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Jan. 5, 2009: South Korea’s Coast Guard says that it will build a special pier in Ulleung Island to respond rapidly to an emergency on the Dokdo/Takeshima islets. Jan. 11, 2009: Prime Minister Aso Taro and President Lee Myung-bak hold a meeting in Seoul with business leaders of the two countries. Jan. 12, 2009: PM Aso and President Lee meet at South Korea’s Blue House and agree to promote bilateral cooperation. Jan. 15, 2009: Kim Hyun-hee says in her interview with Japan’s NHK that she is certain that Takuchi Yaeko is alive in North Korea and expresses her desire to meet with the Takuchi family. Jan. 29, 2009: Japanese and South Korean top negotiators for the Six-Party Talks, Saiki Akitaka and Kim Sook, discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. Japan-Korea Relations 124 April 2009 Jan. 31, 2009: China’s official Xinhua News reports that South Korean, Japanese, and Chinese astronomers will collaborate to build a 6,000 km-diameter radio telescope, which will be the world’s largest in its scale. Feb. 11, 2009: Japan’s Foreign Minister Nakasone Hirofumi meets Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan in Seoul and they agree to deepen the bilateral cooperation. Feb. 18, 2009: Kyodo News opinion poll shows support for Aso Cabinet as low as 13.4 percent. Feb. 20, 2009: Japan and South Korea wrap up a four-day session of a joint fisheries committee and reach an agreement on the total fish quota in each other’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Feb. 22, 2009: Japan’s Shimane Prefecture celebrates “Takeshima Day” as the South Korean Foreign Ministry and the public denounce the celebration. Feb. 23, 2009: President Lee and PM Aso speak on the phone and reaffirm their commitment to close relations with Washington before Aso’s meeting with the U.S. President Barack Obama. Feb. 23, 2009: South Korea’s 2008 defense white paper says that it is “fully prepared” to defend its territory including the Dokdo/Takeshima islets. March 1, 2009: FM Nakasone says that even a satellite launch by North Korea will be a violation of the UN Security Council resolution 1718, which bans Pyongyang from conducting any nuclear explosion or missile launch. March 3, 2009: Kyodo News cites a senior official at the Ministry of Defense that Japan would deploy two arsenal ships with the latest Aegis radar system to intercept the North’s missile launch in case Pyongyang continues its preparation of the launch. March 9, 2009: North Korea’s spokesman of General Staff of the Korean People’s Army warns that any interception attempt of its “satellite” will cause a counterstrike. March 9, 2009: Japan and South Korea hold working-level meeting in Seoul over the demarcation of their maritime border (EEZ) but fail to produce any agreement. March 10, 2009: Former North Korean agent Kim Hyun-hee involved in the 1987 bombing of a Korean Airline flight meets the brother and son of a Japanese woman abducted by North Korea. March 10, 2009: Japan’s Defense Minister Hamada Yazukazu urges Pyongyang to refrain from launching a rocket. March 12, 2009: Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Taksu Yukio says that Japan will ask the UN Security Council to take immediate action against North Korea in the event of Pyongyang’s missile launch. Japan-Korea Relations 125 April 2009 Japan-Korea Relations 126 April 2009 March 17, 2009: South Korea’s Presidential Council on National Branding publishes a survey about South Korea’s image, which shows that the country’s national brand ranks 33rd due mostly to inter-Korean confrontation and insufficient contribution to the international community. March 18, 2009: Choson Ilbo reports that the Lee administration is considering drafting a list of targets for sanctions against Pyongyang in the event that the North fires a long-range missile. March 19, 2009: PM Aso says that Japan could impose more sanctions against North Korea if the North fires a missile over Japanese territory. March 20, 2009: Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and Defense Minister Hamada meet. China urges North Korea not to launch a satellite. March 23, 2009: Japan’s Six-Party Talks negotiator Saiki meets his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei and they agree that the two countries will cooperate for North Korea’s denuclearization. March 24, 2009: North Korea’s Foreign Ministry warns that the Six-Party Talks will collapse if the UN imposes sanctions against its rocket launch. March 25, 2009: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns North Korea that a missile launch will be a “provocative act” that could have consequences. March 27, 2009: Japan’s National Security Council authorizes the defense minister to mobilize its missile interceptors for the first time. March 27, 2009: Japan’s Defense Minister Hamada issues an order to shoot down any part of a North Korean rocket that might fall toward Japanese territory. March 27, 2009: Six-Party Talks negotiators from South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. gather in Washington to coordinate their response to North Korea’s plan to launch a satellite rocket. March 29, 2009: Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that the U.S. has no plan to militarily pre-empt Pyongyang’s missile. On the same day, South Korean President Lee says in his interview with Financial Times that South Korea does not intend to take any military action.