Japanese police investigating death threats made against US envoy

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Japanese police investigating death threats made against US envoy Caroline Kennedy

Japanese police investigating 'several' phone calls to US ambassador as well as similar ones made to American consul general in Okinawa

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 19 March, 2015, 1:00am
UPDATED : Thursday, 19 March, 2015, 1:00am

Agencies in Tokyo

Caroline Kennedy became US ambassador to Japan in 2013.

Mark Lippert needed 80 stitches after an attack in South Korea.

Japanese police are investigating "several" phone calls threatening to kill US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and another American envoy, authorities said yesterday.

While the US embassy has declined to comment on the threats, sources close to the matter said that the threats on the ambassador's life may have been connected to a scheme to blackmail Kennedy or the embassy.

Japanese media reports said "several" death threats came last month from a male caller speaking in English, and that police were looking into the case on suspicion of blackmailing. No other details, including motives, were known.

Reports also stated that Alfred Magleby, the US consul general in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, has also received a number of death threats by phone. He has been in the post since 2012.

Tokyo police declined to comment on the threats. The embassy, located in Tokyo's Minato ward, also did not comment, citing policy regarding the ambassador's security.

Okinawa is the America's biggest military base in the region and is home to about half of the 50,000 American troops based in Japan. It has been the source of tension for decades and has Japan's highest jobless rate with many of the island's 1.4 million people wanting the US bases out.

Kennedy is the daughter of former US President John F Kennedy who was assassinated in 1963. She assumed the post of ambassador to Japan in 2013 and is the first female to take up the position. The death threats come two weeks after the US ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was knifed by an anti-US activist in Seoul and had to be hospitalised for several days.

He needed 80 stitches on the side of his face and was wounded in the arm.

The alleged assailant was caught and identified by police as 55-year-old Kim Ki-jong.

In 2010, Kim had earlier tried to attack the Japanese ambassador to Seoul by throwing a chunk of concrete at him and was given a suspended jail term, according to police.

That attack has prompted debate about threats against American diplomats abroad and security precautions taken to protect US ambassadors in particular.

The State Department has said security for Lippert had been adequate.

There's no evidence the death threats in Japan are linked to the attack on Lippert, but the latest report comes on the day Michelle Obama arrived in Japan for a trip through Asia highlighting education for girls.

A former attorney and book editor who served as president of the John F Kennedy Library Foundation, Caroline Kennedy is known to be a staunch supporter of US President Barack Obama.

She is also known for her strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Reuters, Xinhua, Associated Press