(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Sept. 24)

Japan's new leader

Clinching the leadership of the Japanese government at the fourth attempt, Taro
Aso deserves congratulations from his Asian neighbors as he forms a new cabinet
today. Yet his inauguration as the 92nd prime minister of Japan has caused some
misgivings among Koreans and Chinese, primarily because of his style, rather than
any of his policies.
Knowledgeable Koreans remember how Aso claimed a few years back that Koreans
adopted Japanese names of their own volition during the colonial period and how
he urged the Japanese emperor to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. Not many of them were
actually interested in what he said about the relations with Korea and China
during his policy debates with his rivals for the premiership last week.
"With regard to China and South Korea, various problems will emerge. We don't
have to get flustered, because Japan, China and South Korea are destined to
prosper together." These words were the keynote of regional diplomacy related by
the front-runner, who won 351 out of the 527 votes in the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party election Monday.
Following up on the external policies of his predecessor Yasuo Fukuda, Aso has
vowed to promote cooperation with Asian countries and enhance ties with the
United States. The wishful thinking of the neighboring peoples at this moment is
that Prime Minister Taro Aso will be different from Representative Taro Aso.
While serving as the foreign minister between 2005 and 2007, the man known for
his sharp and light tongue exhibited considerable restraint and took pragmatic
approaches to regional issues.
Soon after taking the top job, Aso will have to throw himself into regional
diplomacy -- with a summit with the Korean and Chinese leaders, the ASEAN 10
talks, and then the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum of 21 nations,
including the United States, Canada and Mexico, all during this fall. He could
use these occasions to prove his and his government's dedication to better
cooperation with other Pacific nations.
Domestic pressures will be extremely strong for the 68-year-old, particularly if
he chooses to call a snap election in late October as is widely speculated. Given
Japan's elevated international status, the new prime minister will soon realize
that his duties are intertwined to a large degree with global issues, and he will
not be free from international concerns for a single day. And he needs to be
aware -- the sooner the better -- that closer, more amicable ties with Korea and
China should be the first of Japan's diplomatic endeavors.
Each time the Tokyo government has elected a new leader, we have stressed the
futility of Japanese authorities' and individual politicians' attempts to
dissociate themselves from responsibility for their country's history, and the
harm such moves cause to the development of "future-oriented" relations between
the three nations of Northeast Asia. Without such latter-day provocations as
paying homage to war criminals and justifying imperialist aggression in school
textbooks, the triangular ties move ahead toward common prosperity would move
ahead much more quickly.
An international financial crisis is developing out of the failure of several
Wall Street giants, and North Korea is threatening to annihilate the
five-year-long denuclearization process involving six nations on and around the
Korean Peninsula. Taro Aso is taking office at a time of awesome domestic and
external challenges, yet they could turn out to be an opportunity to prove his
statesmanlike leadership if he replaces his hitherto hawkish image with prudence
and modesty.
(END)