New Japanese Naval Forces

Hyuga class helicopter carrier

Japan started years ago to face contingencies and participate to international security missions, the DDH-161 Hyuga "13,500 ton" ton Class helicopter-carrying destroyer, similar in design to a small aircraft carrier, provides the Maritime Self-Defence Force with greater capability for force projection.

The Hyuga class helicopter carrier is named after the Imperial Japanese Navy Ise class battleship Hyuga. At least two ships of this class are planned. Construction of the first ship was started in 2006 and was commissioned in 2009. The second ship is expected to enter service in 2011. This class will provide the Maritime Self-Defense Force materials of a new generation, adaptable to variable threats in Asian regional seas. Also future technology and construction development project would associate Japanese shipbuilders and western firms, informed sources said.

The Hyuga class warships are the largest combatant ships, operated by JMSDF and built since the World War II. The Hyuga class ships are called as helicopter destroyers in Japan, for political reasons. It is against constitution to operate what is referred as offensive weapons and exceeds necessary level of self-defense. The helicopter destroyer classification is not correct, as these ships are significantly larger than destroyers, have a full-length flight deck and relatively large air wing. Currently these warships are not capable of operating fixed-wing aircraft, as they lack a ski-jump bow and other equipment. Nevertheless they needs only little modification and may be outfitted with V/STOL aircraft in the future.

The Hyuga helicopter carrier is armed with a single 16-cell Mk.41 vertical launch system with a mix of ESSM surface-to-air missiles and ASROC anti-submarine missiles. Several missiles can be guided simultaneously to various incoming threats. Other weapons include two Phalanx CIWS for self-defense and two triple 324-mm torpedo tubes. The Hyuga class has no provision for amphibious assault, however it is clear that these ships could carry far more that 350 naval crew

For the time being, it is a matter of international assistance and monitoring with destroyers currently dispatched in the West of Indian ocean, as announced on Asian Gazette, the Japanese defense minister today Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said that his ministry is considering allowing Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to be deployed off Somalia to refuel foreign ships engaged in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

"We are examining various options for international contributions by the Self-Defense Forces, including U.N. peacekeeping operations," Kitazawa told a press conference. "(The refueling mission) is among them."

While declining to comment on whether the government will submit a bill for the refueling mission to an extraordinary Diet session this fall, Kitazawa said, "It would be quite hasty to give up on any important international contributions," just because of possible gridlock in the so-called divided Diet, in which the opposition bloc controls the upper house. Kitazawa indicated that he would seek the support of opposition parties if the government does decide to submit such legislation to the Diet.

✍✍✍ France and Russia "Mistral" agreement

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday he was "certain" France would build two Mistral class helicopter carriers for Russia. Russia hopes to buy four Mistral class warships to modernise hardware that was exposed as outdated during its war against Georgia in 2008. France has said it is willing to sell the ship, but talks have got bogged down over technology sharing. "We will build with our Russian friends the two Mistral," Sarkozy told workers at a shipyard in Western France. "The contract is still in negotiations, but the decision is taken ... it's certain."

Indeed... "The Mistral and Tonnerre BPC (bâtiment de projection et de commandement) ships, are the French Navy's new 21,300t amphibious assault, command and power projection ships. The ships have been built by DCNS in partnership with Thales and Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Each ship has the payload capacity and versatility to carry up to 16 heavy helicopters and one-third of a mechanised regiment, plus two LCAC hovercraft or up to four landing craft.

naval-technology.com

Name: Kim Hyon-Hui. Profession: North Korean Spy

"The feeble-looking man and his daughter sat

quietly on a bench outside the airport

immigration office in Bahrain. Despite their

apparent calm, they were the center of an

international storm..."

The Mystery of Flight 858, published in Time,

1987

http://bit.ly/75Sm39

But first, about Kim's arrival in Tokyo today.

Kim Hyon Hui, a former North Korean spy convicted

of the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air jetliner

arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday

early morning . She is to meet the families of

Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean

agents.***

VDO

Click the arrow to watch the arrival of Kim

Hyon-Hui filmed by local TVs' with Kim driven to

the mountain resort of Karuizawa in central

Nagano prefecture to a summer house owned by

former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Local news reports quotes by the Korea Times said

that Kim received 20-30 million yen (280-420

million won) from the Japanese government in

return for her visit to Japan.

http://bit.ly/cJh0QL

"The former spy is still a controversial figure,

whom critics accuse of playing up her beauty and

image as a victim of North Korea's communist

regime in exchange for a pardon from the death

sentence." (Quotes of the KT)

After arriving at Tokyo's Haneda airport on a

government - chartered flight from South Korea,

she was taken by car to a cottage in Karuizawa, a

summer retreat in Nagano Prefecture, where she

will stay. Japanese police have kept Kim heavily

guarded and her itinerary secret at the request

of the South Korean government due to security

concerns.

During her stay in Japan until Friday, Kim who is

now 46, will meet the parents of Japanese

abductee Megumi Yokota and the family of another

abductee Yaeko Taguchi, and her 33 year old son

Koichiro Iizuka and plan to ask her during their

second meeting what she knows about Japanese

abductees.

While families of the abduction victims expect

that Kim will yield fresh information about them,

criticism has grown that the Japanese government

is merely trying to gloss over its failure to

make a break - through in the long-standing

problem by bringing her to Japan.

College hired

According to her autobiography and other sources,

Kim, who was born the daughter of a North Korean

diplomat, was chosen as an agent while studying

at college and was taught Japanese language and

culture by Yaeko Taguchi in the early 1980s.

After bombing the KAL plane and killing all 115

people on board, Kim was apprehended in Bahrain

and sent to South Korea, where she was sentenced

to death in 1989. But she was freed later under a

presidential pardon. She married in South Korea

and has two children. She met with Taguchi's

33-year-old son Koichiro in March last year in

Pusan, South Korea, while telling Japanese

government officials since May last year that she

had met with Megumi Yokota during training prior

to the bombing. Yokota was kidnapped by North

Korean agents in 1977 at age 13 on her way home

from school in Niigata Prefecture. Pyongyang said

she died in North Korea, but her family does not

believe the claim.

Kim's visit to Japan came after Yokota's parents,

Shigeru, 77, and Sakie, 74 said they wanted to

meet face-to-face to hear about their daughter.

Hiroshi Nakai, Japan's state minister in charge

of the abduction issue, has played a leading role

in arranging Kim's visit, and Justice Minister

Keiko Chiba issued a special permit for her to

enter Japan, despite the Japanese immigration law

denying entry to foreign nationals sentenced to

one year or more in jail.

The chartered airplane arrived at the Haneda

airport shortly before 4 a.m. before the start of

ordinary flights, and Kim, with a white jacket

and sunglasses, got into a car, guarded by some

10 officials who put up umbrellas in order

apparently to hide her from cameras.

North Korea in 2001 admitted to 13 abductions of

Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 80s. It

allowed five victims to return home but said

eight more had died, a claim Japan has rejected.

Japan insists North Korea is still hiding

survivors and has abducted more people than it

admits, in a dispute that has proved a stumbling

block in talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons

program. "Critics have questioned rationales for

granting the convicted terrorist special

permission to visit Japan, when she is not likely

to possess significant information about the

kidnapping of Japanese nationals," according to

press agencies speculations.

Kim (here in the 90's) criticized the South

Korean media in 2009 for revealing her

whereabouts along with telling the Japanese media

that one of their abducted citizens may be alive

in North Korea. Played by intelligence, Japanese

media are to repeat the same mistake?

The alleged story of DPRK agent Kim Hyon-Hui

Former North Korean operative born in 1962, in

Kaesong, involved in the Korean Air Flight 858

bombing in 1987.

Korean Air Flight 858 was a Boeing 707 3B5C en

route from Baghdad International Airport to Gimpo

International Airport on 29 November 1987. Two

North Korean agents left a bomb in the passenger

cabin before leaving the plane in a stopover at

Abu Dhabi International Airport. The aircraft

exploded over the Andaman Sea. Subsequent

investigation and testimony by one of the

perpetrators implicated Kim Jong-il, the son of

"North Korea's Eternal President Kim Il-sung", in

the plot.

Korean Air Flight 858 was en route from Abu Dhabi

to Bangkok on 29 November 1987 when it exploded

over the Andaman Sea, killing all 115 on board.

Two North Korean agents had boarded the plane in

Baghdad and departed during its stopover in Abu

Dhabi having left a time bomb in an overhead

compartment. The agents were arrested when they

attempted to leave Bahrain using fake Japanese

passports, and both immediately swallowed cyanide

capsules. The male, later identified as

70-year-old Kim Sung Il, died almost instantly,

but the female suspect, 26 year old Kim Hyon Hui,

survived.

According to testimony at a United Nations

Security Council meeting, on 15 December 1987 Kim

Hyon Hui was transferred to Seoul where she

recovered from the poison and, after seeing life

in South Korea on television, said that she had

been "exploited as a tool for North Korean

terrorist activities", and made a detailed and

voluntary confession outlining her travels under

the guidance of North Korean agents from

Pyongyang via Moscow, Budapest, Vienna, Belgrade,

and eventually to Baghdad where the bomb was

primed. The escape route was to be from Abu Dhabi

via Amman to Rome but was diverted to Bahrain due

to visa complications.

In January 1988, Kim announced at a press

conference held by the Agency for National

Security Planning, the South Korean secret

services agency, that both she and her partner

were North Korean operatives. She said that they

had left a radio containing 350 grams of C 4

explosive and a liquor bottle containing

approximately 700 ml of PLX explosive in an

overhead rack in the passenger cabin of the

aircraft.

Kim expressed remorse at her actions and asked

for the forgiveness of the families of those who

had died. She also said that the order for the

bombing had been "personally penned" by Kim

Jong-il, the son of North Korean President Kim Il

Sung, who had wanted to destabilize the South

Korean government, disrupt upcoming elections and

frighten teams from attending the Seoul Olympics.

An article written by Peter Maass for The

Washington Post and dated 15 January 1988 states

that it was unknown whether Kim was coerced in

her remarks or was motivated by remorse for her

actions.

Aftermath In 1993, William Morrow & Co published

"The Tears of My Soul", Kim Hyon Hui's account of

how she was trained as a North Korean espionage

agent and carried out the bombing of KAL flight

858. In a gesture of contrition for her crime,

she donated all of the proceeds from this book to

the families of the victims of flight 858.

*** Related to Asian Gazette paper on "New Naicho

chief: Japan's changing face of Intelligence"

July 9th

Sources:

Agencies, TV Asahi, Time, Wikipedia, Hee

Kim Hyun (1993) " The Tears of My Soul", "She

sabotaged plane on orders of Kim Jong-Il" The

Washington Post January 15,1988,

http://bit.ly/bjk2Kb

Reporter's notes

Comments:

✍✍✍ How awful situation for the parents

of Miss Yokota!

✍✍✍ Some people in Bangkok, Thailand

have had excellent knowledge of what

happened in the KAL bombing. North

Korean agents used to gather in a

Korean (North) restaurant in the

Sukhumvit area prior to November 1987.

Might have happened at that time that

terrorists gathered there for coordination

and were monitored by security agencies

according to well informed sources.

South Korea: Jeju-do Resort Island says No to a Navy base

Forget Okinawa in Japan, Guam, or Jeju-do (South Korea) scenic landscape. Here, the "cold war" didn't end!

Aegis destroyers in Jeju-do harbor (concept map)

For years, the South Korean government planned to build a Navy base on Jeju Island, a touristic resort between ROK and Japan. Locals are angry and said their life and environment are threatened. A similar scenario to Japan owned Okinawa Henoko region where the US and Japan government plan to relocate segment of the Marine Corps airborne.

The South Korean Navy is to build this year 2010 wharfs where Aegis destroyers will be based. The ships, from the South Korean and US fleets, are set with "missile defense" systems and be used to monitor China’s coastal region and North Korea, naval activities and military transports.

Local activists and environment associations fear that: "Jeju Island, now called the peace island, will thus become a prime military target" They also claim nature will be damaged: "The coral reefs have been named by the United Nations as key environmental treasures that should be saved, building a naval base on top of these wonders of nature will not ensure they will be protected and the traditional way of life in this small fishing and fruit growing community will be severely impacted." End of quotes

The Joongang Ilbo daily reported this week that after 15 months of controversy, the Seoul Administrative Court rejected Jeju residents' request to stop the Defense Ministry from building a naval base on the island. The ruling gave the ministry permission to speed up the building of a port for 20 battleships and two large cruisers by 2014. Mr. Park Jeong-hwa, the judge who presided over the case, said there were no illegalities in the way the ministry handled the project.

Mr. Yoon Ho-gyeong, the head of a Gangjeong villagers association that is opposed to the base, said he can't accept the ruling: "The port will be able to harbor some 20 sophisticated warships, serving as the homeport of the Navy's 'strategic mobile squadron.'' The naval base is to be inaugurated by 2015, navy officials said. The mobile squadron, which will be rapidly deployed in regional conflict, will consist of 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyers, 7,600-ton Aegis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, Type-214 1,800-ton submarines, anti-submarine Lynx helicopters and frigates among others. The squadron is expected to play a key role in "managing possible conflicts with Japan and China," ROK navy officials added. In line with the plan, the ROK Air Force also plans to build a base for a search-and-rescue unit to help facilitate the Navy's operations in the southern waters.

Jeju island has long been considered a tactical, strategic point to secure southern sea lanes for transporting energy supplies and to conduct mobile operations in the case of an emergency in the region according to officials quoted by the Korea Times daily.

East Asia: China (L) S & N Korea (C) Japan (R) Red circle is Jeju

Following the construction, the Korea Times writes, "the Navy will be able to successfully conduct long-range operations to protect our commercial vessels in blue waters, including the Malacca Strait, as well as carry out full-scale operations around the Korean Peninsula." Activities well beyond boundaries? "Some anti-U.S. civic groups have raised suspicions of the project being related to the country's joining the U.S. led global ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, arguing the plan will make Jeju vulnerable to international terrorism and becoming a potential military target of anti-U.S. militants, the Korean Navy admits that U.S. aircraft carriers may visit the port, but made it clear that it has no plan to join the BMD and make the port a permanent station for U.S. forces." End of quotes Korea Times.

What counter arguments do the activists oppose? Protection of the environment and laws.

Quotes : "First, the Gangjeong village that preserves the worldwide beauty is not appropriate for any reasons. Dec. 12, 2002, designated as the preservation area for the living creatures by the UNESCO.

Second, the base-militarization would be only the powder magazine of the North East Asia.

Seeing from the geopolitical viewpoint, militarization of the Jeju Island would only increase the tension with the vicinity countries and it would not do any influence for peace.
Third, the construction of the Gangjeong naval base is procedurally wrong.
There has been no process of public consensus such as the fair for the villagers.
Fourth, the Ministry of the National Defense and the Jeju Island Government had announced that they would not construct the naval base without the villagers’ agreement. But the Gangjeong villagers’ vote has been ignored. Gangjeong villagers practiced the villagers’ own vote on August 20, 2007: among 1050 electors, 725 voted and the voters in opposition were 680 ballots (94%), and favor ballots were 36 while cancellation ballots were 9.
Fifth, the Gangjeong villagers whose livelihood communities are broken are experiencing the acute suffering for three years." End of quotes.

Hallasan, Jeju-do is South Korea's tallest mountain and dormant volcano 1,950 m above sea

"The building of a Navy base in Gangjeong, to serve as a port for the growing U.S. Aegis destroyer fleet, will require dredging of the sea bed and destruction of the coral. According to news reports quoted in this report of Times-Record the U.S. wishes to multiply by 2 its military presence in the Asian-Pacific region in order to manage China. Thus we now see U.S. base expansion on Guam, Okinawa and in South Korea... U.S. wants to deploy Aegis destroyers ... at the base on Jeju Island largely because of its strategic proximity to China. China imports 80 percent of its oil on ships and a Navy base on Jeju would help give the U.S. ability to control this vital shipping lane in the Yellow Sea." End of quotes.

Gangjeong village where the base is to be built is famous for growing tangerines and for its fishing and soft coral reefs. UNESCO named the sea coast there as one of the world’s environmental jewels and artistic patrimony. Might loose the credit in the future.

Local guard, a Jeju-do traditional stone sculpture

* Regarding Cold war in the title, nowadays it is less the antagonism of ideologies but rather economics and geopolitical confrontations.

Sources: Joongang Ilbo http://bit.ly/a98GGr , Korea Times http://bit.ly/c05Wew, Times-record http://bit.ly/cBu90F, No base stories of Korea, Opposition to the navy base flourishes on the Internet "No base stories of Korea" http://bit.ly/cPOIha http://bit.ly/bpsicI Agencies, Reporter's notes.

France & Japon! La Presse Tenue à Distance

Carton Rouge!

Le dossier franco-français dans ce Blog consacré à l'Asie? De quoi s'agit-il?

A l'occasion aujourd'hui et demain, 15 et 16 Juillet, de la visite de 48 heures au Japon du premier ministre français, en route vers la Nouvelle Calédonie, François Fillon et Naoto Kan vont faire une déclaration devant les journalistes japonais et français* et les "Foreign Correspondents" sont invités "à assister à la présentation" de cette rencontre au sommet des deux chefs de gouvernement au "Kantei", le Matignon japonais, mais les journalistes ne pourront poser aucune question à François Fillon et Naoto Kan!

A aucun moment il ne nous sera possible de poser des questions au premier ministre Fillon et à son homologue japonais Naoto Kan. Les services officiels japonais et français avancent pour motifs que les 2 hommes politiques craignent "que des questions soient posées sur l'actualité".

Excusez-moi...?

"No comment" sur la défaite de Naoto Kan aux élections sénatoriales de dimanche dernier, sur les relations entre la France et le Japon, sur l'actualité internationale, sur les affaires en cours. "No question" à François Fillon, sur la France ou le Japon, notamment l'affaire Woerth-Bettencourt, sur les suites de l'affaire Ozawa, sur le financement occulte de la vie politique japonaise, sur le futur programme gouvernemental pour Naoto Kan. Bref, sur l'actualité.

Si la presse ne peut plus faire son travail, poser des questions aux dirigeants politiques, si la presse ne peut plus accomplir sa mission et son devoir d'information, et les questionner sur leurs actions et décisions, bref de constater et transmettre le message selon lequel les dirigeants ont a coeur de respecter leurs engagements nationaux et internationaux en matière de promotion et de garantie de la liberté d’information, il me parait utile aujourd'hui de rappeler le rôle essentiel que les journalistes ont à jouer dans ce domaine et de dénoncer la méthode autoritaire qui s'apparente à un cas flagrant de censure.

Souligner l’importance de la liberté d’information en tant que partie intégrante de la liberté d’expression et sa contribution à la gouvernance démocratique, c'est ce qui anime les journalistes et on ne peut que regretter les campagnes de dénigrement lancées actuellement en France contre la presse. Le droit de savoir et de questionner est un droit fondamental et permet aux démocraties de promouvoir la réflexion et les échanges d’idées sur la liberté d’information pour faire progresser l’autonomisation des citoyens, la transparence, la responsabilisation de la vie publique et la lutte contre la corruption.

De bonnes raisons pour être en droit et en condition de pouvoir poser des questions aux décideurs et élus, quels qu'ils soient. D'autant que les français ont des questions. Par exemple: Une étude CSA pour Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France http://yhoo.it/9S5or9 indique en effet que:

"... pour 57% des personnes interrogées, le président français n'a pas balayé leurs doutes sur l'affaire Woerth-Bettencourt, le dossier des retraites ou la réduction des déficits publics. A l'inverse, 32% jugent qu'il a été persuasif. Au premier rang des sujets qui ont le moins convaincu figure l'affaire Woerth-Bettencourt, sur laquelle 62% des personnes interrogées n'ont pas jugé probantes les réponses de Nicolas Sarkozy. "Ces pourcentages s'infléchissent peu quand la question est posée aux seuls spectateurs ayant vu la prestation du chef de l'Etat face à David Pujadas. Ils sont 52% à avoir jugé 'pas convaincant' le locataire de l'Elysée, contre 45%", précise Le Parisien. Dans Le Figaro, 44% des personnes interrogées par l'Ifop estiment que le chef de l'Etat a été globalement convaincant, contre 56% d'un avis contraire. Dans le détail, seuls ses propos consacrés au dossier de la réforme des retraites sont jugés probants par une majorité des personnes interrogées (52% contre 48%). Sur tous les autres sujets listés par l'institut de sondage, la balance est négative: 60% l'ont ainsi jugé pas convaincant sur l'affaire Bettencourt-Woerth ou sur la réduction de la dette et du déficit." Fin de citation.

Qu'en dit la presse?

"Les affaires Woerth continuent d’empoisonner le gouvernement" http://bit.ly/cpdpBi

"Affaire Woerth-Bettencourt-Sarkozy: le symbole de la lutte des castes" http://bit.ly/9Pb9gZ

Citations: "En concentrant entre ses mains les plus puissants leviers de pouvoir et les sommes d’argent les plus colossales, la classe aristo-politico-industrielle est forcément investie des plus hauts devoirs d’éthique, d’exemplarité et de transparence."

On le sait, des difficultés multiples sont ressenties par les français, et des critiques virulentes sont lancées à l'égard de la presse et des journalistes dans "les affaires" Bettencourt Worth et certes concourent à créer un climat nauséabond, une atmosphère de suspicion public-justice-politiciens-presse. Des doutes n'ont pas été dissipés par les déclarations officielles, c'est bien ce que ce sondage révèle. Dès lors, nul étonnement à observer notre élu national se réfugier dans le "no question no comment" qui s'apparente à un déni. Idem pour Kan qui s'était fait le champion de l'ouverture des "Kisha Clubs" avec son parti le Minshuto.

Retard à l'allumage

Mais ce que ce sondage indique aussi est la réaffirmation authentique du droit des publics à interroger leurs responsables, du droit à l'égalité dans l'accès à l'information, directement en période électorale ou via leurs représentants. Un rôle également assuré quotidiennement par la presse, son droit de savoir, de questionner, de commenter.*

Le droit d'accès à l'information, thème de la Journée mondiale de la liberté de la presse chaque 3 Mai, garantit aux publics que l’UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/ soutient les actions destinées à autonomiser les individus de façon qu’ils puissent avoir accès et contribuer aux flux d’information et de connaissances.

* En tant que Co-Chairs du "Freedom of the Press Commitee of the FCCJ", nous avons publié 2 communiqués sur le droit à l'information lors des conférences de presse et briefings au Kantei.

Voir le problème des Kisha Clubs au Japon, avec "des clubs de presse sélectifs."

http://www.fccj.or.jp/

**Les journalistes correspondants étrangers travaillant au Japon ont invité le 18 mars 2010 le ministre français des affaires étrangères et "French Doctor" Bernard Kouchner pour un déjeuner de presse qui s'est révèlé être un véritable succès. Nous avions travaillé la préparation de cette rencontre et débat lors de mon mandat au Board of Directors du "Press Club" en parfaite coordination avec les services officiels concernés en France et au Japon.

MFAE Bernard Kouchner (C) Ambassadeur de France Philippe Faure (G) Modérateur (D)

Sources: Parisien, Figaro, Liberation, Le Monde, La Tribune, Le temps, Les Inrock, Agences, Reporter's notes.