(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura

Date: Friday, December 28, 2007, 10:40 a.m.
Place: In front of Briefing Room, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Main topics:

Terrorist Attack Targeting Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto
Visit to Kenya and Tanzania by Foreign Minister Koumura
Japan-China Summit Meeting
News Surrounding Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Personnel
North Korean Issues
Disclosure of Diplomatic Records

1. Terrorist Attack Targeting Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto

Minister:
There was a terrorist attack in Pakistan yesterday that killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto along with her supporters and injured numerous others. I would like to extend my deepest condolences and sincere sympathy to all of the victims.

The Government of Pakistan has been making efforts to embark down the road of democratization by holding a fair election. I find the use of violence to make one's point utterly heinous and inexcusable, and I condemn this act in the strongest terms. Nevertheless, Pakistan must continue down the road of democratization. I strongly hope that Pakistan overcomes this tragedy and consolidates its democracy through a fair election by unifying its government and people. The Government of Japan would like to continue to support such efforts as well.

Question:
Is there a possibility that assistance from Japan to Pakistan will be impacted due to the assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto?

Minister:
I cannot say that the way of assistance will be directly changed because someone was assassinated by a terrorist. However, we will have to observe transitions that take place from here on while considering all factors.

Question:
The Government of Japan had planned to dispatch a monitoring group if a general election was held. Do you believe that this incident will have any impact on that?

Minister:
We have not made any changes to that policy. But I would like to continue to observe the situation of proceedings from here on out.

Related Information (Press Release)

2. Visit to Kenya and Tanzania by Foreign Minister Koumura

Minister:
I will visit Kenya and Tanzania from 2 January to 7 January. On my trip I will meet with the leaders of both countries to discuss our bilateral relationships, regional issues and international affairs. I also intend to request the presence of both leaders at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), which is to be held in Japan next year.

Kenya and Tanzania are both stable democratic nations in East Africa and have traditionally been the base of Japanese diplomacy in Africa. Therefore, I intend to make this visit a good one.

This is the first time the Foreign Minister from Japan has visited both countries since a visit by Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda in 1979. I am eager to accomplish the goals of this visit.

Related Information (Press Release)

3. Japan-China Summit Meeting

Question:
The Japan-China Summit Meeting will be held today. The pending gas field consultations have been held on the working level thus far. Do you have the impression that major progress can be anticipated?

Minister:
Some issues have already been fairly sorted out; however, there remain still difficult aspects to quickly overcome. It is quite difficult. Under these circumstance, I believe that discussion will be made on how to handle the situation from here on at the summit meeting as this is an issue of tremendous importance to both countries.

There have been various discussions -- both open and behind closed doors -- that have been drawn to a relative conclusion. Furthermore, in regards to the conflicting precepts of both sides, the Chinese side has displayed a degree of understanding in regards to those of the Japanese side. Unfortunately, that alone does not provide me with the confidence to say that we will be able to promptly overcome the other issues at hand as of now.

4. News Surrounding Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Personnel

(See Japanese version.)

5. North Korean Issues

Question:
The vice director of the US Affairs Department of the North Korean Foreign Ministry is saying that because economic negotiations by the other five countries are behind schedule they will have to adjust the speed of disablement of nuclear facilities as well. What is your reaction to this?

Minister:
It would be ridiculous for me to give a detailed rebuttal to an excuse like that.

Question:
In any case, the result is that North Korea will not complete the disablement which was planned to be completed before the end of this year and will be unable to make the declaration of their nuclear programs. Please comment on this situation and tell us what you think the prospects are for next year.

Minister:
The problem of the declaration depends on what North Korea decides. If it only decided to make a correct and complete declaration, it could do so immediately. Therefore, I think that if it has not been done by the last day of December, it means that North Korea did not decide to do so. Regarding the disablement of the three facilities, North Korea seems that it has done everything it can and is still doing everything it can to meet the deadline of the last day of December but due to questions of safety it would not be appropriate to go all out to meet the end of year deadline if that means doing the work recklessly. Regarding the issue of whether or not they can keep their promise, I also have the feeling that perhaps the situation is quite a difficult one, and have the impression that North Korea is making an effort to achieve disablement. Naturally I would like them to have a strong will to making the declaration as they promised.

Question:
It seems that since the Working Group for the Normalization of Japan-DPRK Relations held in September, Japan-North Korea Consultations have been on going behind closed doors.

Minister:
Please understand it in that way that "behind closed doors" means that I do not say anything about what take place, whether there is an on-going process or not.

6. Disclosure of Diplomatic Records

Question:
I think this is a matter between Japan and the Republic of Korea. A court has delivered a ruling stating that the disclosure of diplomatic records is one year and seven months behind schedule and the delay is the result of institutional neglect, so as a result it is a problem of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. How do you react to this? And, if disclosure is behind schedule are you taking any measures to remedy the problem?

Minister:
Regarding this problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing everything it can as quickly as it can. Furthermore, a limited number of people are working very hard to make decisions, including judgments about which diplomatic records can be disclosed, and currently, including the related ministries and agencies, consultations are under way to decide whether or not to accept the lower court's verdict on this problem.

There is also the question of whether or not we can do this work with our current staff levels, to truly respond immediately to the verdict, it is an extremely rare type of verdict which determines that there has been an illegality through omission, I wonder if I can say this, it is not good for politicians to criticize courts, the problem of delays in courts is also included in this, but I wonder if there are not many cases in which courts are delayed by this amount of time.

Question:
For example, are you considering increasing staff levels in the short term to get this work completed?

Minister:
We are studying the content of the court's decision. It is true of course that it is better to reach a judgment on such matters quickly.

Question:
Are you considering rebuilding the systems for information disclosure over the long term?

Minister:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently increasing staff levels. As I am sure you know the levels are very low by international standards. In this context we have increased numbers quite substantially again this time but there is the question of whether to give priority to deploying people diplomacy to this work instead it was a lower court verdict, it was a verdict nonetheless, and a verdict is a judicial judgment, so we take that very seriously. The related ministries and agencies are currently consulting to decide whether to accept that court result as it is.

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