday) means we will have enough time (to reflect the views of) the new government," Hirano said.

"We will have to show political leadership in making decisions, rather than rubber-stamping the recommendations of an expert panel, because this is such an important matter," Hirano said.