Ruling bloc to pass N. Korean cargo inspection bill in ongoing Diet+

TOKYO, June 17 Kyodo -
Japan's ruling parties agreed Wednesday that they aim to submit to parliament
and get cleared during the ongoing session a bill to inspect cargo carried by
ships and boats sailing to and from North Korea, lawmakers said.
The inspections would be in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution that
was adopted last week to urge U.N. member states to conduct such inspections in
their territories and also on the high seas.
After a meeting of executives from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its
coalition partner, the New Komeito party, LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda
told reporters that the parties will launch a project team Wednesday and make
the utmost efforts to get the bill passed soon.
The U.N. resolution calls on all states to inspect vessels with the consent of
the country whose flag the vessel is flying, if there are reasonable grounds to
believe that the cargo carries nuclear- or missile-related items.
It was adopted to punish North Korea for the nuclear test it carried out May 25.
Yoshio Urushibara, chief of the New Komeito's Diet affairs committee, told
reporters separately that the bill is likely to clear the Diet by the July 28
end of the current session, because the main opposition Democratic Party of
Japan is expected to support it.
Under conventional laws, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces can inspect cargo on
the high seas only in a situation in which Japan is under armed attack or in a
situation that could develop into a direct armed attack against Japan if left
unaddressed.
Many in the ruling coalition doubt that North Korea's second nuclear test can
be defined as having posed such threats.
In the meantime under the Japan Coast Guard law, the Coast Guard is allowed to
conduct inspections on vessels, but only in territorial waters and not on the
high seas.
The ruling parties have yet to reach an agreement on whether the Japan Coast
Guard or the SDF should handle the inspections.
If the ruling bloc decides to submit a bill enabling the SDF to primarily carry
out the inspections, the DPJ-led opposition parties are likely to oppose it.
Prime Minister Taro Aso on Wednesday sought cooperation and concerted action
from the opposition bloc. ''I hope both the ruling and opposition camps will
work in concert and reach a quick conclusion,'' he said during a debate with
DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama in parliament.
At a press conference Tuesday, Hatoyama said it is likely that his party may
give a nod to the bill if inspections are conducted by the Coast Guard, not the
SDF.
The SDF's activities, especially in regard to overseas deployment, often spark
controversy in Japan because of the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.
On Wednesday, Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the small opposition Social
Democratic Party, told a news conference, ''Should (the ruling parties allow)
the Maritime Self-Defense Force to conduct the inspections, we will be sternly
opposed to the bill, as that could lead to a situation involving the use of
force.''
==Kyodo