Obama Arrives In Japan For Maiden Visit To Asia

November 13, 2009 7:28 a.m. EST

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - President Barack Obama on Friday arrived in Tokyo, the first stop in a week-long tour that will also take him to Seoul, Singapore and Beijing to tackle the global economic recovery, climate change, and the nuclear activities of communist North Korea.

Obama is seeking to strengthen ties with Japan's new ruling party, which is seeking a more equal partnership. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama came to power only three months ago in historic elections that saw the Liberal Democratic Party lose its mandate for the first time since after World War II.

Japan is a leader in climate change and the world's third-largest contributor of aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It pledged earlier this week to provide $5 billion over the next five years to Afghanistan and to quickly implement its earlier pledge of $1 billion for economic assistance to Pakistan, a pledge the White House had called "a renewed commitment to an international effort."

With only about a day scheduled for his visit, Obama met with Hatoyama upon his arrival in Tokyo. The two leaders moved swiftly to declare stronger cooperation on clean energy technologies by expanding "already strong" partnerships in research and development on climate change. They also agreed to create a task force to evaluate progress to make Hawaii and Okinawa energy independent.

Obama and Hatoyam also re-iterated cooperation in a joint statement on non-proliferation.

"It remains vital for North Korea and Iran to uphold and adhere to their respective international obligations," they said. "As demonstrated by its recent missile launches and nuclear test, North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a major threat to peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the entire international community."

Japan and the United States is one of five nations negotiating with the North Korea about denuclearization. The other parties are China, Russia and South Korea.

Obama spends the night in Tokyo and delivers a speech at Suntory Hall on Saturday about American engagement in Asia, the world's fastest-growing region, and the U.S.-Japanese alliance. Later in the day, Obama meets with the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

The President will not visit Hiroshima, although he told Japanese broadcaster NHK earlier this week he would like to but time constraints would prevent him from doing so during his trip.

No sitting U.S. president has ever visited the Hiroshima memorial. Former President Jimmy Carter paid tribute in 1984 after his term expired. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is the most senior American official to pay tribute to victims of the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima when she visited the memorial in September last year.

The U.S. attack on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945 marked the end of WWII. It was the world's first nuclear attack; it killed at least 140,000 people and left scores injured and suffering from radiation. Another atomic bomb was dropped by the United States in Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima, causing Japan to surrender a week later.

Obama leaves Saturday evening for Singapore, where he will meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and will attend a leader's meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. He holds talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won a second term in July.

Obama also holds a multilateral with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the first time an American president will meet with the group of 10 nations.

His next stop is Shanghai, where he meets with the local mayor and hold a dialogue with young Chinese on Monday. Obama attends a dinner hosted by President Hu Jintao later that night.

On Tuesday, he and President Hu hold a bilateral on a range of issues including energy and the economy. Obama later goes on sightseeing tour of the city, and caps off the day with a state dinner.

"China is an essential player on the global issues that are the center of our agenda: global economic recovery, climate change, energy, North Korea.... success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, arms controls," Jefferey Bader, National Security Council Senior Director For East Asian Affairs, said in a briefing this week. "On none of these issues can we succeed without China's cooperation... We see it as a relationship where we're obviously going to have differences. But we want to maximize areas where we can work together because the global challenges will simply not be met if we don't."

On Wednesday, Obama meets with Premiere Wen Jiabao and continues his tour of Beijing. He travels later that day to his last stop, South Korea, where he meets with President Lee Myung-bak and visit U.S. troops stationed in the country. On top of the agenda in the discussions in Seoul will be the Six Party Talks.

North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, and later ended the 1953 ceasefire agreement ratified after Korean War with South Korea. The communist nation received tougher sanctions from the United Nations Security Council in June, in large part due to U.S. efforts, but remained defiant, warning "all-out war" to any nation that violates its sovereignty.

On Tuesday, a naval skirmish occurred between North Korea and South Korea, heightening tensions in the peninsula.

The United States, which has no official ties with Pyongyang, announced this week it would hold its first direct talks with North Korea. A small delegation of American officials led by Amb. Stephen Bosworth will travel to Pyongyang "at an appropriate time not yet determined" to restart Six Party Talks.