The new prime minister Naoto Kan announced his cabinet members.
Now the approval rate of the new cabinet to be, which will take office on Tuesday, jumped by about ten percent. One of his first jobs in the office was the phone conversation with President Obama. They say that the talk went in an amicable manner and they agreed on the cooperation on North Korean issue, in the Security Council and elsewhere. The prime minster Kan is supposed to remove Ozawa's bad influence that leans heavily on -- his bad image he himself declared does not care about, since what matters is the election. The election in his term, reflects only of what he calls 'local matters', basically public spending in the region, roads and dams, from which he gets ample kickbacks for the next election in turn. Many say he should be indicted for his money laundering case for which his secretaries have been tried.
The former prime minster Hatoyama resigned -- with Ozawa. He declared in public when he did, that he took him along. He insisted that the party must start anew. The opposition parties claim the whole incident a farce for the coming upper house election next month, and that the new cabinet is for 'hiding Ozawa (Ozawa-gakushi)'. The new cabinet members do include some non-Ozawa lawmakers. The critics say, though, Ozawa runs the election and the influence would be obvious.
The South Korean government announced last Friday that it submitted the Cheonan case in the Security Council. All hopes are that China cooperate in our tackling with North's regime. They must recognize that under the current Kim Jeong Il regime, nothing could ever happen. To open up its market and borders, to join our side. All efforts must be done for whatever it takes for that to happen. The first and foremost, the sanctions be put upon the regime, for the sneaky torpedo attack that killed 46 South Korean soldiers.
The US government issued the National Security Strategy. It states that it should reinforce the alliance and keep watchful eyes on the Chinese military expansion and get ready for it. Are they?