Press Conference by the Press Secretary 26 January, 1999

1. Earthquake in the Republic of Colombia
2. Debate in the Japanese Diet on the Japan-US Guidelines for Defense Cooperation
3. Response of the Government of Japan to negotiations between the United States of America and North Korea on suspected nuclear facilities in North Korea
4. Response of the Government of Japan to the investigations being conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
5. Upcoming visit of Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation to Japan

1. Earthquake in the Republic of Colombia

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have a brief comment to make on the earthquake in western Colombia. We are still in the process of gathering information on it, but it seems that there have already been a number of deaths as well as injuries suffered and houses destroyed and so forth. I would like to express deep sympathy and sincere condolences for those who either lost their lives or suffered serious injuries and other damages.

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2. Debate in the Japanese Diet on the Japan-US Guidelines for Defense Cooperation

   Q: It seems to be that there is a division within the Government over what the Guidelines mean. One of the papers today was talking about a difference of opinion between the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Could you clarify what they might be talking about and what indeed is the unified policy on the Guidelines?

   Mr. Numata: The confusion may only exist in the eyes of the beholder, as I am fond of saying. You ask me what the issues involved are and that in itself is a very important question because in the Diet interpellations and in the discussions of the subject in the Japanese media, I think four issues are juxtaposed. By four issues I mean, the first two issues which are the question of whether we are talking about the Japan-US Guidelines for Defense Cooperation (Guidelines) for which the legislation is currently before the Diet, and secondly, whether we are talking about the question of what you would call the possible activities that Japan may or may not engage in, in terms of support to what you might call multinational forces created on the basis of United Nations resolutions. These are two different issues. The third issue pertains to the question of whether you are talking about what is allowed or what is not allowed under the Constitution. The fourth issue is what may be the policy judgment with respect to what may or may not be done. So that in itself produces a rather complex matrix. I think in discussing this issue, it is very important to know where in the matrix you find yourself.

   Having said that, we do not think there is any difference of views among the principal actors that you mentioned. What has been discussed at some length in the Diet yesterday and in recent days, has been the question of whether certain kinds of activities may be allowed or contemplated in the context of possible support to multinational forces. And the question has been raised, specifically with respect to the transportation of weapons and ammunitions. Firstly, as far as the interpretation of the Constitution is concerned, it has been the consistent position of the Government that what kind of support or involvement in the multinational forces may be possible from Japan's point of view should be judged on a case-by-case basis from the viewpoint of whether or not the particular activity in question forms an integral part of the use of force by the multinational force. That is the constitutional interpretation. So the answer may vary depending on whether or not that particular activity may be integrated with the use of force. That is one question. Another question is, whether as a policy, a particular kind of logistic support to the multinational force may be contemplated. And here, when I talk about logistic support, it may include the possibility of the transport of weapons and ammunitions to the multinational force. In making judgments on this question of policy judgment, our position is that the decision should be made carefully bearing in mind the question of the constitutional interpretation as well as the situation that exists at hand from an overall perspective. The position that I have outlined is indeed the unified position of the Government.

   You alluded to the statements by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka and so forth in the course of yesterday. As far as the statement by Prime Minister Obuchi in the Diet yesterday is concerned, he was addressing the question of the constitutional interpretation and he was saying that in making judgments in that context, an important criterion would be the question of whether a particular kind of logistic support to the multinational force can be seen as an integral part of the use of force or not. The statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nonaka in his press conference was with respect to the question of this policy judgment or political judgment on the basis of this interpretation of the Constitution and on that he was saying that that sort of policy judgment or political judgment should be made very carefully. We do not see any contradictions between these two positions.

   Having said all that, with respect to the Guidelines, we are talking about something a little more tangible in the sense that there is no law as such or even draft legislation with respect to covering this sort of question with respect to the activities of the multinational force. However, what is now being discussed is the legislation which will enable the implementation of the Guidelines and on that, logistic support by Japan to the US forces is possible in what we call the rear areas, if it is the kind of activity which does not constitute an integral part of the use of force. Have I sounded a little too complex?

   Q: I certainly get what you mean. Obviously up for debate is what the "integral part of" means. You could definitely debate that one for sure and certainly yesterday it was debated.

   Mr. Numata: It will have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. I am talking about the constitutional interpretation aspect.

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3. Response of the Government of Japan to negotiations between the United States of America and North Korea on suspected nuclear facilities in North Korea

   Q: The US State Department has said that North Korea has showed a constructive approach to the negotiations that are underway on a possible inspection of the suspected nuclear sites. What is Japan's view on that?

   Mr. Numata: Obviously those people who are actually in the talks are in the best position of commenting on the general tone of the discussion. You are talking about the US-North Korea talks on nuclear facilities. As far as we know, there remain differences between the positions of the two sides, but there were earnest talks that took place and they are to meet again, the time and venue for that is to be coordinated in New York. That is basically what we know. The talks are to go on and that could at least be described as the process continuing to move forward but beyond that, I do not think I am in a position to make judgments on the talks beyond what the actual parties themselves are ready to say.

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4. Response of the Government of Japan to the investigations being conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

   Q: On the Olympics, everybody seems to be falling into the net it looks like.

   Mr. Numata: I wonder who is laying the nets or snares? I am sorry, that is not a part of my response.

   Q: Nagano is one of the cities that is being probed for its possible irregularities in its Olympic bid. What is the official Japanese view on this probe?

   Mr. Numata: Again, there are several aspects of the issue. Firstly, with respect to the question of how the sites for Olympic games are to be selected, obviously we do hope that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reaches its decision on the sites on the basis of a fair examination of all the candidate sites without any discrimination, without any sort of wrongful acts involved. We feel that that is the most important thing, and in that sense the fact that the IOC is addressing this question seriously in itself may be a good thing. With respect to the question of how the investigation by the IOC and possibly by the national Olympic committees involved may proceed, to achieve the result that I have outlined, that is that all the sites will be examined on an equal basis, we do not have the details of that. We are aware of the reports that such investigations are being contemplated. As I understand it at this point, the list of questions which the IOC apparently intends to send to the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) has not arrived yet nor do we know the details of the possible questions so perhaps it is a bit too premature for me to comment further on that. Let me add that the IOC, JOC and the Nagano Olympic Committee (NOC) are all private organizations. They do not form a part of the Government.

   Q: There is a certain amount of national pride involved. It is very hard to separate national pride sometimes from the position of the country on things like this.

   Mr. Numata: And even regional pride. I think I have given all the comments that I can give you on that subject.

   Q: In general, these sorts of allegations have been in the wind for a long time about the IOC in general about the solicitation of gifts from candidate cities and countries. What is the view on that sort of thing? There is a book on this subject called "The Lord of the Rings."

   Mr. Numata: I have not read that book. I thought it was a novel written by an English novelist. I think I go back to the point that I made at the outset, that the selection should take place in a fair manner and if excessively zealous activities on the part of certain groups are seen to be impeding the selection process in terms of not making the process quite equal to all the candidates, perhaps that is something that needs to be looked into and should be corrected. As we understand it, what has been taking place in the IOC seems to be just that.

5. Upcoming visit of Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation to Japan

   Q: The Foreign Minister of Russia is coming here next month. Is there any sort of idea of what he will be doing here?

   Mr. Numata: The continuation of the discussions that we have been having with the Government of the Russian Federation. Most recently, we had the Vice-Ministerial-level consultations in Moscow on 21 January where they discussed the peace treaty negotiations in two committees, that is the National Boundary Demarcation Committee and the Joint Economic Activities Committee on the four islands and our two Governments share the goal of doing our maximum to conclude the Peace Treaty based on the Tokyo Declaration by the year 2000 and by that we mean by the end of the year 2000. Discussions on that will certainly continue. There has also been this plan to expand our exchanges with Russia in economic, scientific and other fields under what is known as the Hashimoto-Yeltsin Plan. That will continue to be discussed. We do attach importance to the continuation of the political dialogue between the Japanese and Russian Governments and it is in that context that we look forward to welcoming Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation from 21 to 23 February, if I am not mistaken. We expect that Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura may be going over to Russia after that at a time yet to be specified.

   Q: I read that President Yeltsin is coming to Japan.

   Mr. Numata: It is in fact a very important part of the political dialogue and when the Vice-Ministerial-level consultations took place in Moscow last week, they did discuss that but the actual timing of the visit and so forth is yet to be coordinated through the diplomatic channel. Is that all? No other part of the world that you wish to cover at this point?

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