Press Conference by Press Sec. 26 May 1995

Reported request by North Korea for rice aid from Japan
Acting Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ken Shimanouchi: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I do not have any announcements today, so we can proceed immediately to the question and answer session.

Q: Do you have any comment on, or can you explain what the Foreign Ministry's policy is, towards North Korea's request for rice aid?

A: We are told that this morning the head of the North Korean delegation, Mr. Ri Song Rok, had a meeting with former Minister for Foreign Affairs Michio Watanabe. We have not been briefed on the contents of this meeting, so we cannot at this point in time offer any comments on it.

Q: Speaking generally though, if North Korea asked for rice aid from Japan, would that be something Japan could handle?

A: As I said, we do not know the details of the discussion this morning, so I will have to refrain from commenting on that. But in very, very general terms -- if such a request was made, we will have to take into consideration the fact that we have no diplomatic ties with North Korea, and also, the details of what North Korea is seeking. We will have to take these and other factors into consideration. But I am speaking in very general terms.

Q: On a related question -- does the Japanese Government believe that there is a food shortage in North Korea? Is that the Foreign Ministry's assessment of the situation in North Korea -- that there is probably a food shortage that requires them to import rice or other food materials?

A: We do not have any factual information on that.

Q: May I follow up on that? Is there a feeling that they are trying to snare you into some sort of concrete exchange -- a direct government-level exchange? If there is a rice shortage, a food shortage in this case, would you consider it from a humanitarian point of view, or a political point of view, in terms of aid?

A: I do not know how to respond to your two questions, because I do not want to go into the realm of guesswork and speculation.

Q: Has there ever been a case in the past where Japan supplied aid to a country with which it did not have diplomatic relations?

A: I will have to check on that.

Q: Viet Nam in the early 1980s.

A: I will have to check on that.
Possible topics of discussion between Japan and the Russian Federation on the occasion of the upcoming G-7 Summit in Halifax
Q: May I switch subjects? Prime Minister Murayama told the Diet the other day that he would bring up this matter of cooperation on terrorism at the G-7 Summit in Halifax. My question pertains mainly to Russia, not to the G-7 as such, but perhaps the G-8. There have been a lot of media reports here on complicity by official Russian agencies in the training of the group which is suspected to be behind the nerve gas attacks and other things. In drawing up the points of discussion for the prime minister, would you have any concrete points to take up with President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation as to how Russian agencies have actually been quite slack in monitoring their own security- related organs?

A: First of all, the agenda of the upcoming G-7 Summit in Halifax is now being discussed among the countries participating in the meeting, and of course, Canada, as the host, is taking the lead. We are still working on the agenda; we still do not know exactly what will be discussed in the meeting. With regard to the specific point that you raised, I have no knowledge of that.
Press reports
Q: Is there any truth to the report that Japan was spying on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta?

A: The newspaper report by the Sydney Morning Herald has no basis in reality. It is utterly untrue and completely false, and we regret this report very much. We consider this report to be extremely irresponsible, and we will be making our views known to the Sydney Morning Herald soon.
Summit Meeting between Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia
Q: Could you go over some points that have been made in the discussion with Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia, specifically in relation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum?

A: I think they are having the meeting right now. In two or three hours maybe we will be able to provide you with a readout of the meeting.

Q: I understand that there might be a Joint Communique released after this meeting. Can you give us some details or some idea of what might be contained in the Communique?

A: I am not sure of the details, but the Joint Communique will be released around 15:00 this afternoon.

Back to Index