Japan Ruling Party Executive Slams Kerry on N.Korea [View All]

[Rose Siding]

Oct. 15, 2004 — TOKYO (Reuters) - The No. 2 official in Japan's ruling party sharply criticized U.S. Democratic challenger John Kerry's North Korea policy on Friday and said he hoped President Bush would be re-elected, media said.

The comments come a day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made remarks that appeared to suggest he would prefer to see Bush win the Nov. 2 U.S. presidential election.

"I think there would be trouble if it's not President Bush," Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe told a radio program, Kyodo news agency reported.

"For instance, Mr. Kerry wants to handle the North Korean issue bilaterally, which is out of the question. We're now in the era of multilateralism," Takebe was quoted as saying, referring to six-way talks involving North and South Korea, Japan, the United States, China and Russia over the North's nuclear ambitions.
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Many ordinary Japanese, however, prefer Kerry.

A poll published by the liberal Asahi Shimbun daily on Friday showed 51 percent of respondents wanted the Massachusetts senator to win, while 30 percent favored the incumbent president.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=167768