Press Conference 29 November 2002

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the terrorist attack in Kenya
2. International Conference on Wider Adherence to Strengthened International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards
3. Upcoming visit to Japan by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
4. Joint Press Conference on the Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh
5. Question concerning Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Taro Nakayama to the Islamic Republic of Iran
6. Question concerning the recommendation by the Prime Minister's Task Force on Foreign Relations
7. Question concerning the abductees to North Korea
8. Question concerning issuance of a travel advisory

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the terrorist attack in Kenya

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming to this briefing. I have four announcements I would like to make.

   Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi issued a statement on the terrorist attack in Kenya. In her statement, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi expressed her heartfelt condolences to the Governments of Kenya and Israel, and to the families of the victims of the terrorist bombing incident that occurred in the hotel in Mombasa, Coast Province of Kenya, on 28 November local time, in which close to a hundred people were killed or injured.

   At almost the same time as the hotel incident, there was also a terrorist attack on the Israeli airliner that had just taken off from Mombasa airport. Terrorism cannot be justified for any reason, and Japan condemns every such terrorist attack heartlessly targeted at large numbers of innocent people and hopes that the cause of the series of incidents will be investigated at an early date.

   Related Information (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Terrorist Attack in Kenya)
   
2. International Conference on Wider Adherence to Strengthened International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards

   Mr. Takashima: The second announcement is about the meeting concerning the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Government of Japan today announced that it would host an International Conference on the Wider Adherence to Strengthened IAEA Safeguards in Tokyo on 9 and 10 December.

   This Conference is intended to discuss the safeguard measures of the IAEA focusing on the importance of the IAEA's additional protocols which enable the IAEA to have stronger and wider safeguard measures, which include monitoring and sampling of the sites to detect unregistered nuclear development activities.

   Although these additional protocols have already been signed by 67 nations, of which 28, including Japan, have already ratified them, the International Conference in Tokyo early next month will enhance the awareness of the significance of these protocols and will lead to the increase of the number of the participating countries.

   Related Information (Atomic Energy)
   
3. Upcoming visit to Japan by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

   Mr. Takashima: The third announcement is that the Government of Japan has announced the visit of the Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to Japan.

   Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, together with Mrs. Wickremesinghe and a suite, will visit Japan from 3 to 7 December.

   During their stay in Japan, the Prime Minister and Mrs. Wickremesinghe will be received by Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan. The Prime Minister will also meet with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi in Tokyo to exchange views on bilateral relations between our two countries. They will also discuss Sri Lanka's efforts for peace and reconstruction.

   This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka. It is expected that the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister will further strengthen friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan by Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka)
   
4. Joint Press Conference on the Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh

   Mr. Takashima: The fourth announcement is about the Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh.

   This meeting, as I indicated at the last briefing, will be on 3 December (Tuesday). Today, I would like to invite you to attend the joint press conference of the co-chairs of the Conference, namely the Ambassador of Japan to Indonesia, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Indonesia, the European Union (EU) Presidency, Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia, as well as the World Bank Country Director.

   This joint press conference will be held at 18:00 on 3 December at the Lecture Room of the Kokusai Kyoryoku Sogo Kenshujo (Institute for International Cooperation) which is located in Ichigaya, Tokyo. There will also be a photo opportunity at the beginning of the Conference at 9:00 at the same site, and the press is invited to take advantage of this photo opportunity as well as to participate at this joint press conference.

   Related Information (Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh)
   
5. Question concerning Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Taro Nakayama to the Islamic Republic of Iran

   Q: Would you please give us some information about the result of the visit to Iran by Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, Mr. Nakayama?

   Mr. Takashima: Mr. Nakayama has met the various dignitaries in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including President Mohammad Khatami, and he had very important and significant discussions with him regarding the situation in Iraq. Mr. Nakayama conveyed the message from Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan to President Khatami and also discussed the importance of adherence by Iraq to the terms and conditions spelled out in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441.

   Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Mr. Nakayama has already reported that he had a very meaningful and successful meeting with officials of Iran.

   Q: In this connection, does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intend to send an envoy to Iraq itself to pressure the Government of Iraq to comply with the inspections?

   Mr. Takashima: At this moment, we have no plan to do that. Actually, the Embassy of Japan in Iraq is open but not manned. Thus, the Japanese diplomats assigned to Iraq are now based in Jordan. One of them has already visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Iraq to convey a message that the Government of Japan strongly urges the Government of Iraq to comply with the terms and conditions outlined in the UN Security Council Resolution and have immediate, unconditional and unrestricted inspections on all the weapons of mass destruction-related nuclear facilities. If they do have that sort of capability, we strongly urge them to dismantle or abandon such facilities immediately. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the same message through the Embassy of Iraq here in Tokyo.

   Related Information (Japan-Iran Relations)
   
6. Question concerning the recommendation by the Prime Minister's Task Force on Foreign Relations

   Q: There was a recommendation presented to Prime Minister Koizumi yesterday by the Task Force headed by Mr. Yukio Okamoto, who is a consultant to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs, in which stronger ties with Taiwan were recommended. What is the reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this?

   Mr. Takashima: Although we understand that this recommendation contains a lot of useful and meaningful recommendations for the future direction of Japanese foreign policy, we are still reading and studying its content. At this moment, we have no comment on each and every part of the recommendation.

7. Question concerning the abductees to North Korea

   Q: Has there been any response from North Korea about Mrs. Hitomi Soga's husband?

   Mr. Takashima: We have received information from the North Korean side that the husband of Hitomi Soga has been ill and has been hospitalized. In response, the Japanese side asked for more information and also told them that Mr. Charles Robert Jenkins should be brought to Japan for medical treatment here, and we have not received a reply yet.

   Q: On the same topic, apparently the normalization talks have been stalled because the five abductees that have come back to Japan have not been returned. According to reports, the Government of Japan said that it did not promise that they would be returned. Is this the position of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that there was no such promise that they would be returned?

   Mr. Takashima: Our position is such that we have not made such a promise of sending them back at a certain date. There might be the possibility that they understood it in such a way that they would claim that there was a promise made by the Japanese side. However, that is not our position.

   We believe that the five victims of abduction cases, who are currently in Japan, should stay in Japan as long as they want to be here, and they should be given an opportunity to meet here in Japan with their families who are now in North Korea to discuss their future in free and unrestricted circumstances and surroundings.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
8. Question concerning issuance of a travel advisory

   Q: Last night, we had two terrorist attacks in Africa; one in Kenya and the other in Zambia. A member of a Japanese tourist group was murdered. However, there was no travel advisory on this.

   Mr. Takashima: You mean the shooting of a Japanese tourist in Zambia?

   Q: Usually, if a Japanese tourist is injured or wounded in an attack a travel advisory is released, but I have not seen a travel advisory regarding this case. Is there any reason for this?

   Mr. Takashima: There is no particular reason, but we strongly condemn the shooting, and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of victims, the Japanese national who was killed and also the one who was injured.

   We are now cooperating with the Zambian authorities to find out who did what in this case. At this moment, we are not in a position to state that the Zambian case was a terrorist attack, because we have no information whether it was a terrorist attack or simply a case of robbery.

   In any case, we have issued a travel advisory type of spot-information regarding the cases you have mentioned.

   Q: I just printed out a page from the Internet a half an hour ago, but I could not find anything.

   Mr. Takashima: We call it spot-information. Let me check on that because I was informed that a travel advisory had been issued.