Koike seeks 'flexible defensive power' to protect Japan

New Defense Minister Yuriko Koike said Wednesday that her ministry must create a "multifunctional, flexible and effective defensive power" to protect Japan and deal with new threats such as terrorism and North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. In an address to personnel, Koike, 54, who became the first woman to assume the top defense post in a Japanese cabinet, also called for Japan to take an active part in international peace cooperation activities so as to be able to respond fully to the expectations of the international community.

While urging members of her ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to work together to carry out their duties effectively, she said she would work on further enhancing close ties with the United States and the bilateral security arrangement as well as moving forward with implementing the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, among other issues.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already instructed Koike to place priority on the steady implementation of a final agreement made last year with the United States to realign the U.S. military presence in Japan.

Attention is expected to focus on how to move forward the agreement's central undertaking — the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within Okinawa — and related plans such as transferring about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

"Ms Koike also worked as state minister in charge of Okinawa issues and knows fully about the background," Abe told reporters at his office earlier in the day. "We hope to proceed with the Futemma relocation while listening to the voices of the local people."

Koike said at the ministry, "I hope to realize the realignment of the U.S. military in Japan, including the Futemma Air Station relocation and the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, that was agreed on by the Japanese and U.S. governments as soon as possible while listening to the opinions of the local people and gaining their understanding through explanations."

She also said she will work on Japan's ballistic missile defense system and reinforce the management of information at the ministry and the SDF to prevent a recurrence of incidents involving leakage of confidential data.

Abe appointed Koike, his special security adviser, as defense minister on Tuesday shortly after accepting her predecessor Fumio Kyuma's resignation over his controversial remarks on the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in World War II.

The swift move was apparently aimed at limiting any adverse impact on Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, in the July 29 House of Councillors election.

Her appointment was made formal after an imperial attestation ceremony in the early afternoon.

LDP executives met Wednesday and reaffirmed their intention to stand together in fighting the upper house election and attacking main opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's basic policies.

But some within the LDP have been critical of the way Abe handled Kyuma's controversial remarks, which were taken as implying the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 were justified, saying it "exposed the prime minister's lack of crisis management skills."

In a speech on Saturday, Kyuma said, "I understand the bombings brought the war to its end. I think it was something that couldn't be helped."

Responding to the remarks the same day, Abe said, "I understand he was presenting the thinking of the United States in those days," indicating he did not have a problem with Kyuma's comments.

Abe also indicated he would not dismiss Kyuma over the remarks until the latter decided Tuesday to step down amid mounting criticism not only from opposition parties but also within the ruling bloc, as well as from atomic-bomb survivors.

Yoshiaki Takagi, the DPJ's Diet affairs chairman, said Abe's handling of the situation was "not self-consistent" as he could not decide to dismiss Kyuma as his appointment last September was reward-oriented in relation to Abe's successful campaign in the LDP presidential election the same month.

Kyuma is the third member Abe has lost from his 17-member cabinet since taking office last September, following administrative reform minister Genichiro Sata, who resigned in December over a political funds scandal, and farm minister Toshikazu Matsuoka, who committed suicide amid a spate of scandals over his political funds.