2003.11.12

Korea-Nuke Talks (VOA) South Korea says North Korea will sit at the multi-sided table again soon and nuclear weapons will be on the agenda.     2003.11.12

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Naked Sushi Night in Seattle (Seattle Times) This actually might have started in Tokyo some years back but we never saw it nor do we know anyone who experienced it -- but we did see it in a really bad American movie about Japanese gangsters.   2003.11.12

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Surprise Word on Nuclear Gains by North Korea and Iran [New York Times ] Two intelligence reports issued in recent days find that North Korea and Iran have made advances on a variety of technologies necessary to build nuclear weapons that surprised many nuclear experts and Western intelligence officials.   NGG note: David Sanger shares a byline on this one -- thus perhaps readers should regard any quotes from anonymous sources with skeptism.   2003.11.12

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Japan-Immigration (Kyodo) Japan needs to discuss its immigration policies says a concerned official. NGG note: We were at this symposium today and this is a very sympathetic report on what the immigration official said with absolutely no mention of comments from the seven other panel members.  Nippon Goro Goro will have a full report on this topic next week with some provocative quotes from the immigration official not cited in the Kyodo dispatch. 2003.11.12

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The Unbundling of Network Elements: Japan's Experience. [ITU Strategy and Policy Unit Newslog] The Unbundling of Network Elements: Japan's Experience (PDF) by Nobuo Ikeda. Abstract: With the advent of the Internet, the emphasis of communication policies has moved from the regulation of telephone networks to the unbundling regulation to enforce sharing of network elements. Since unbundling is often impeded by the renegotiation by incumbents over the control of essential facilities, it would be advisable to separate the company that owns local loop (LoopCo). Recently the number of subscribers of DSL in Japan has grown phenomenally due to the unbundling regulation. This suggests that unbundling can accelerate the proliferation of broadband, but this lesson cannot be easily generalized to other countries, because the success depends on the special conditions such as extremely low pricing of entrants and strategic mistakes of NTT that neglected DSL. If the unbundling regulation succeeds in increasing competition, the telecommunications industry in the narrow sense will shrink, making the universal services of telephone network increasingly difficult.     2003.11.12

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Japan-Quake (Reuters) A 6.5 magnitude quake shakes Tokyo -- no damage or injuries reported.   2003.11.12

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U.S. Troop Reduction in South Korea (New York Times) A U.S. troop reduction in South Korea is coming soon. (NGG note: Expect some sort of announcement when U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld visits early next week.)   2003.11.12

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Korean strikes do little damage. [BBC News ] Thousands of workers strike over new labor laws, but the protests are less drastic than many feared.   2003.11.12

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Beware of the White Man (Mainichi) Two suspects "who liked like white men" and a foreign woman in a station wagon supposedly attempt abduction of Japanese schoolgirls. (NGG note: We're willing to bet that this turns out to be a hoax or something far different than the scenario described. )   2003.11.12

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Paternity Suit (Kyodo) Woman loses paternity suit of a different kind. A Japanese court rules that her late husband who donated sperm before his demise cannot be declared the father of the child.   2003.11.12

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Japan-Headlines (Kyodo) Here are the headlines Wednesday morning in leading Japanese dailies.   2003.11.12

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S Korea braces for massive strike. [BBC News ] South Korea is preparing itself for another strike by up to 150,000 workers today.   2003.11.12

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