 |
|
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and Takaya Imai, the prime minister’s executive secretary. (AP/Yonhap News)
|
Move seen as way to linking economic issues with national security
The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is moving to create a new economic department within its National Security Agency (NSA), Japanese news outlets are reporting. As with the recent export controls against South Korea, the move is seen as having the aim of intensifying Tokyo’s strategy of directly linking economic and national security issues under the leadership of the prime minister’s office. US President Donald Trump has already begun pursuing strategies closely linking economic matters with diplomatic and security issues in relations with major trade partners, including the introduction of retaliatory import tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, and vehicles based on Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act concerning investigations on effects on national security. The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported on Sept. 18 that the Japanese government was considering the creation of a new department within the NSA – the secretariat for the National Security Council (NSC) – to handle analysis of information concerning strategic economic policy legislation. The NSC’s participants include the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and Chief Cabinet Secretary. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, the Abe administration is considering either creating a new economic team in the NSA or setting one up within its existing strategic planning team. As a context for Japan’s attempts to create a new economic department in its NSA, the Yomiuri Shimbun noted an “increasing number of occasions requiring a coordinated response in the areas of economy, foreign affairs, and national security, as with [Japan’s] move in July to intensify management of semiconductor material exports to South Korea.” In a Cabinet reshuffle on Sept. 11, the Abe administration replaced former diplomat Shotaro Yachi as NSA director with Shigeru Kitamura, a former police official who previously headed the Japanese Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Meanwhile, the Nikkei newspaper reported that both the South Korean and Japanese automobile industries had increased import volumes to stockpile items following the South Korean government’s implementation that day of a notice removing Japan from its “white list” of countries benefiting from expedited export review procedures for strategic items. According to the newspaper, the Japanese automobile parts company Denso had increased its volume of electronic component exports to South Korea at the request of Hyundai Motor. ALPHA, a Japanese company producing items related to automobile door handles and keys, began importing parts from South Korean companies ahead of its normal schedule last month to acquire a two-month stockpile. By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr] Caption:
