Diet begins examining N. Korea inspection bill, passage unclear+

TOKYO, July 9 Kyodo -
A House of Representatives panel began deliberating a bill Thursday aimed at
enabling inspections of banned cargo to and from North Korea in response to a
recent U.N. resolution punishing the country for its May nuclear test.

But it remains unclear whether the legislation can be enacted by the July 28
end of the current legislative session given the possibility that Prime
Minister Taro Aso could dissolve the chamber at any time.
The government, and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and
its partner, the New Komeito party, eye the bill's passage through the panel on
Monday and the lower house the following day, at the earliest, according to
government and coalition officials.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which wields significant sway
over the opposition-controlled House of Councillors, has expressed willingness
to cooperate in deliberating the government-sponsored bill.
''We have a responsibility for swiftly taking appropriate measures to make this
resolution effective given that our country proactively took part in the
consultations'' with the United States and others to have the U.N. Security
Council adopt it, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told the panel in
opening remarks.
The bill, now before the lower house Special Committee on Antipiracy, Measures,
Prevention of International Terrorism, and Japan's Cooperation and Support, is
designed to enable inspections of banned cargo, including ballistic
missile-related material, as called for in U.N. Security Council Resolution
1874, unanimously adopted June 12.
It designates the Japan Coast Guard as the primary agent of such inspections on
the high seas and in Japan's territorial waters, while assigning the customs
authorities to doing the work at the nation's seaports and airports.
If the Coast Guard cannot handle situations alone because, for example, crew
members of a ship under suspicion are heavily armed, the Self-Defense Forces
would take necessary action under the maritime police action provision of the
SDF law.
Otherwise, the SDF would work on intelligence-gathering and tracking ships
suspected of carrying banned cargo, such as arms and material related to
nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with the Ministry
of Defense Establishment law.
==Kyodo